# Benny Czarny

> Benny Czarny is the founder, CEO, and chairman of OPSWAT, the Tampa-based cybersecurity company he started in a San Francisco apartment in 2002. A programmer since age 11 and a Technion computer science graduate, Czarny built the business around making incompatible security products work together, bootstrapped it for nearly two decades, and later broadened its focus to prevention-first protection for critical infrastructure. He is also the author of Cybersecurity Upside Down and executive producer of the docuseries Into the Breach.

- **Role:** Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board at OPSWAT
- **Organizations:** OPSWAT, OPSWAT Academy, Into the Breach
- **Education:** Computer Science, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Bootstrapped OPSWAT from a one-person startup into a global company with more than 1,000 employees and customers in more than 100 countries., Built early security-software interoperability technology used inside products from major vendors including Cisco, F5, Symantec, and Juniper., Led OPSWAT through a $125 million growth investment from Brighton Park Capital in 2021 after nearly two decades without outside capital.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Began programming at age 11.
- **1995-1997** — Studied computer science at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
- **Before 2002** — Worked as an engineering manager at BindView.
- **2002** — Founded OPSWAT with personal funds from a small apartment in San Francisco.
- **2006** — OPSWAT's interoperability SDKs were embedded by security vendors including Cisco, F5, Symantec, and Juniper; the company had eight engineers.
- **2017** — Delivered cybersecurity talks including a keynote at Cyber Week in Tel Aviv and a graduate seminar at San Francisco State University.
- **2020** — Relocated OPSWAT's corporate headquarters from San Francisco to Tampa, Florida.
- **2021** — Accepted OPSWAT's first outside investment, a $125 million growth investment from Brighton Park Capital.
- **2024** — Marked OPSWAT's twentieth-anniversary period with a long-form company film and continued global expansion.
- **2026** — Published his first book, Cybersecurity Upside Down, and served as executive producer of the cybersecurity docuseries Into the Breach.

## Achievements

- Bootstrapped OPSWAT from a one-person startup into a global company with more than 1,000 employees and customers in more than 100 countries.
- Built early security-software interoperability technology used inside products from major vendors including Cisco, F5, Symantec, and Juniper.
- Led OPSWAT through a $125 million growth investment from Brighton Park Capital in 2021 after nearly two decades without outside capital.
- Named as an inventor on U.S. patents including Network Access Control with Compliance Policy Check and Determining Whether a Data Storage Is Encrypted.
- Published Cybersecurity Upside Down, his first book, in January 2026.
- Created and executive produced Into the Breach, a docuseries designed to explain critical-infrastructure cybersecurity through demonstrations and stories.
- Helped expand OPSWAT Academy, which had certified nearly 289,000 professionals by August 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Discussed prevention through file regeneration and critical-infrastructure security with theCUBE at Black Hat USA 2026.
- **2026-08** — Published an article arguing that critical-infrastructure operators should remove return paths when a network connection is not necessary.
- **2026-08** — OPSWAT announced the expansion of its Bengaluru presence with an office and critical-infrastructure protection lab.
- **2026-03** — Promoted Cybersecurity Upside Down at RSAC 2026 and discussed OPSWAT's founder story in interviews.
- **2026-01** — Released Cybersecurity Upside Down, his first book.

## Links

- Website: https://www.bennyczarny.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/benny-czarny
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-27