Blocking Ransomware at the Hard Drive Level: John Benkert, CEO of Cigent (Part 1)

Ransomware is a key Cyber Security challenge that drives enterprises and governments crazy. John has built a very interesting company to address this problem with a unique approach and lots of patented Intellectual Property. In this case study, you will also learn a lot about Go To Market Strategy through Firmware.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised? What kind of background?

John Benkert: I was born in Ohio in a really small town. My father worked for a manufacturing plant. My mother was a telephone operator. It’s just a small town. At that time, probably 15,000 people. We lived out in the country. Most of my work experience was built around that. I saw how hard they worked to give us what we had.

Sramana Mitra: What did you do for education?

John Benkert: After high school, I went to college for a year. I got a small grant for a year and my parents couldn’t afford college for me. It was early 80s. I graduated in 1982. After going to college for a year, I joined the Air Force to do school for free. I ended up falling in love with the Air Force and the mission.

I traveled all over the world and met people who I would have never met in my small town. My first assignment was in Germany. It’s one of the problems that Americans have in general. We live in our own bubbles. We don’t get out and meet people around the world.

Sramana Mitra: That’s interesting. I came from India. I went to Smith College. Someone in my dorm asked if India is in China. I fell off my chair.

John Benkert: Going to Germany on my first assignment, I was probably 19. I can remember this vividly. I was in thet park and it was summer time. I had just gotten there. I saw this family. I didn’t speak much German. I saw this family on the swing in the park. We’re all the same. We’re all just humans.

Sramana Mitra: How long was the Air Force?

John Benkert: Six years. I enjoyed the travel. I was in Germany for three years. I ended up staying there for 20 years.

Sramana Mitra: How does that bridge to Cigent?

John Benkert: The Air Force introduced me to computers when I was young. I fell in love with them. I worked on computers that had tapes. I got all of that touchy feely stuff with computers. As I traveled and learned more, I took more computer classes. My last assignment was at the National Security Agency where I started doing data recovery. I fell in love with that. After 40 years of my life, I found out what I wanted to do.

Sramana Mitra: You did your career in computer science, data recovery domain?

John Benkert: Yes. Most of my technical knowledge comes from there.

This segment is part 1 in the series : Blocking Ransomware at the Hard Drive Level: John Benkert, CEO of Cigent
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