Corey Thuen on the Hacker Mindset and Using It to Improve Security
Summary
Gravwell CEO Corey Thuen discusses his hacker mindset, work on industrial control system security, and career—from Idaho National Laboratory to founding companies including Gravwell and Southfork Security.
Key points
- Thuen says he uses an adversarial mindset to find weaknesses and improve security, including in power-substation systems.
- He describes early experimentation with game save files and SQL injection in systems he set up himself, rather than seeking out systems to exploit.
- At Idaho National Laboratory, he worked on industrial control system security and met future Gravwell co-founder Kristopher Watts.
- Thuen and Southfork Security faced a lawsuit alleging that their open-source Visdom tool was derived from proprietary INL code; the case settled privately, and Visdom was surrendered to BEA.
- His later work included ICS, IoT, and vulnerability research at Digital Bond and IOActive.
- Thuen describes Gravwell as a platform for analyzing security logs, machine data, and network data, emphasizing defenders’ knowledge of their own environments.
Article Details
- Topic
- Interview profile of Corey Thuen, his ethical approach to hacking, and his career in industrial control systems security and cybersecurity entrepreneurship.
People
Corey ThuenFounder and CEO of Gravwell; the article profiles his cybersecurity career and work in industrial control systems security.Kenneth ShawCo-founded Southfork Security with Thuen after they left Idaho National Laboratory.Kristopher WattsThuen's future co-founder of Gravwell and its current CTO, whom he met at Idaho National Laboratory.