Exclusive: ThreatLocker's Danny Jenkins urges firms to block by default

ThreatLocker's CEO says too many companies still fail to take basic security steps - leaving the door wide open to preventable cyberattacks.

When Danny Jenkins launched ThreatLocker in 2017, he had one clear goal: to make cybersecurity easier - and more effective - by turning industry norms on their head.

"I think what surprises me the most, is that 95% of companies still aren't doing the basics to stop cyberattacks."

Speaking to TechDay, the CEO shared how his unconventional journey from teenage hacker to cybersecurity entrepreneur shaped the company's mission.

"I left school pretty early. I didn't graduate high school," he explained.

"I started writing malware when I was a bullied teenager - back in the Windows 3.1 days. It would delete homework for people I didn't like."

That teenage mischief evolved into a deep passion for computing. Jenkins wrote to every IT company in his town - by hand - asking for an apprenticeship. That led to a career in corporate IT, followed by a series of startups focused on security. His latest, ThreatLocker, takes a radically simple approach to a complex problem.

"We offer endpoint security through a zero trust approach," he said.

"Rather than trying to find everything that's bad in the world, we say: block everything by default, and only allow what your business needs."

This philosophy - only permitting what's essential - has made ThreatLocker a standout in a crowded cybersecurity market. Jenkins claims the company now protects 54,000 organisations globally, with Australia ranking as its second-largest market, behind the United States.

"Australia's actually ahead of a lot of the world in cybersecurity," he said. "The government's Essential Eight framework is a smart move - it focuses on the eight most effective controls rather than hundreds."

But even in relatively advanced markets, Jenkins sees widespread complacency.

"We look at ransomware cases every week," he said. "The attack methods are usually the same - someone runs malicious software, gains access, moves laterally, steals data, and encrypts files. But what shocks me is how unprepared companies still are."

He recalled one incident in Australia that left a lasting impression.

"It was a small insurance broker - 50 employees. They got hit by ransomware, paid the ransom, and still couldn't get their data back. The owner called me in tears, asking if he'd lost his business."

The data was eventually recovered, but Jenkins was struck by how easily the attack could have been prevented.

"He'd bought all the usual security tools," he said. "But no one told him the most important thing - block everything by default. Back then, that was too hard to do manually. So I set out to build something that made it easy."

That became the core of ThreatLocker's platform: allowlisting, ringfencing, and strict control over what software can run, what it can do, and who can access what.

"No one who's properly deployed our allowlisting has ever been hit by ransomware," Jenkins said. "That's the solution I'm most proud of."

The approach has been particularly effective in healthcare, where cyberattacks can have life-threatening consequences. Jenkins shared a recent case involving two hospitals under the same ownership.

"One hospital was completely wiped out by ransomware. The attackers tried to access the other hospital through a shared system - but they couldn't run their malware because it was blocked by ThreatLocker. So they gave up and sent a message saying, 'Your computers are useless because you're running ThreatLocker.'"

Despite success stories like that, Jenkins believes many industries remain too slow to adopt even the most basic protections.

"Especially in sectors like healthcare, where boards are often made up of surgeons, not technologists," he said. "They're used to writing prescriptions on paper, and they underestimate the risk."

Another major blind spot, he warned, is legacy software - especially in long-standing companies like Ticketmaster.

"A lot of those systems were built decades ago, before hacking was really a thing," Jenkins said. "Now they're layered in outdated code, and rewriting it is a massive job. So vulnerabilities stick around."

While many security firms now incorporate artificial intelligence into their tools, Jenkins is wary of over-reliance on generative AI.

"There's this illusion that AI can detect threats. That's false," he said. "We asked ChatGPT to write malware - it wouldn't. But when we rephrased the prompt to create a remote access tool, it did. And antivirus software didn't catch it."

Instead, ThreatLocker uses AI for tasks like website categorisation or explaining complex threats in plain English.

"Engineers are often terrible at communication," Jenkins said. "So if we can summarise security risks in clear, simple language, that helps companies take action."

What Jenkins does promise, however, is round-the-clock support.

"You can get us on the phone 2am Christmas morning," he said. "Whether you're a hospital, an airport, or a small business - if you've been hit, we're here."

That level of responsiveness has earned ThreatLocker high customer satisfaction, with a reported 99.6% monthly renewal rate.

"Our job is to make sure your technology keeps running," Jenkins said. "We go home when the attackers go home."

Looking ahead, he believes the cybersecurity battle will never fully end - but the goal is to make attacks unprofitable.

"Just like with car theft in the 90s, we made it harder. It still happens, but not as much," he said. "If criminals can't make money from cyberattacks, they'll stop."

And the key, he insists, is doing the basics well.

"You don't need magic. Block untrusted software. Turn off macros. Use two-factor authentication. That alone takes you from a 15% chance of being attacked down to 1%."

Jenkins ended with a challenge to businesses of all sizes.

"Every time we do a free audit, we find something scary - Russian software, Chinese apps, open ports," he said. "But the good news is, even if it's a bad day, it can only get better from there."