While warfare used to mean dropping bombs and shooting bullets, modern conflict is increasingly seeing actors targeting an adversaries’ critical infrastructure with cyberattacks.

The number of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure perpetrated or sponsored by nation-states doubled from 20% to 40% between July 2021 and June 2022, according to Microsoft. The US is particularly vulnerable since the vast majority of critical infrastructure is under private ownership. This makes the implementation of safety standards challenging and complicates the government's task of monitoring and guarding against threats.

Enter: Galvanick.

Catch-up quick: The LA-based startup, which just announced a $10M seed round, is building cybersecurity solutions to protect industrial infrastructure.

Galvanick's first product is an industrial-based XDR platform. Think of it as a system that collects data from different industrial machines and locations to keep an eye out for any potential threats. This allows the operations and computer security teams to understand what’s normal behavior—and what isn’t—and to quickly see if something is out of whack.

First customer? The company’s initial target market is the aerospace and defense industry, where cyber threats are particularly acute due to national security interests.

A sneak peek…

We interview Josh Steinman, cofounder and CEO of Galvanick. Josh founded the company in 2021 after witnessing the extent of the issue as a former senior director for cyber at the National Security Council. We discuss:

Galvanick’s origin story and vision
The importance of the National Security Council
Asymmetric attacks and the extent of the cyber problem
What separates successful defense startups
The top three threats to America

And much more…

This episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/

• Chapters •

00:00 - Intro and SpiderOak Ad

01:10 - Good morning, we are going to win

03:35 - Galvanick overview

05:56 - Josh's background and the Galvanick origin story

09:35 - Influencing the creation of the Defense Innovation Unit

11:28 - National Security Council Primer

14:25 - How did you land a role on the NSC?

16:29 - What is an asymmetric attack and how does cyber fit into that description?

22:47 - What are the critical vulnerabilities that we face today?

27:20 - Galvanick's technology

29:53 - How are you thinking about scaling in the market and growing the business?

32:44 - Customer pushback on the product

36:55 - How is generative AI going to change cyberattacks?

39:01 - SpiderOak Ad break

39:49 - What separates successful defense startups from the rest?

42:33 - How would you digitize our infrastructure?

47:17 - Top threats to America today

50:28 - Is China ahead in critical technology developments?

52:50 - Perspective on US decline vs China rise

57:12 - The future of cybersecurity

01:00 - How to get in touch with Josh and Galvanick

• Show notes •

Galvanick's website — https://www.galvanick.com/

Galvanick's socials — https://twitter.com/GalvanickCo

Josh's socials — https://twitter.com/JoshuaSteinman

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes

• About us •

Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers.

Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)

Next-Gen Threat Detection, with Josh Steinman (Galvanick)

Valley of Depth