Founder. CEO. Author.

Protecting the World,
One File at a Time

Protecting the World, One File at a Time

Protecting the World,
One File at a Time

For more than two decades, I’ve believed cybersecurity should focus less on reacting to threats and more on preventing them from entering trusted environments in the first place.

I’m the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of OPSWAT, author of Cybersecurity Upside Down, Executive Producer of Into the Breach, an investor, instrument-rated pilot, husband, and father.

This site is where I share ideas about cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, entrepreneurship, investing, aviation, books, and film.

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Cybersecurity
Upside Down

Cybersecurity Upside Down is both a cybersecurity book and my personal journey. It shares the frustrations, lessons, and real-world experiences that shaped the way I think about security after more than two decades building OPSWAT.

The book challenges many of the assumptions that have guided cybersecurity for years and explains why prevention-first security is becoming increasingly important in a world of AI, critical infrastructure threats, and growing digital dependence.

It is the story of how OPSWAT evolved from a bootstrapped software company into a global critical infrastructure cybersecurity company, and what that journey taught me about files, devices, trust, and prevention.

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Articles

Perspective, Insights and Ideas

Benny writes about cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, AI, Deep CDR, and the founder decisions that shaped OPSWAT’s technology strategy.

Articles

Perspective, Insights and Ideas

Benny writes about cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, AI, Deep CDR, and the founder decisions that shaped OPSWAT’s technology strategy.

Articles

Perspective, Insights and Ideas

Benny writes about cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, AI, Deep CDR, and the founder decisions that shaped OPSWAT’s technology strategy.

How meeting Jeff Goldblum in Rome Led Me to Send Thousands of Malware Samples to Space

Is cybersecurity in space a real problem? Are there any real incidents? Are they different from other incidents?

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The Future of Data Diodes

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Why We Entered the Data Diode and Unidirectional Gateway Business

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Made in the USA

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Why AI Frameworks Need Deep CDR Now More Than Ever

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Movies

Storytelling Through Video

I enjoy the creativity, the teamwork, the format, and the challenge of taking a complicated idea and turning it into something people can see, feel, and understand. My first movie was in eighth grade. I wrote, directed, and produced a short film about a kid addicted to his computer. Looking back, it was probably more autobiography than fiction. That passion stayed with me. At OPSWAT, I have used video to do more than promote a company. I use it to tell stories, explain difficult ideas, highlight great people, and make cybersecurity more human.

Movies

Storytelling Through Video

Movies

Storytelling Through Video

OPSWAT Production

MetaDefender Kiosk Mini Goes to the Edge of Space

OPSWAT Production

Cyber Trailer

OPSWAT Production

OPSWAT 20

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INTO THE BREACH

A Cybersecurity Docuseries

One of the most important video projects I am producing now is Into the Breach.

Cybersecurity can be hard to explain. Critical infrastructure is even harder. Most people depend on energy, water, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and government systems every day, but they rarely see how these systems can be attacked or why protecting them matters.

I also realized there are many myths in cybersecurity that need to be challenged. That is why we created Into the Breach.

Into the Breach is a cybersecurity docuseries designed to make complex threats, real attacks, and critical infrastructure protection easier to understand.

One of the most important video projects I am producing now is Into the Breach.

I also realized there are many myths in cybersecurity that need to be challenged. That is why we created Into the Breach.

Into the Breach is a cybersecurity docuseries designed to make complex threats, real attacks, and critical infrastructure protection easier to understand.

The series uses stories, experiments, demonstrations, expert conversations, and cinematic production to bring cybersecurity to life.

The first episode, Breaking the Firewall, looks at one of the most common assumptions in cybersecurity: that firewalls are enough. The episode explores how attackers bypass traditional defenses and why stronger, layered protection is needed for critical infrastructure.

For me, Into the Breach is more than a video series. It is a way to educate, challenge assumptions, and help more people understand the systems that keep our society running.

I created and produced the series with an incredible team because I believe cybersecurity education should be engaging, visual, and memorable.

The series uses stories, experiments, demonstrations, expert conversations, and cinematic production to bring cybersecurity to life.

For me, Into the Breach is more than a video series. It is a way to educate, challenge assumptions, and help more people understand the systems that keep our society running.

I created and produced the series with an incredible team because I believe cybersecurity education should be engaging, visual, and memorable.

Videos

Appearances & Interviews

Hear Benny discuss the founder story behind OPSWAT, the ideas behind Cybersecurity Upside Down, and the future of critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

Videos

Appearances & Interviews

Hear Benny discuss the founder story behind OPSWAT, the ideas behind Cybersecurity Upside Down, and the future of critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

Videos

Appearances & Interviews

Hear Benny discuss the founder story behind OPSWAT, the ideas behind Cybersecurity Upside Down, and the future of critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

Interviews

2026 RSAC Conference | Turning cybersecurity upside down with Benny Czarny from OPSWAT

Podcasts & Shows

Cybersecurity Upside Down With Benny Czarny, founder and CEO of OPSWAT

Podcasts & Shows

OPSWAT Founder & CEO, Benny Czarny

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About

Founder, Author, Builder.

Benny Czarny is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of OPSWAT, author of Cybersecurity Upside Down, and Executive Producer of Into the Breach.

He founded OPSWAT in 2002 from a small apartment in San Francisco and built it without outside investment. What started as curiosity for software and problem solving became a global cybersecurity company focused on protecting critical infrastructure in more than 100 countries.

Benny’s work is grounded in a prevention-first belief: cybersecurity should stop threats before they enter trusted environments. That philosophy helped shape OPSWAT’s work across Deep CDR, multiscanning, data diodes, secure file transfer, device protection, and trusted data movement.

Outside of cybersecurity, Benny is interested in investing, aviation, entrepreneurship, and movie production. He is drawn to new ideas, emerging technologies, and people willing to challenge conventional wisdom.

Benny Czarny

Benny Czarny