
CMO @AcalvioTech - Ex @Nutanix @Tricentis @AppDynamics @CAInc @Oracle @HP. Entrepreneur. Investor. Board Member @TiESV
Mountain View, CA
Joined March 2009
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I will be In Austin next week at @FSISAC Fall summit. Stop by our booth #28 or reach out to schedule time if you are attending the event.
Weโre excited to be at the FS-ISAC ๐
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค!
If youโre attending, donโt miss the session โ๐
๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ: ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒโ by ๐๐๐ข ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ and ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ข ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ.
This session examines the runtime controls needed to govern agent identity and data exposure. Visa and Acalvio security leaders will share insights on:
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The Agentic AI threat surface
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Runtime controls to govern agent access
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How preemptive techniques, including deception, can expose misuse earlier in the attack path
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A practitionerโs perspective on adapting cyber defenses for the AI era
We look forward to seeing you in Austin!
#FSISAC #AgenticAI #AISecurity #CyberSecurity #RuntimeSecurity #CyberDeception
Anand Akela retweeted
๐จ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐
AI guardrails have largely focused on controlling what goes into and out of AI models.
But what happens after an AI agent begins interacting with enterprise credentials, APIs, tools, and infrastructure?
That is the next frontier of AI security.
The recent Hugging Face AI agent incident reinforced an important reality: once autonomous AI agents are operating in production, organizations need visibility into their runtime behaviorโnot just their prompts and responses.
That's why industry experts from the ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ have recommended deceptionโincluding fake identities, credentials, honey APIs, and decoy infrastructureโas a critical layer of defense against compromised AI agents.
Today, we're excited to introduce ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ.
๐ Read the announcement: prnewswire.com/news-releasesโฆ
Our new patent-pending capability brings these recommendations to life by surrounding AI agents with a deceptive runtime environment that detects misalignment, exposes malicious behavior, and disrupts attacks ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐.
As organizations accelerate the adoption of agentic AI, security must evolve from ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ to ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐.
๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐?ย Visit Acalvio in the AI Zone (Booth #8606) to learn more and schedule time in our meeting room, BMR6505 (behind the Startup City Stage), for a live demonstration of Deception Guardrails and to see how organizations can secure agentic AI with preemptive runtime defense.
๐ Schedule a Meeting at Black Hat: acalvio.com/resources/eventsโฆ
#AgenticAI #AISecurity #Cybersecurity #AIAgents #RuntimeSecurity #CyberDeception #BlackHat #EnterpriseAI #PreemptiveCybersecurity
What a privilege to listen to three Nobel Laureates at TiEcon 2026 Grand Keynote!
Dr. Donna Strickland, University of Waterloo
Dr. John M. Martinis, UC Santa Barbara
Dr. Randy Schekman, UC Berkeley
Thank you Dr. Bachher for the amazing conversation with the Nobel Laureates.
What an incredible turnout at the #TiEcon 2026 Volunteer Kickoff!
This yearโs theme โ AI & You: Human-Centered, AI-Powered โ couldnโt be more timely.
The future of AI isnโt artificial. Itโs deeply human.
๐
April 29 โ May 1, 2026
๐ Register: tiecon.org/
Anand Akela retweeted
๐จ AI-orchestrated cloud exploits are compressing the attack timelineโfrom hours to minutes. acalvio.com/cyber-deception/โฆ
An article published earlier today by Sysdig sysdig.com/blog/ai-assisted-โฆ) shows how an autonomous AI agent moved from initial access to administrative privileges in 8 minutes, hijacking cloud AI infrastructure in a multi-stage exploit commonly referred to as LLMjacking.
This marks a fundamental shift from human-driven attacks. With AI automating reconnaissance, credential access, privilege escalation, and persistence at machine speed, traditional detection approaches that rely on baselining and post-event analysis are increasingly ineffective.
๐ Whatโs the takeaway for defenders?
Security strategies must assume compromise and shift toward preemptive defense.
The blog outlines why cyber deception becomes foundational in this new threat model. By placing deception artifactsโsuch as IAM honeytokens, deceptive credentials, and cloud decoysโalong early MITRE ATT&CK stages, defenders can detect and stop AI agents during reconnaissance or role enumeration, long before execution or impact.
โก Early, intent-based detection is the only way to keep pace with autonomous attackers.
Read the full blog to understand how deception-driven preemptive defense can stop AI-orchestrated cloud exploits before real damage occurs. acalvio.com/cyber-deception/โฆ
hashtag#CyberDeception hashtag#AIinSecurity hashtag#CloudSecurity hashtag#PreemptiveDefense hashtag#LLMjacking hashtag#CyberSecurity hashtag#ThreatDetection
Cloudy Outlook for Cyber Jobs as AI Fills Security Gaps - The Wall Street Journal article, quoting our CEO @ram_varadarajan, highlights how AI is reshaping cybersecurity roles.
๐ Read the full article in the WSJ:
lnkd.in/geMBgsqp
#Cybersecurity #AI #CyberDefense
Outlook for Cyber Jobs as AI Fills Security Gaps wsj.com/articles/cloudy-outlโฆ via @WSJ
The Wall Street Journal takes a timely look at how AI is reshaping cybersecurity rolesโand what it really means for the future of security teams โ in an article that quotes our CEO, @ram_varadarajan.
As organizations face increasingly automated, machine-speed attacks, the traditional labor model is evolving. Ram notes in the article:
โThe cybersecurity labor model is being quietly rebalanced. Organizations are not eliminating people, but they are reducing reliance on manual analysis in favor of automation that operates at machine speed.โ
This shift isnโt about fewer defendersโitโs about changing how defenders work. AI-driven automation is taking on tasks that humans simply canโt scale, allowing teams to focus on strategy, judgment, and response while technology operates continuously and at speed.
As the threat landscape accelerates, success will depend on pairing human expertise with security approaches designed for automation-first defense.
๐ Read the full article in the WSJ:
wsj.com/articles/cloudy-outlโฆ
#Cybersecurity #AI #CISO #SecurityOperations #Automation #CyberDefense #FutureOfWorkCloudy
Anand Akela retweeted
As the year comes to a close, we want to pause and say thank you.
The threat landscape does not take time off, and neither do the teams responsible for protecting what matters most. We see the work you do every day, often behind the scenes, to stay ahead of increasingly automated and AI-driven attacks.
At Acalvio, we remain focused on what we do best: helping defenders stay one step ahead through preemptive security and deception. While the holidays are a time for rest and reflection, our technology continues to do what it was designed to do: quietly distract attackers, expose their intent, and keep real systems out of harmโs way.
As a leader in Deception Technology, we are grateful for the trust you place in us and proud to stand alongside you. We wish you a peaceful holiday season and a strong, resilient start to the year ahead.
If the new year prompts you to reassess your security posture, we would welcome the opportunity to explore how deception can further strengthen your defenses in 2026.
Thank you for your trust and partnership.
Wishing you peace, rest, and resilience this holiday season and beyond.
#HappyHolidays #CyberDeception #Preemptive #Cybersecurity #ThankYou
Anand Akela retweeted
๐จ AI-orchestrated cyber attacks are no longer theoretical โ theyโre here. acalvio.com/cyber-deception/โฆ
Anthropicโs latest research shows how autonomous agents can now execute 80โ90% of the cyber kill chain, from reconnaissance to exfiltration, with minimal human involvement.
As attackers leverage agentic AI to chain together tools, exploit paths, and OT/IT environments at machine speed, traditional defenses struggle to keep up. Baseline-driven anomaly detection and rule-based alerts simply cannot react fast enough to the volume, velocity, or variability of AI-generated exploit chains.
๐ What does this mean for defenders?
A fundamental shift in strategy: from reactive detection to proactive, intent-based defense.
๐ก Cyber deception plays a central role.
By pre-positioning honeytokens and decoys around high-value assets and early-stage MITRE tactics (Reconnaissance, Credential Access, Lateral Movement), defenders can detect an AI agent before exploitation succeeds.
Even a simple AD query โ which an autonomous agent uses to map critical systems โ can be turned into a trap. Any interaction with these deceptive assets becomes an immediate, high-fidelity signal of malicious intent. This early visibility allows security teams to stop the exploit long before it reaches exfiltration.
๐ Bottom line:
Agentic attacks break the assumptions behind reactive detection.
Early, proactive, deception-driven detection gives defenders the time, clarity, and advantage needed to counter AI-automated threats.
#CyberSecurity #AIThreats #CyberDeception #PreemptiveDefense #AcalvioTechnologies #MITREATTACK #ThreatDetection #AnthropicReport
Anand Akela retweeted
Weโre honored to welcomeย Tushar Kothariย to our Advisory Board. Tushar has a long track record of recognizing transformative shifts early and helping companies turn technical breakthroughs into meaningful market impact. His support for Acalvio reflects his belief that cyber deception and preemptive security are becoming essential layers in modern defense.
Tushar has been vocal about the limitations of reactive security and the need for approaches that expose attacker intent early, before damage occurs. His perspective aligns strongly with our mission. He understands how identity misuse, lateral movement, and AI-accelerated attacks are reshaping the threat landscape, and he sees deception as one of the few technologies capable of turning those attacker advantages back on the adversary.
Beyond his technical insight, Tushar brings a grounded, operatorโs mindset. He focuses on clarity, execution, and building durable value. His guidance will help us scale intelligently as demand grows and as enterprises shift toward preemptive cybersecurity strategies.
Weโre grateful to have him in our corner. Please join us in welcoming Tushar to the Acalvio Advisory Board.
#CyberDeception #Preemptive #Cybersecurity
Anand Akela retweeted
CrowdStrike Fal.Con 2025 Partner Theater | Defending Against Adversarial Misuse of AI: Preemptive Defense Strategies [1521] lnkd.in/gHwmazbq
Adversaries are leveraging the advancements in GenAI to exploit novel vulnerabilities and generate polymorphic malware variants. To combat this threat, cyber defense needs a paradigm shift from traditional reactive approaches to preemptive defense approaches.
Join Suril Desai, our VP Detection Engineering, for an engaging session to learn more about:
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๏ธ How are adversaries weaponizing GenAI for exploits?
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๏ธ What makes these challenging to detect?
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๏ธ What is preemptive security, and how can it help defend against evolving threats?
๐ย Add to your conference schedule - lnkd.in/gHwmazbq
#CyberDeception #Preemptive #Cybersecurity #AIPoweredDeception #FalCon2025
Anand Akela retweeted
Podcast - Preemptive Defense with AI-powered Deception: Outsmarting the AI-driven Adversary em360tech.com/podcasts/preemโฆ
In the recent episode ofย The Security Strategist podcast, Christopher Steffen, the Vice President of Security Research at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), sits down with our CEO Ram Varadarajan, to talk about how deception is changing threat detection in compromised enterprise environments.
๐กAssume Compromise!
Both Varadarajan and Steffen agree that modern-day cybersecurity is not a matter of if an attacker will get in, but it's about anticipating when the attacker will get in. This mindset, referred to as "assumed compromise," means that a determined attacker will eventually find a way inside your network, especially with AI in the picture.
๐ฏDeception: A Preemptive Strike
This is whereย deception technologyย becomes an effective, proactive defense strategy. Instead of waiting for a breach to happen and then trying to fix the damage, deception actively engages and misleads the attacker.
๐ Key Takeaways
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๏ธย Deception technology is a natural and effective strategy in cybersecurity.
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๏ธย Traditional perimeter defenses are no longer sufficient against modern threats.
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๏ธย The 'assumed breach' mindset is essential for contemporary cybersecurity strategies.
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๏ธย Operationalizing deception technology can significantly enhance threat detection.
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๏ธย AI can streamline the creation and management of deception environments.
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๏ธย Preemptive defense is more effective than reactive strategies in cybersecurity.
#CyberDeception #Preemptive #Cybersecurity #AIPoweredDeception EM360Tech
Anand Akela retweeted
Whitepaper: Strengthening Telecommunication Cybersecurity through Proactive Defense acalvio.com/resources/white-โฆ
The telecommunications industry is under siege from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that exploit advanced malware, stealth tactics, and persistent vulnerabilities to evade detection.
Traditional defenses, often anchored in rule-based approaches, struggle to counter the evolving strategies of attackers. To address these challenges, organizations must adopt Active Defense strategies that go beyond passive detection, enabling proactive engagement with adversaries.
โAs attackers leverage advanced tactics and persistence mechanisms, organizations must rethink their approach to cybersecurity,โ says Ed Amoroso, CEO of Tag Infosphere. โDeception technologies are proving to be a game-changer, enabling early detection and offering insights into adversary behaviors that were previously unattainable.โ
Cyber Deception empowers defenders to anticipate, detect, and disrupt threats before significant damage occurs. By deploying realistic traps such as honeytokens and network decoys, defenders can lure attackers into controlled environments, gain critical insights into their tactics, and neutralize threats with precision.
#CyberDeception #Telecommunication #Telecom #AIPoweredDeception #Preemptive #CyberSecurity #IdentityProtection #RansomWare #ZeroDays #InsiderThreat
Anand Akela retweeted
๐ฅ Hot Off The Press ๐ฅ Acalvio Summer Newsletter: Deception-Driven Preemptive Defense insights.acalvio.com/index.pโฆ
This edition covers insights from our recent collaborations, research initiatives, and thought leadership in deception technology.
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AI-driven attacks: Gartnerโs research chief calls for a paradigm shift in security
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Honeywell launches Proactive Defense for OT
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Cloudย security: defending against cluster compromise and cloud breakout
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Securing financial services: defending against data exfiltration and insider risk
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Securing healthcare: protecting medical devices
#CyberDeception #Preemptive #CyberSecurity #IdentityProtection #InsiderThreats #Ransomware #IdentitySecurity #OTSecurity
Anand Akela retweeted
Acalvio Customer Reference - Acalvio significantly strengthened this airport management organizationโs cybersecurity posture, closing critical detection gaps and providing robust protection against sophisticated cyber threats.
acalvio.com/resources/case-sโฆ
By incorporating deception technology into their security strategy, the organization has greatly improved both threat detection and response times while enhancing resilience against evolving attacks.
The successful implementation of Acalvioโs solutions underscores the essential role of advanced cyber deception in safeguarding critical airport systems, ensuring the continuity of operations, and maintaining the trust of passengers and staff.
#CyberDeception #AIPoweredDeception #Preemptive #CyberSecurity #IdentityProtection #RansomWare #ZeroDays #InsiderThreat
Had a great time connecting with CISOs and industry experts at the #SINCCISO25 event in Austin.
@sahawkx did a great job discussing how threat actors are weaponizing #AI and the significance of Preemptive Defense with #CyberDeception to safeguard against these evolving threats
Anand Akela retweeted
We will sponsor and exhibit at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit in New York City on July 16th, 2025. aws.amazon.com/es/events/sumโฆ
Stop by booth #657 and learn how ShadowPlex Cloud Security (SCS) protects cloud-native workloads and IAM infrastructure in the AWS and multi-cloud environments, exposing threats early without adding complexity, leveraging AI-powered deception and honeytokens.
#CyberDeception #CloudSecurity #Preemptive #CyberSecurity
Anand Akela retweeted
Announcing Health-ISAC Navigator Program Webinar on Securing Medical Devices with Phil Englert, VP of Medical Device Security at Health-ISAC, and Suril Desai, VP of Detection Engineering, on July 9th. acalvio.com/resources/webinaโฆ
Medical devices represent critical infrastructure for healthcare organizations. Their security has a direct correlation to patient safety.
Join us in this insightful webinar to learn more about:
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ย The threat vectors targeting medical devices in healthcare
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ย Why medical device security is challenging
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ย Actionable strategies to protect these devices
#MedicalDevices #OTSecurity #HealthTech #CyberDeception #Preemptive #CyberSecurity
Anand Akela retweeted
Meet the minds redefining cybersecurity. ๐๐ Watch @AcalvioTech share insights after winning at the Global Infosec Awards 2025. Innovation, resilience, and leadership this is what global recognition looks like. #Cybersecurity #GIA2025 #InfoSecChampions #GIAWinners
Anand Akela retweeted
Meet the minds redefining cybersecurity. ๐๐ Watch @AcalvioTech share insights after winning at the Global Infosec Awards 2025. Innovation, resilience, and leadership this is what global recognition looks like. #Cybersecurity #GIA2025 #InfoSecChampions #GIAWinners
Anand Akela retweeted
๐ Hats off to @AcalvioTech for backing #BSidesAugusta at the Gold level! Letโs continue pushing the boundaries of cyber defense.
#AIsecurity #ThreatIntel #CyberAwareness #Networking




















