ESET's blueprint for partner-led cybersecurity at scale

A silent shift is unfolding-where prevention beats response, trust drives strategy and every connection strengthens the shield. It's not just security; it's a reimagined network of resilience, built ground-up through people, not products

- BHARTI TREHAN

In a market as fragmented as India’s, building cyber resilience isn’t just about tools, it’s about trust, timing and tactical enablement. Ajay Kumar Joshi, Country Head, India and SAARC, ESET, shares how a prevention-first model and a partner-only approach are reshaping the rules. This isn’t just strategy. It’s a ground-up redesign of how security scales in complex environments.

Prevention-first, not response last: ESET strategy

Our prevention-first approach is stopping threats before they become a problem. This isn’t a reactive model. The focus is on identifying and neutralising threats before they can reach a customer's systems.

We come across five lakh new threats every day. Even one of them slipping through can cause major disruptions. ESET’s approach includes multilayered protection covering every stage, including pre-execution, during execution and post-execution. Beyond this, ESET also offers services such as vulnerability and patch management, full disc encryption for data protection and mail security for Office 365 environments.

Most ransomware threats typically originate from unsolicited or spam emails. A simple click by an unaware user can lead to infection. That’s why we bundle all these layers into a complete security suite. This approach is relevant across the board, from micro-SMBs to mid-sized enterprises. Endpoint security remains the base of the security pyramid. Its importance has only grown with the emergence of EDR, MDR and XDR.

Two kinds of partners, two kinds of strategies

India’s partner ecosystem is vast and diverse. To address this, ESET’s channel strategy is designed around two distinct partner types:

• Opportunity partners — who operate on a deal-by-deal basis