User:Roni.Ba/Asaf Kochan

Asaf Kochan (Hebrew: אסף כוחן) (born 1971),  is an Israeli entrepreneur and former commander of Unit 8200 in the IDF, Israel's elite intelligence and cyber technology unit. He is a decorated reserve Brigadier General in the IDF. Kochan is a leading practitioner in state-level cybersecurity.

He is the co-founder and President of Sentra, a Data Security Posture Management startup that identifies and remediates vulnerabilities in sensitive public cloud environments.

Kochan led Unit 8200 between 2017 and 2021. Prior to that, he held numerous command positions both in the IDF's Special Operations and in the Israeli Intelligence community.

Biography
Asaf Kochan was born and raised on a kibbutz in Israel's central region. He enlisted in the IDF in 1990 and volunteered for the Sayeret Matkal elite special forces unit. Following his completion of the officers' course, he was appointed team commander before being promoted to battalion commander. He continued his service in various command positions of the IDF's Special Operations Units in which he participated and led a variety of operational activities. For one of the operations under his command, he was awarded a military decoration (ZTALASH). At the request of the Israeli government, Kochan was twice recruited from the IDF to positions in the Prime Minister's office.

In 2011 he was appointed Deputy Commander of Unit 8200, and in April 2017 he was appointed the unit's commander.

While leading the unit, Kochan focused on developing the unit's capabilities in cyberspace, as well as developing a data driven analytical approach to the unit's work, leveraging advances in AI and machine learning. During his tenure Kochan actively engaged in planning, coordinating, and implementing national policy in cyberspace.

During Kochan's term as commander of 8200, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and the unit assisted in developing solutions for various needs that arose.

Also during his command, the unit was awarded a special Certificate Of Appreciation from IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi.

In March 2021, Kochan retired from the IDF.

In August 2021, Kochan teamed up with a group of experienced entrepreneurs to establish Sentra, a company dedicated to cloud data Security in public cloud environments, combining expertise in the fields of cyber, analytics and artificial intelligence.

Personal Life

Kochan holds an LLB from the Herzliya IDC Reichman University and a Master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is married, and a father of four.