From Ethical Hacker to Startup Founder
Theo Turletti, CEO and founder of Anantis, sat down with Philippe Séjalon at Risk-In 2026 to discuss his journey from ethical hacking to building a cutting-edge cybersecurity software startup. Having spent several years auditing banks in Geneva, Theo would penetrate internal networks, uncover vulnerabilities, and report findings directly to CISOs so they could be patched as quickly as possible. That hands-on experience gave him a deep understanding of how real attackers operate inside enterprise environments.
A New Approach: Decoy Servers That Trap Intruders
Theo's new venture, Anantis, is built around a honeypot-based platform designed specifically to help security teams detect intrusions with no false positives. Rather than continuing to offer consulting services, he made the strategic decision to transition from service to software, developing a solution that deploys decoy servers mimicking real infrastructure such as Windows laptops, Windows servers, and FortiGate appliances. These honeypots emulate normal device behavior, making them indistinguishable from legitimate assets on the network.
Why Every Attacker Will Fall Into the Trap
The logic behind the platform is straightforward and grounded in real attacker methodology. When a threat actor penetrates an internal network, the first step is always an enumeration phase involving a full network scan across every machine and every port. This means interaction with decoy servers is virtually guaranteed. The moment an attacker touches a honeypot, an alert is immediately triggered, giving security teams a highly reliable and actionable signal with no noise from legitimate user activity.
Seamless Integration With Existing Security Stacks
What makes the Anantis platform particularly practical for enterprise security teams is its complete integration capability. The solution connects with any SIEM and any firewall, allowing alerts to flow through existing log forwarding pipelines. This enables teams to automate both detection and incident response, dramatically reducing the time between identifying a breach and resolving it. For CISOs under pressure to respond faster and more accurately, Anantis offers a compelling addition to any security architecture.
Discover Anantis
Anantis is a cybersecurity startup founded by ethical hacking veteran Theo Turletti. The company has built a honeypot-based detection platform that helps organizations identify internal network intrusions with zero false positives. By deploying decoy servers that mimic real infrastructure, Anantis ensures that any attacker performing standard enumeration will trigger an immediate alert. The platform integrates seamlessly with existing SIEM and firewall solutions, automating detection and incident response workflows. Anantis is redefining how enterprises approach early-stage threat detection from the inside out.
