When the Scanners Never Sleep

Reflections from a SaaS founder building for a world that never switches off.

Fortinet reported something last week that stuck with me, their sensors are now detecting around 36,000 automated scans per second across the internet.

That’s not 36,000 people, that’s machines. Constantly probing, mapping, and testing, looking for the one door someone forgot to lock and it’s a reminder that in cybersecurity, the attacker never really sleeps anymore.

The realisation that shaped Overcyte

When we first started designing Overcyte, one of the earliest conversations we had was:

“What happens when the attacker never sleeps?”

That question became a kind of north star for us, because if the threat is continuous, your defence has to be continuous, and your Overcyte of it has to be too. (See what I did there)

But here’s the thing: most organisations aren’t built for that kind of rhythm.  

Security tends to run in cycles with audits, projects, certifications, you prepare hard, you pass, then you exhale.  

Meanwhile, the scanners keep running.

The AI arms race

AI has supercharged both sides.  

Attackers use it to find weak spots faster, automate reconnaissance, and even generate phishing campaigns that sound eerily real.  

Defenders are using it to detect, correlate, and respond, but often still on human cycles. It’s easy to get lost in the tech arms race, but for me as a founder, the bigger question isn’t who has better AI.  

It’s: Who has better habits?

AI can augment your people, but it can’t replace consistency. If your controls, processes, and playbooks aren’t embedded into how you operate every day, AI just adds noise faster.

Building rhythm into resilience

At Overcyte, we think a lot about rhythm. How to help teams run their security the way good operators run a plant, a store, or a system, steady, repeatable, calm under pressure.

Not another dashboard that lights up red, but a way to work that fits into the flow of your business, not fights against it.

Because resilience isn’t something you “achieve”, it’s something you practice.

Where this is going

• The scanners will keep scanning
• AI will keep getting smarter
• And security teams will keep being asked to do more with less.

But I’m convinced the ones who’ll stay ahead are the ones who turn security from a reaction into a rhythm.

That’s the mindset we’re building for at Overcyte, to help teams see, measure, and strengthen that rhythm every day.

Because if the scanners never sleep, neither should our understanding of what’s at risk.

Founder Insights are shared by Overcyte's Aaron Gayton

With deep domain knowledge in Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT), Aaron has spent over 20 years helping mission critical organisations secure their infastrucutre and their people.

His passion lies in adopting a risk-based approach, breaking down traditional barriers between IT and OT, and positioning cybersecurity as a strategic business enabler.

His deep understanding of industry-specific challenges, coupled with his experience in business transformation, uniquely positions him to lead both the product and technical teams at Overcyte.

Dystopian bot farm imagined by Adobe Firefly

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