Cybersecurity With Fabiola Munguia – 5 Learnings From the Founders Talk

Being able to guarantuee officially certified IT security is for many companies a necessity for handling business interactions. This, however, is often a big challenge. The companies don’t have access to a network of hackers that could provide penetration testing (staged hacker attacks) services to identify potential security vulnerabilites. This is where Fabiola Munguia and her co-founder Grigory Emelianov come into play. Their platform brokers contacts between customers and white hat hackers who help to identify potential cybersecurity vulnerabilites.

In her Founders Talk, Fabiola talked in-depth about cybersecurity and shared some exciting insights from her own founder story.

The most important learnings at a glance:

#1 The Most Common Cybersecurity Attacks

According to Fabiola, everyone can be targeted by an attack. These usually don’t happen on a large scale. Most target the employee level by using phishing or social engineering. Consequently, it’s important to raise awareness for internet security and prepare the team for such attempts. Most of the time, employees don’t exactly know to respond in such a way that damage can be avoided.

In such a context, the Red Team method is helpful. The method simulates a cyberattack on the team but only the actual client is informed about the event. That way, the reactions of affected persons can be monitored and corrected.

#2 The Advantages Of a Hacker Network

When everyone and every company can be targeted by a cyberattack, it is helpful to make an effort to get into contact with a hacker network early on. This is an active investment into the company’s internet security. Important: To know  the difference between black hat and white hat hackers – white hats have good intentions and work to improve the IT security of companies and individual persons.

In Fabiola’s network, there are different hackers but many confirm the clichés that everyone has in mind: young people who have gone freelance with their skills and are entrepreneurially active. Some of them already hacked platforms such as Google or Mozilla – which is certainly a great way to prove competence and a good reference for a white hat hacker.

#3 Diversity In All Areas

To build a perfect team, it’s important to recruit in all areas. The IT sector is still predominantly the domain of men. According to Fabiola, the problem is that many women don’t feel confident enough to enter that world; which is also a societal failing.

So: Give yourself a chance and go for it, if you are really interested. Gender has no bearing on talent or skill. Apart from gender, a well-balanced geographical distribution is enriching for a company. The Secfix team is spread out all over Europa and even beyond that. In our remote-work age, that’s luckily not a problem anymore.

#4 Choosing the Team

Talking about team composition: In the beginning, it is often difficult to hire the right people for the right positions. That’s why you should not act prematurely. Think carefully about whom you hire. Your team is what makes your company. All team members should have a clearly defined role and be able to fulfill that role so that the team can work as a unit.

#5 Expert Support

Focus on business angels during the early phase of your startup, later on venture capitalists. It’s important to be able to access the expertise of experienced entrepreneurs who are invested in you and your business and take the time to provide you with high-quality input. Because we all know: You can learn a lot from others’ mistakes and consequently avoid some of the obstacles that will come your way.

Click the link below to watch the complete Founders Talk with Fabiola Munguia on cybersecurity: