The IT industry worldwide faces continuous challenges in data storage and management, security, rising costs, and operational complexities. US-based cybersecurity solution provider Hornetsecurity – guided by the skilled leadership of their dynamic, visionary CEO, Daniel Hofmann – offers a wide-ranging portfolio of solutions. Daniel Hofmann correctly identified the industry’s need, creating versatile, cloud-based solutions that offer robust email security and backup functionality, with a special focus on security for Microsoft 365 business users.
CIO Look caught up with Daniel Hofmann to learn more about his exciting success story and the company’s future plans.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Hornetsecurity.
I spent the first few years of my career in various positions in the IT market, which gave me valuable insights into various aspects of both business operations and business needs.
During that time, I identified the need for a low maintenance solution that was easy to manage while being capable of handling large amounts of data so that it would be effective at detecting threats. I also wanted it to be cloud-based as I saw great efficiencies in having one central location from which to operate. A product that could cover all these requirements didn’t seem to exist. That inspired me to start developing that solution myself. This is how Hornetsecurity was born.
Since then, we have developed a comprehensive portfolio of cloud security services. Our solutions protect thousands of customers worldwide, thanks to our global team of more than 350 employees. And I’m proud to say we are continuing to grow and advance daily, with vision, innovation, enthusiasm, and energy.
Tell us something more about Hornetsecurity.
Hornetsecurity was founded in 2007 and is today a leading global cloud email security and backup provider.
Our mission is to protect cloud-based communication ensure business continuity and compliance by deploying next-generation AI solutions for companies of all sizes so they can focus on their core businesses.
Our product portfolio is not restricted to email security, although it covers all important areas there, such as spam and virus filtering, protection against phishing and ransomware, legally compliant archiving, and encryption. We also provide email, endpoint, and virtual machine backup, replication, and recovery. We focus especially on Microsoft 365, and we believe our flagship product is the most extensive cloud security solution for Microsoft 365 on the market.
Hornetsecurity has ten worldwide offices and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hornetsecurity Inc. is based in Pittsburgh, PA, with other North American offices in Washington D.C. and Montreal, Canada.
We operate through a global network of 5,000+ channel partners and MSPs and 11 redundant, secured data centers. Our services are used by more than 50,000+ businesses and organizations of all sizes and across all verticals.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Cybersecurity niche through your expertise in the market.
We’ve been in the cloud security environment since 2004, developing systems for the cloud before the cloud was recognized as such. We aim to make an impact with each of our services, identifying current and future customer needs and addressing them.
We also publish monthly and annual reports about updates and trends in the cybersecurity world, as well as educational content. We use the specialization of our worldwide team members and in-depth research to keep at the forefront and protect our customers through our innovations.
A recent example involves 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup, the first all-in-one security, compliance, and backup suite for Microsoft 365 users. As businesses increasingly move to the cloud and to Microsoft 365, this offer satisfies that growing need.
Our award-winning 365 Total Protection comes in different editions, which each provides Microsoft 365 users with a robust layer of security. To this, 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup adds data loss protection for Microsoft 365 through backup and recovery for Microsoft 365 data in mailboxes, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. It also backs up roaming and on-premises Windows endpoints. If our customers lose data due to system or human errors, malicious actions, or ransomware, for instance, this allows them to restore their data with ease.
It’s also convenient as customers can handle all aspects via a single platform and liaise with a single vendor.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Yes, technology is always evolving and advancing. Unfortunately, this also means that cyberattacks are evolving too, becoming ever more sophisticated, with the aim of extracting valuable information and vast sums of money.
Training your employees about cybersecurity is essential. However, that must be backed by the right infrastructure in place to ensure secure usage and safeguard the organization’s data. This is essential.
Our mantra is that we should enable our customers to focus on what they do best by providing the expertise and professionalism needed in handling their email security and data loss prevention. It is simply not possible for them to keep up with the never-ending developments in the world of cybercrime, be it in business email compromise (BEC), phishing attempts, CEO fraud, or ransomware and malware technologies.
You need experts in using technology as a force for good to counteract those using it with nefarious aims, and those experts must always keep their eye on the ball.
This is why our team incessantly conducts in-depth analyses to gain ongoing, comprehensive knowledge of current cybercrime trends. This is coupled with identifying business challenges and market changes. I also like us to question established approaches without taking things for granted. Both these approaches allow us to cater to emerging needs and develop trail-blazing services and solutions to do a great job and set our customers’ minds at rest.
What are your future goals for Hornetsecurity?
We will continue building on our expertise in providing robust cloud-based email security in the B2B space, expanding our suite of services to meet evolving customer needs.
Today’s systems and setups bring many functionalities, providing new ways to work with greater usability and uniformity. This makes it easier for everyone to join in. This is very powerful. Single users now have massive rights to operate within a system, sharing files, folders, and processes with others both inside and outside the organization.
From a security perspective, this needs to be audited. However, this is currently a blind spot – it is hard to tell which user has what rights. One response is to restrict this as much as possible, but this limits creativity and productivity.
Our idea is to enhance this and make the whole thing more transparent. We will provide 360-degree protection around what each user is doing, whatever rights they have been granted. We’re looking at monitoring, alerting, auditing, and so on in a fully automated way. We’re truly excited about what we will be delivering here.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the cybersecurity sector?
The software environment is unlimited, and there are so many spaces where you can be active, introducing new products and functionality and bringing great value. There is ample opportunity. Roll up your sleeves and go for it!
