BforeAI is a pioneer in Predictive Attack Intelligence and Digital Risk Protection Services (DRPS). With predictive AI, the company offers the fastest, most accurate automated solution to stop malicious infrastructure attacks weeks before they happen. Pulse 2.0 interviewed BforeAI founder and CEO Luigi Lenguito to learn more about the company.
Luigi Lenguito’s Background
What is Luigi Lenguito’s background? Lenguito said:
“My name is Luigi Lenguito. I am the founder and CEO of BforeAI, a predictive cyber security company. I’m originally from Naples, Italy, but I’ve called France home for the past 25 years. My work and interests take me all over the world, from New York City to Miami and beyond. I’ve dedicated over 20 years of my life to the IT industry.”
“You could say my passion for computers started early. When I was just four years old, my father introduced me to the world of technology through an IBM PC. I was hooked! I even still use the keyboard from that very computer. As a young boy, I was self-taught and began fixing computers at the age of 13.”
“Before my career in IT, I pursued my dream of becoming a professional race car driver. Starting with go-karts at the age of eight, I worked my way up to Formula 3 and Formula 4. I was even named the Italian rookie of the year and achieved a European championship title at some point. Unfortunately, my racing career was cut short due to financial constraints.”
“After that, I joined Dell, where I spent 18 years of my career. During my time there, I held 26 different roles, starting with tech support for the Italian market. I steadily progressed through various positions in training, marketing, sales, product development, product management, and mergers and acquisitions.”
“Following my time at Dell, I took on the role of leading sales for the EMEA market at Quest Software.”
“One of my proudest achievements was starting the ‘Dell for Entrepreneurs’ startup program in France. It blossomed into the largest French Tech accelerator, supporting and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
“My entrepreneurial spirit led me to found BforeAI. I recognized the urgent need for a shift in cyber security from a reactive to a preemptive approach. The movie Minority Report, with its concept of pre-crime, served as a major inspiration.”
“Beyond my professional endeavors, I actively participate in various associations and seminars, always seeking to expand my knowledge and network. I am also passionate about supporting initiatives that promote diversity in tech talent and encourage entrepreneurship.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Lenguito shared:
“The idea for BforeAI came together through a series of events that I describe as ‘serendipitous.’ It was inspired by a combination of my past experiences and a research program that I attended.”
“Key elements in the formation of BforeAI include:
— A frustration with the reactive nature of cybersecurity: While selling network firewalls at Dell, I noticed that customers were always one step behind cyber criminals. Customers would often complain that they were always slow to respond to threats. This led me to believe that there was a need for a more proactive approach to cybersecurity.
— Inspiration from the movie Minority Report: A customer suggested that I watch the movie Minority Report, which features a “pre-crime” unit that stops crimes before they happen. This concept of pre-crime resonated with me, and I began to think about how it could be applied to cybersecurity.
— A research program: After leaving Dell, I was invited to participate in a research program that was designed to bring new technologies to the market. There, I met my two co-founders, Luciano and Sebastian, and was introduced to the technology that would become the basis for BforeAI. The research institute had a number of patents and was looking for entrepreneurs to bring them to market.
— Data and behavioral analytics: The research program introduced me to data mining and behavioral analytics, which I recognized as a way to predict the behavior of criminals and stop them before they could launch an attack. I realized that this technology could be used to identify malicious infrastructure before it was used in an attack.
— Trademarking “PreCrime”: I was surprised to find that 20th Century Fox had not trademarked the term “pre-crime,” so I trademarked it myself before even securing the domain name.
— COVID-19 pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic created a window of opportunity because it gave me and my co-founders time to work on the company and build the technology. Also, the shift to remote work made potential customers more accessible.
— Passion for the customer’s problem: According to me, the company’s success is due to my team’s passion for solving the customer’s problems.
I had the idea to use predictive analytics and big data to identify malicious cyber activity before it happens. The ‘PreCrime’ concept that I took away from the movie Minority Report was central to my inspiration.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory while building the company so far? Lenguito reflected:
“Here are some of the key things that bring me satisfaction:
— The Company’s Mission: I am driven by the idea of shifting cybersecurity from a reactive to a preemptive approach. I am passionate about addressing the problem of cyber attacks and helping organizations protect themselves. Seeing the company’s mission being realized is very rewarding to me. I get great satisfaction from moving beyond the “detect and respond” mentality that I feel is too prevalent in the industry.
— The Technology: I am excited by the PreCrime technology behind BforeAI and its ability to predict cyber threats. I think the data and behavioral analytics are amazing. The fact that the company is using machine learning, supervised learning, and belief propagation to crunch data and create relationships over time is something that I find innovative.
— The Company’s Growth: I am very proud of BforeAI’s rapid growth. We are growing about 20% every month! I am excited about the fact that the company is expanding globally, with employees in 34 countries. We are also establishing a mini platform to address external threats.
— Customer Success: I find it rewarding to see our technology helping large organizations and institutions to protect their assets, brands, and customers. I’m pleased that customers see the value of the product, with an average contract length of 22 months and some customers on 3- or even 7-year contracts.
— The Team: I value the people I work with and emphasize the importance of building a strong team. I also appreciate the ability to work with people from all over the world. Diverse teams have “natural superpowers”! I frequently emphasize the passion and curiosity of the people I work with.
— Innovation and Recognition: I am proud of BforeAI’s recognition as a Gartner “Cool Vendor”. I am also excited by new capabilities that we are developing and that we are always striving to be one step ahead of cyber criminals. I find it exciting that the company is breaking new ground with its technology.
— Distributed Work Model: I’m proud of the company’s completely distributed work model. I believe that ‘talent is equally distributed’ and that this model allows us to pick the best people from all over the world.
While a specific favorite memory is hard to land on, my passion for innovation, problem-solving, and the growth and impact of my company make it clear that I find the entire journey of building BforeAI very fulfilling.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Lenguito explained:
“BforeAI offers predictive cybersecurity services designed to identify and neutralize cyber threats before they can impact an organization. The core technology is called PreCrime, which is based on behavioral analytics applied to internet network data. The company’s products are based on a ‘weather forecast’ model, where data is gathered, and then, using machine learning, analyzed to identify patterns of malicious behavior.”
“BforeAI has two main product lines:
1.) PreCrime Intelligence: This is a cyber threat intelligence solution that provides a feed of predictions about potential threats at an internet scale.
— It is delivered through an API that can be integrated with existing security infrastructure, such as firewalls, anti-phishing filters, DNS resolvers, and security information and event management (SIEM) systems.
— The API provides machine-to-machine operational threat intelligence that does not require human analysis.
— The product predicts potential sources of attacks weeks or even months before the attack occurs. The average prediction time is around 18 days in advance of other threat intelligence tools.
— The system looks at network features of domains as they are registered and modified, and predicts how they will be used.
— It can be used to protect networks from ransomware, data exfiltration, and malware.
— The data comes from the internet, not the customer’s network, so no sensors need to be installed within the customer’s infrastructure.
— The system observes more than 2 billion infrastructures and 5 billion behaviors daily.
— The system uses machine learning and supervised learning to recognize malicious behavior from benign behavior.
— It focuses on the behaviors of infrastructure and their changes over time rather than looking at data statically.
— The solution provides an average of 98% top-level domain (TLD) coverage with a low false-positive rate of less than 0.05%. It is designed to eliminate noise and focus on relevant, real-time threats.
— The system learns from its mistakes.
— The company guarantees the accuracy of their predictions and offers to cover the cost of an attack if they get it wrong, up to 10 times the value of the contract.
— The company also provides an allow list to other security features such as DNS resolvers or anti-phishing filters.
2.) PreCrime Brand: This solution focuses on impersonation and brand protection.
— It identifies and blocks phishing attacks, credential stealing, and account takeover attempts, and other fraudulent activities.
— It protects brands by identifying fake domains, social media impersonators, and other online threats.
— It preemptively takes down malicious infrastructure, including domains and IP addresses, often before any content is loaded.
— It helps prevent business email compromise by identifying the impersonation of a company’s partners.
— It can also identify and stop social media impersonation.
— The product is used to protect the client’s customers, partners, and brand reputation.
