Overview
When Appknox partnered with PANBlast in February 2025, the company had already established itself as a leading mobile application security platform in Asia, Africa, Latin America and parts of Europe. Its next challenge was entering the U.S. market, where it had only a small customer base and virtually no brand recognition.
Competing against established cybersecurity vendors with years of media relationships and market awareness, Appknox needed to quickly establish credibility with CISOs, engineering leaders and enterprise buyers while supporting ambitious U.S. growth goals.
Over an 18-month engagement, PANBlast helped transform Appknox into a recognized and credible voice in US cybersecurity media through proprietary research, executive thought leadership, product storytelling and a consistent earned media strategy that significantly increased share of voice and generated measurable business impact.
Challenge
The mobile application security market is highly competitive, with established vendors regularly publishing threat research and dominating media conversations.
As a Singapore-based company entering the U.S., Appknox faced several challenges:
- Building awareness and credibility among U.S. enterprise buyers.
- Positioning executives as trusted voices in cybersecurity and AI security.
- Differentiating from larger competitors.
- Supporting ambitious U.S. growth objectives.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle was credibility. Without a significant U.S. customer base or existing relationships with American media, Appknox needed to earn trust before it could earn attention.
Strategy
PANBlast developed a program that positioned Appknox as a source of original mobile appsec intelligence and expert analysis.
Turn Proprietary Security Research Into News
To compete against larger cybersecurity vendors, PANBlast recommended producing original security research that journalists couldn’t get anywhere else.
Instead of simply commenting on industry news, Appknox began conducting independent analyses of widely used applications, AI platforms and emerging mobile threats before proactively sharing the findings with business and cybersecurity media.
Several campaigns became standout successes.
Perplexity Mobile Security Analysis
As AI-powered mobile applications surged in popularity, Appknox conducted a security assessment of Perplexity’s Android app, uncovering insights that were timely and highly relevant to technology and cybersecurity reporters.
PANBlast positioned the findings as exclusive research, securing feature coverage in Forbes, Dark Reading, The Hacker News and CyberNews. Beyond media coverage, the campaign generated multiple inbound inquiries and a noticeable increase in U.S. website traffic as prospective buyers explored Appknox’s research.
Fake AI Apps Research
PANBlast also helped Appknox investigate fake mobile applications impersonating well-known brands and AI services.
The findings were shared under embargo with security journalists, resulting in feature coverage across HackRead, SC Media, Cyber Press, Malwarebytes and KnowBe4 while reinforcing Appknox’s authority on emerging mobile security threats.
This original research helped Appknox establish its ownable position within the application security conversation.
Build Consistent Executive Thought Leadership
Alongside original research, PANBlast developed an always-on thought leadership program designed to keep Appknox executives visible in conversations shaping the future of cybersecurity.
The team created contributed articles, executive commentary, prediction campaigns and reactive media opportunities covering topics such as:
- AI-native application security
- Agentic AI governance
- Exploitability-driven vulnerability management
- Mobile application security
- Emerging cyber threats
Rather than focusing exclusively on company news, PANBlast positioned Appknox executives as industry experts helping security leaders navigate rapidly evolving technology trends.
Our cybersecurity predictions campaign strengthened spokesperson credibility, placing Appknox executives in discussions around AI security, platform engineering and the future of application security in publications such as The New Stack, The Cyber Wire and Security Week, increasing visibility among the company’s core audience of AppSec leaders and security engineers.
Support Product Innovation With Market Narratives
While thought leadership remained the foundation of the program, PANBlast also supported several major product launches, including StoreKnox, KnoxSpy and KnoxIQ. Rather than announcing new capabilities in isolation, each launch was tied to larger industry shifts.
For example, KnoxIQ was introduced against the backdrop of AI-generated code and increasing alert fatigue, positioning Appknox as an early leader in AI-native application security instead of simply another product vendor.
The launch generated coverage across SiliconANGLE, DevOps.com, BetaNews, Solutions Review, The Fast Mode and CyberTechnology Insights while creating additional executive thought leadership opportunities in TechRadar Pro and The AI Journal.
Campaign Results
Between February 2025 and July 2026, PANBlast helped establish Appknox as a credible voice within the U.S. cybersecurity media while significantly expanding its visibility among enterprise decision makers.
Program results:
- Increased share of voice from 4.2% to 20.6%, a gain of 16.4 percentage points.
- Secured 64 pieces of earned coverage, with 84% of those being classified as high impact.
- Earned 23 tier-one and wishlist placements, including Forbes, Newsweek, Dark Reading, SC Media, CyberNews, HackRead, CIO, SecurityWeek, TechRadar and IT Brew.
- Published 19 contributed articles establishing Appknox executives as experts in AI security and application security.
- Expanded the number of media outlets driving traffic to the Appknox website from 4 to 28.
- Increased PR-driven website sessions from 51 to 231, with campaigns like the Perplexity analysis generating inbound inquiries from prospective customers.
By combining proprietary security research, strategic thought leadership and market-driven storytelling, PANBlast helped Appknox accomplish far more than media coverage. The company evolved from limited U.S. media visibility into a recognized voice in U.S. application security, building the credibility needed to support continued growth in one of the world’s most competitive technology markets.
“PANBlast became a true extension of our team. They understood that building credibility in the U.S. would require more than securing occasional coverage; we needed a consistent and distinctive point of view. Together, we turned Appknox’s research, product innovation and executive expertise into stories that earned attention from influential cybersecurity and business media. The program significantly strengthened our visibility and gave us a credible foundation from which to continue building the U.S. market.” — Rishika Mehrotra, Chief Strategy Officer, Appknox
The PANBlast team that worked on this campaign included: VP Kelsey Sowder, Director Abby Parus, Account Supervisor Annie Cumming, Account Executive Rylee Pohancsek, Senior Content Specialist Gizzelle Sandoval and SVP Grace Williams.