Meet Prakash Linga, CTO and co-founder of @verasecurity #VeraSecurity #HP #reinventsecurity #BHUSA

26 Jul 2017 · 3 min

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In this on‑site interview at Black Hat 2017, Robert Siciliano (CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com) talks with Prakash Linga, the CTO and co‑founder of Vera Security. Prakash explains Vera’s data‑centric security platform, which attaches strong encryption and persistent usage controls (no screenshots, copy‑paste, printing, etc.) to files and email, making the protection travel with the data and remain invisible to authorized users while rendering the data useless to attackers. He describes how the solution works at rest, in motion, and in use, and highlights its primary market focus: financial services firms that must meet strict regulatory requirements, as well as high‑tech and manufacturing companies that need to protect intellectual property when collaborating with external partners. Vera is also positioned as a replacement for traditional password‑protected files for HR, finance, and earnings‑report workflows. The conversation ends with Prakash sharing his positive experience at the crowded Black Hat conference, noting the opportunity to meet customers, partners, and peers while contributing to industry advancement.

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Hey, this is Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, and I'm working with HP Printer Security and with CSO Magazine. We are here with—
Hey, Robert, this is Prakash Linga, CTO and co-founder at Vera Security. And what does Vera do? Vera is a data-centric security solution, right, where the security and control follows your files and email everywhere, right? And it's always-on security. And the best part is that the security is invisible for the good guys. But when your emails fall into the wrong hands, it's equivalent to a brick, right? So in summary, we provide the best of both worlds— security and, uh, and user experience.
So then if I have a Word document that I'm sending off to a client or a colleague and I don't want them, say, doing a screenshot of it or sharing it without my knowledge. Your technology takes care of all that.
Exactly right. So what VeraHelps provides is a strongly encrypted document, right, where you could define who you trust so that only the people you trust can access the document. Right. And even better, when someone you trust opens the document, you could enforce permissions like preventing screenshots covering copy and paste, right, disallowing printing, so on and so forth. So it's security at rest, in motion, but also in use, right?
And so this might sound like a simple question, uh, which industries, uh, are most in need of this technology?
That's a great question, right? So we have customers across different verticals, big and small, but the most pertinent ones are in the FinServ vertical primarily because of regulations, right? We also have customers in the high-tech and manufacturing vertical, right, where the primary problem that they're trying to solve is protect their IP, right? Especially when they're collaborating with vendors and partners outside of our country, right? And so the technology is very fundamental. A lot of our customers use it as a replacement for password-protected files to work with HR information or work with you know, finance information, earnings reports, for example.
How are you enjoying the conference so far?
Oh, it's been fantastic. You know, Black Hat has become quite crowded over the years, but always a great learning experience. Also got an opportunity to meet with some of our customers and partners and learn from peers and also contribute back and help move the industry forward.
Very nice to meet you. Thanks for coming.
Great meeting you as well.
Thank you so much. Thank you.