— It can disable malicious links to prevent scams.
— It provides customized feeds to filter impersonation attempts from third parties.
— The company works with a network of partners like Google Safe Browsing, VirusTotal, and Quad 9 to distribute information about impending attacks.
— The company also works with domain registrars and hosting providers to take down malicious infrastructure before it becomes active.”
“Key features of the PreCrime technology include:
— Predictive intelligence: The platform’s core feature is its ability to predict future cyber attacks by analyzing the behavior of the internet infrastructure.
— Preemptive takedowns: BforeAI not only identifies threats but also disables the malicious infrastructure that could be used in an attack before it is able to launch.
— Behavioral AI: The system learns to recognize malicious behavior through examples, and does not use signatures.
— Network data: The system monitors internet network data such as routing, naming, and addressing, and converts this data into infrastructure behaviors.
— Self-learning: The system improves over time as it collects and analyzes more data.
— Integration: The platform is designed to integrate with existing security systems and tools, and is compatible with endpoint detection and response (EDR) software.
— High accuracy: The platform boasts a high level of accuracy and a low false positive rate.
— Speed: The system can identify malicious activity in minutes and reduce traffic to malicious destinations by more than 75%.
— Automation: The system uses machine-to-machine communication to automate threat intelligence and blocking actions.
— Scalability: The platform is designed to operate at an internet scale, monitoring millions of domains and infrastructures.
BforeAI’s goal is to shift the cybersecurity landscape from a reactive approach to a preemptive one by predicting attacks before they happen. The company aims to help its customers protect their networks, brands, and customers from cyber threats.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since its launch? Lenguito noted:
“BforeAI’s PreCrime technology has evolved significantly since our launch, moving from a focus on specific feature products to a more comprehensive platform, and expanding the scope of our threat detection and prevention capabilities. Here are key ways our technology has evolved:
— From Reactive to Preemptive Security: BforeAI was founded with the goal of shifting the cybersecurity paradigm from a reactive “detect and respond” approach to a preemptive one. Our initial technology focused on using behavioral predictive analytics to identify malicious infrastructure before it could be used in an attack. This involved collecting and analyzing large amounts of network data to identify patterns of malicious behavior and predict potential attacks.
— Expansion to a Mini-Platform: We have moved beyond offering single-feature products to creating a mini-platform that addresses all external threats targeting a customer’s external assets. This evolution aims to help customers consolidate their security tools. We initially focused on “PreCrime Network” and “PreCrime Brand Defense,” but now offer solutions for social media disruption and takedowns, including fraud on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. We also now offer solutions for identifying deep fakes in video conferencing.
— Advanced Data Analysis: Our core PreCrime technology relies on a mix of algorithms from the AI family, including machine learning, supervised learning, and belief propagation. We can process large amounts of data to create relationships between data points over time. Our technology doesn’t look at data statically, but rather at the behaviors of infrastructure, like weather forecasting systems. The system catalogs behavior, and we have identified more than a billion behaviors. We are trained to recognize good and bad behavior and to identify malicious infrastructure based on this analysis. Our models improve over time as they receive more data.
— Enhanced Attack Prediction: Our predictive technology has improved in its ability to identify sources of future cyber attacks. We now identify sources of future cyber attacks an average of three weeks before the attacks happen. We can identify even sophisticated attacks up to nine months in advance. We claim to get our predictions right 99% of the time. One customer claimed that we are the only provider that can give advance warning for 61% of attacks.
— Improved Preemptive Takedowns: We have improved our ability to shut down malicious infrastructure, and now remove infrastructure from the internet 90% of the time before the attacks become active. We have also improved the speed of our takedown processes. For example, a malicious domain was taken down in six minutes after we made a prediction, thanks to our partnership with a domain registrar.
— Reduced False Positives: Initially, we had a false positive rate of 1% to 2%. This has been reduced to 0.05%, increasing the reliability of our service. This improvement means we can accurately identify potential threats without disrupting legitimate traffic.
— Integration with Other Security Systems: Our technology now integrates with other security systems. We provide threat intelligence to Google, Microsoft, and other companies, allowing them to proactively block malicious links and other threats. This reduces the workload on security systems such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.
