How an Innovation Culture Drives Technology Evolution at StrongDM

At StrongDM, innovation isn't just a buzzword; it's at the root of all of our product development and it guides our vision for delivering the most effective Zero Trust PAM solution on the market. And in our eyes, the concept of innovation is not about merely incrementally adding new features to our platform. Woven into the ethos of StrongDM is a desire to use our technology capabilities and collective insights to fix things that don’t work and improve things that could be better. We’re curious, and that curiosity fuels our technology development.

Our organizational culture is firmly embedded in a collection of values that we take seriously. You can see all of them on our About Us page, but there are three in particular that speak to our drive to think, be curious, and create:

We embrace the mission

We are determined and creative in solving a wicked problem. Everyone embraces this complex, often daunting, never-ending duty. We design audacious solutions with integrity and honesty. Our clients' security depends on us.

We pursue mastery

We are driven by optimism and the belief that we are never done learning. We are all teachers and learners. Everyone practices curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking.

We are smarter together

We debate ideas openly, candidly, and respectfully. Diverse perspectives guide us through difficult, decisive conversations. We don't shy away from difficult conversations.

When people are curious and are given the time and space to ponder, torture whiteboards, argue, and think big, it’s pretty amazing what can happen. Within this type of organizational culture, we’ve created some remarkable things for customers who deserve remarkable solutions. Just recently, we put the first Zero Trust PAM solution into the market and have revolutionized how enterprises secure their environments.  

As a way of codifying this type of work and the value we place on creation and protection of new ideas, we've secured eleven patents that are instrumental in driving our product development forward. Patents are not only a testament to our commitment to innovation but the reality is that they also serve as a strategic asset that showcases our competitive edge in the tech industry.

Innovating Security: StrongDM's Impact on Enterprise Technology

Driving so much of this innovation at StrongDM are Justin McCarthy, our CTO and co-founder, and Phil Hassey, senior software engineer. They are part of a group that has been instrumental in developing several patents that have significantly fortified our platform, enhancing its strength, reliability, agility, and adaptability to meet the dynamic needs of modern IT environments. These patents are now used broadly in a variety of software engineering and security use cases and have made a significant impact on the direction that the enterprise security technology market is headed. 

Among the contributions of the StrongDM team are the following patents:

Managing and monitoring infrastructure access in networked environments

• Patent numbers: 11546763, 11729620
• Inventors: Carlos Ulderico Cirello Filho, Justin Allan McCarthy, Britt Vandermast Crawford

This patent ensures that as networked environments grow increasingly complex, our platform can efficiently manage and monitor access across various systems, enhancing security and operational oversight.

Credential management for distributed services

• Patent numbers: 11546323, 11784999
• Inventors: William Craig Jones, Justin Allan McCarthy, Patrick David Stephen, Evan Michael Todd

Focused on securing and simplifying the management of credentials across distributed systems, this patent reduces the risks of credential misuse and streamlines access management in decentralized environments.

Managing and monitoring infrastructure access in networked environments

• Patent number: 11729620
• Inventors: Carlos Ulderico Cirello Filho, Justin Allan McCarthy, Britt Vandermast Crawford

By enabling more granular monitoring and management of endpoint activity, this patent helps in identifying and mitigating potential security risks more swiftly, ensuring that endpoint integrity is maintained.

Connection revocation in overlay networks

• Patent number: 11765159, 11973752
• Inventors: Britt Vandermast Crawford, Philip D. Hassey, Alexander Chidi Okafor

This technology allows for immediate disconnection of devices from overlay networks, crucial for maintaining network security in the event of a breach or when a device is no longer trusted.

Managing and monitoring endpoint activity in secured networks

• Patent number: 11736531, 11916968
• Inventors: Carlos Ulderico Cirello Filho, Philip D. Hassey

This patent focuses on improving the way activities are tracked and managed on a network. In simpler terms, imagine you have a security guard (an agent) who checks what requests are coming in and out of a server (a resource server), which acts like a storage room for all your digital files and interactions.

Declaring network policies using natural language

• Patent number: 11765207
• Inventor: Justin Allan McCarthy

This innovative approach makes it easier for administrators to declare and modify network policies using natural language processing, significantly simplifying network management tasks and reducing errors.

Tunnelling with support for dynamic naming resolution

• Patent number: 11916885
• Inventors: Carlos Ulderico Cirello Filho, Philip D. Hassey

Enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of network connections, this patent supports dynamic naming resolution in tunneling protocols, which is vital for maintaining continuous service availability and performance in dynamic IP environments.

Leverage StrongDM’s Innovation

Each of these patents has not only strengthened our technical foundation but also ensured that StrongDM remains a leader in adapting to the ever-evolving technological landscape. These innovations embody our commitment to providing a more secure, reliable, and adaptable platform, equipping our clients to navigate the access and security complexities of modern digital environments with confidence. See for yourself how our work is helping to make enterprises more secure - get a demo of StrongDM.