In an exclusive conversation with GEC Media at GISEC 2025, Evgeniy Khaskelberg, CEO/CTO of SDefender, unveils a fully automated SOC platform built for speed, scale, and minimal human intervention.
What products or solutions are you showcasing here at GISEC?
We’re showcasing our automated SOC (Security Operations Center) platform. This product was born during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. We were managing several customer systems through private cloud services and noticed a dramatic increase in cyberattacks.
We looked for solutions in the market, but most of them were either too expensive, required a large team to operate, or simply weren’t fully automated. So, we decided to develop something affordable, easy to use, and fully automated.
Our product, Defender, works like an automated SOC. It receives logs from various devices, analyzes them using entropy analysis and no-code rules, and makes decisions about potential threats. It can automatically block threats, with very fast response times—around half a second—and requires little to no human intervention.
We already have some big customers. For example, the largest Israeli municipal service provider told us that after installing our system, the alerts they received from their SOC dropped by 99%. He literally said, “Now I can sleep.”
We’re here at GISEC to showcase our product, look for MSSP partnerships, and also for investment opportunities. We’d be happy to explore any form of collaboration.
How has your experience at GISEC 2025 been so far?
From my point of view, it’s been amazing. GISEC is a huge exhibition—I didn’t expect it to be this big. It’s my first time at GISEC, and my first time in Dubai, and I’m very impressed with the organization. I visited the venue a day before the event started—it was still under construction, and I couldn’t believe it would all be ready in time. But the next morning, everything was clean, polished, and fully prepared. That was really impressive.
What I like most is the friendly atmosphere. People here are very open and welcoming—it’s been a pleasure to connect with them.
Do you have a message for the CISO community attending GISEC?
This is a must-attend event. There are amazing people, great companies, and innovative ideas here. Whether you’re an exhibitor or a visitor, being part of this ecosystem is essential. Everyone can find value here.
This year’s theme is “Securing the AI-Powered Future.” How do you think we can achieve that?
Let’s look at this from two sides.
First, the security of AI products themselves. This isn’t my area of expertise, but I have to admit—I’m a little afraid of AI right now. It’s everywhere. Everyone remembers The Terminator movie, and honestly, I fear that scenario could become reality if we’re not careful. AI has the potential to be weaponized, and that would be catastrophic. Governments need to work together to create global frameworks to manage this risk.
Now, on the side I’m more familiar with—AI in cybersecurity. We’re already using AI tools in our systems to help create and refine detection rules. In upcoming releases, we plan to introduce AI agents that can participate in the decision-making process for real-time threat response.
However, I have to say: AI is still too slow. Cybersecurity needs instantaneous response times, and AI isn’t quite there yet. But I believe we’ll get there. Maybe not 100% AI-powered cybersecurity, but even 50% would be a major leap forward.
