MINIMIZE WHAT CAN BE KNOWN
RAY HEFFER
Born in the United Kingdom, and now living in the United States, Ray Heffer is a field Chief Information Security Officer and also founder of PsySecure, where he focuses on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and privacy, embodying his motto: MINIMIZE WHAT CAN BE KNOWN
His passion for technology began as a child with a Commodore 64, leading to his discovery of bulletin boards, and the demo scene. In 1993, during college in England, he discovered a major flaw in Novell NetWare gaining access to the campus-wide system, which caught the attention of his programming tutor, who then shared insights into cracking and writing computer viruses.
He then began his professional career in the mid-1990s, focusing on Linux security, penetration testing, and honeypot deployments at an ISP. This work gave him invaluable insights into threat actor tactics, from the underground warez scene to the emergence of botnets. After a decade at VMware, where he served as Field CISO and Principal Architect, Ray led Secure DevOps practices integrated with privacy engineering, focusing on global enterprises to deploy secure, compliant systems at scale across highly regulated environments.
Over the past 30 years, he earned recognition as an authority in secure cloud architecture and privacy, working with global organizations including VMware, Amazon Web Services, and major clients across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the Middle East. As a cybersecurity and privacy thought leader, Ray combines deep technical expertise in GenAI security, cloud architecture, and secure DevOps with strategic guidance for CISOs and executive teams. He hosts The Lockdown: Practical Privacy & Security podcast and still spends many evenings coding, researching, and exploring emerging privacy techniques.
ABOUT PSYSECURE
We're building the future of cybersecurity defense, one that starts where attackers do.
Reconnaissance is the first step in every targeted attack, yet traditional defenses like firewalls, EDR, and security training primarily address what happens after adversaries have already profiled your organization. Today's threat actors use open-source intelligence (OSINT) to build these profiles from publicly available information, turning your digital footprint into a blueprint for attack. We're fixing that gap.
PsySecure is pioneering the first systematic defense against OSINT-based threats. We've developed the industry's first platform that transforms an organization's digital footprint from a vulnerability into a measurable, manageable security control.
The PsySecure Unity platform, implements the Open-Source Intelligence Defense & Security Framework (ODSF), the first comprehensive standard for OSINT defense. The Unity platform delivers 159 measurable security controls across 5 critical focus areas, real-time ODSF scoring that quantifies your defense posture, executive protection features that safeguard high-value personnel, continuous monitoring of your organization's digital footprint, and enterprise-grade architecture built for scale and compliance.
While others react to breaches, we defend against the reconnaissance that makes them possible. Our platform when combined with the ODSF, turns the abstract concept of "reducing your digital footprint" into concrete, measurable actions with demonstrable ROI.
Founded by Ray Heffer, a cybersecurity professional with over 30 years of combined experience in threat intelligence, privacy engineering, and enterprise security, PsySecure brings deep domain expertise to an underserved but critical market.