— Focus on External Threats: We are focusing on threats targeting external assets. This has expanded our scope of protection to include social media fraud.
— Expanding Data Collection: We have been collecting data for the last five years that is not stored by other companies because it is seen as not valuable by others. This has given us an advantage because this data is crucial for our models, and competitors would need to collect this data for three or four years to catch up. We have continued to improve the quality of our data as we continue to collect it.
— Application of AI: We use predictive AI, rather than generative AI.
By focusing on predictive and preemptive security, our technology has evolved from a specific tool to a broader platform that aims to provide long-term security and a proactive defense for our customers.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Lenguito about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“Volksbank is a customer of BforeAI that uses its services to prevent its users from being targeted by phishing attacks. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the Volksbank use case:
— Phishing Prevention: Volksbank uses BforeAI’s predictive threat intelligence to protect its users from phishing attempts. Phishing attacks are a common tactic used by cybercriminals to steal user credentials and gain access to sensitive information, which can lead to significant financial losses.
— Credential Theft and Fraudulent Wire Transfers: By using BforeAI’s PreCrime technology, Volksbank aims to prevent its users from being tricked into divulging their login credentials, which can then be used by criminals to conduct fraudulent wire transfers.
— Financial Loss Prevention: The primary goal of Volksbank’s use of PreCrime is to prevent financial losses for both the bank and its customers. By stopping phishing attacks, BforeAI’s services help Volksbank to avoid the direct costs associated with fraudulent transactions and the reputational damage that can result from such incidents.
— Preemptive Security: BforeAI’s predictive approach to cybersecurity allows Volksbank to take a preemptive stance in preventing attacks. Rather than simply reacting to threats as they occur, PreCrime enables Volksbank to anticipate and neutralize threats before they can cause harm. This proactive approach is more effective than traditional reactive measures that are frequently slow and costly.
This use case illustrates the practical application of PreCrime technology in real-world financial settings. More can be found here.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing?
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Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Lenguito affirmed:
“BforeAI provides a predictive cybersecurity solution that aims to preemptively identify and neutralize cyber threats before they can impact an organization. The company’s core technology, PreCrime, uses behavioral analytics applied to internet network data to predict future malicious activity. The technology is based on a “weather forecast” model, in which data is gathered and analyzed using machine learning to identify patterns of malicious behavior.”
“BforeAI’s goal is to shift the cybersecurity landscape from a reactive to a proactive approach, predicting attacks before they happen and protecting networks, brands, and customers from cyber threats.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Lenguito emphasized:
“BforeAI has several goals for the future, including expanding its product offerings, increasing its market presence, and improving its technology. Here are some specific future goals mentioned in the sources:
1.) Expanding Product Offerings: BforeAI plans to move from offering individual products to becoming a “mini platform” that addresses all external threats, including social media disruption and deep fakes. This involves expanding beyond network and brand protection to include new areas such as:
— Malvertising Detection: BforeAI is investing in detecting malicious advertising, where criminals use stolen credit cards to buy ad space to publish impersonation advertising. A solution for this is expected in the summer.
— Social Media Impersonation: BforeAI is also developing solutions to identify and counter the use of fake social media accounts to influence narratives around a brand, which can include pushing fake financial data or other information that can harm a brand. This includes working on disruptions and takedowns of fraudulent activity on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook.
— Deep Fake Detection: BforeAI is developing a solution to identify deep fakes in video conferencing.
2.) Technological Advancement: BforeAI is constantly working to improve its technology and stay ahead of cyber criminals.
— They are focused on developing capabilities that allow them to act even before criminals begin preparing their infrastructure.
— They continue to refine their algorithms to reduce their already low false positive rate of 0.05%.
— They are working to improve their models by feeding them more data, which is an advantage because the data they collect cannot be recreated after the fact.
3.) Market Growth and Expansion: BforeAI aims to increase its presence in the US market while maintaining its global reach.
— The company plans to continue its rapid growth, with a projected growth of 400% in the coming year. BforeAI experienced 500% growth in 2023.
— They intend to further expand their customer base, which currently includes financial institutions, retailers, manufacturing companies, and critical infrastructure providers.
