Revolutionizing Defense: Unleashing the Power of First Mover Advantage

John Ellingson
John Ellingson
chess pieces on a chessboard

Throughout history, the advantage in warfare has always belonged to the offense, as they can strike first. Defense has traditionally played a reactive role, devising strategies and tactics to fend off attackers and launch counterattacks. This age-old principle has been the backbone of military operations for centuries and has proven effective in conventional analog environments. The same is true in the digital realm. By acting first, hackers have a number of advantages:

  1. Anonymity: Attackers can operate from remote locations and conceal their identities, making it difficult for defenders to identify and retaliate against them effectively.

  2. Speed and Reach: With the speed of digital communication, attackers can rapidly launch attacks from anywhere, targeting multiple victims simultaneously. This gives them the ability to exploit vulnerabilities before defenders can even detect and respond to the threat.

  3. Sophisticated Techniques: Attackers have access to advanced hacking tools, techniques, and malware, enabling them to exploit vulnerabilities and breach defenses with precision. They can employ tactics such as social engineering, phishing, or zero-day exploits to gain unauthorized access or manipulate systems.

  4. Asymmetry of Resources: In many cases, attackers have the advantage of fewer constraints compared to defenders. They can focus their resources on developing new attack methods, whereas defenders must allocate significant resources to secure vast and complex digital infrastructures.

There is a critical need to change the rules of the game: we need to give cyber defenders the first-mover advantage over the attacker.

QWERX' technology changes the rules of the game by removing or nullifying the attacker's advantages. We eliminate the "soft target" of a static credential that can be stolen and reused, and replace it with a dynamic, ephemeral credential that disappears instantly after use. For the first time ever, cyber defense can move faster than offense.

The QWERX security advantage gains control of the clock and the dynamics of the battle. By compelling opponents to abide by new rules, the defender gains the upper hand, with the flexibility to alter the rules at will. The defender gains control of the clock and the dynamics of the battle. QWERX-protected networks can change the size of the credential so the attacker no longer knows what to look for. QWERX can alter the frequency of the timing of the changing of the credential from multiple times per second to every couple of seconds, so the attacker cannot anticipate when the next change will occur. The attacker is constantly off guard and playing catch-up.

QWERX represents a paradigm shift in defense, empowering the previously reactive role to become proactive and assertive. By harnessing the first mover advantage, defenders are reshaping the future of warfare, bringing newfound strength and resilience to the realm of digital security.
John Ellingson

John Ellingson

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John Ellingson is the Chief Technology Officer at QWERX. John started his digital career with the Boeing Company working on the 747 aircraft in the late 1960s. He became a computer-literate attorney performing what is today known as forensic accounting. As the founding chairman of the ABA/YLD Subcommittee on Tax Treatment in Bankruptcy, John worked with the Congressional Joint Tax Committee to create the Internal Revenue Code Provision enabling the tax-free merger and acquisition of debtor corporations. This law became part of the Bankruptcy Tax Act of 1980. John had a national M&A practice in this area and obtained the first IRS Private Letter Ruling on this Code section. As a result of this practice, he observed a frequent element of white-collar crime in many bankruptcy cases, and he subsequently developed and patented a method to detect identity fraud. The product derived from that patent is still deployed at most retail banks throughout the U.S. today. This success started John on a path of protecting digital systems and identity management. He continued in this role with American Operations Corporation and ASM Research before founding infOsci LLC and later QWERX, Inc. John holds numerous method patents in digital system security. John was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy and medically separated before graduation. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University. For 20 years John served as a liaison officer with the United States Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy. He also served on the Service Academy Selection Boards for two U.S. Senators.

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