4.) Partnership Development: BforeAI plans to continue to develop and leverage partnerships with other companies and organizations to expand their reach and improve their technology.
— They want to partner with insurance carriers to bring their products to a wider customer base.
— They seek to establish partnerships with law enforcement to help combat cybercrime.
— They are looking to work with more domain registrars to reduce domain abuse.
5.) Customer Satisfaction and Retention: The company aims to maintain its zero churn rate, ensuring that customers stay with the company and upgrade to larger scopes of service. BforeAI wants to continue building long term relationships with its customers.
6.) Focus on Preemptive Security: The company’s goal is to shift the focus in the cybersecurity industry towards prediction, prevention, and preparation, rather than only detection and response. They want to help organizations move from the mentality of reacting to attacks to avoiding them altogether.
7.) Productivity Improvements: BforeAI wants to use new tools, such as generative AI, to improve productivity and do more with less.
8.) Talent Acquisition and Retention: BforeAI continues to focus on maintaining an inclusive and diverse workforce. They aim to continue to attract talent that aligns with the company’s values.
Overall, BforeAI’s future goals are focused on innovation, growth, and a continued commitment to staying ahead of cyber threats. The company intends to expand its reach and effectiveness by continually improving its technology, adding new products, and deepening its relationships with customers and partners.
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Lenguito concluded:
“We are seeing an unprecedented surge in online disinformation, and it’s not just a problem—it’s accelerating faster than we ever could have imagined. Losses from cyber attacks already reached $10 trillion in 2022, exceeding what we thought we would see by 2025. This isn’t just about fake news; it also includes impersonation, which erodes trust and inflicts real financial and psychological harm on individuals and organizations. Deepfakes are becoming so realistic that it’s making human detection almost impossible, and it’s connected to what we call ‘pig butchering’ – where victims are attacked again and again.”
“Plus, when we talk about reputation attacks, it’s not just about state actors anymore. AI is making it incredibly easy for criminals to create convincing disinformation, including deepfakes, which are now being used in financial scams. It’s not just deepfakes, either. We are seeing fake domains and emails used to impersonate brands, which leads to massive losses through business email compromise and supply chain attacks. Social media is also a big problem, with bot accounts and fake accounts creating ‘swarms’ that amplify disinformation to damage brand reputations.”
“The consequences of these attacks are devastating. It’s not just financial losses and a hit to brand value; many companies are facing bankruptcy because of these issues. In fact, 15% of companies affected by cyber attacks go bankrupt within 12 months. People are also starting to question what they can believe in the digital world, making it harder to distinguish fact from fiction. And from the victim’s perspective, these attacks are becoming more damaging due to sophisticated technology.”
“We need to move beyond just detection and response, and we need to embrace predictive security. It’s like having a ‘weather forecast system’ for the internet, where we identify and block malicious infrastructure before attacks happen. Our technology is designed to identify patterns of malicious behavior, like changes in domain names, IP addresses, and network traffic. We use machine learning algorithms to track changes in infrastructure behavior and then use that to predict and prevent attacks before they cross the ‘bridge’ to your networks, acting like a ‘sentinel’ watching out for danger far away.”
“We also need to deploy defense mechanisms that preemptively stop attacks in real-time, taking down malicious infrastructure before any content is loaded. And it’s not just us; there are coalitions of companies sharing information to stop this kind of traffic. This means implementing a multi-layered security approach using content analysis, anti-phishing filters, and behavior-based detection. There is a real need for content validation technologies that combine GenAI, digital forensics, and watermarking to separate the real from the fake. Finally, it’s critical that companies focus on securing their own domains using DNSSEC, TLS certificates, SPF, and BIMI so that they cannot be hijacked.”
“Ultimately, securing against disinformation isn’t just about technology. It’s also about:
— Education and awareness: Cybersecurity awareness needs to be continuous and repetitive.
— Preemptive defense strategies: Using digital risk protection services, narrative monitoring, and bot management.
— Continuous evaluation: Validating interactions beyond just onboarding and credentialing.
— Collaboration: We need to work together—security companies, social media platforms, and even regulatory bodies—to combat this challenge effectively.”
