Mastering the Cybersecurity Arena: From Secrets to Success
Delving into the World of AI, Investment Trends, and International Conferences with Cyber Builders substack.
Are you intrigued by the world of cybersecurity and looking for an informative and engaging blog series to dive into? Look no further! Cyber Builders is your destination, where I share my insights, experiences, and knowledge on building successful cybersecurity products and companies.
In this week's newsletter, as the community is growing, I wanted to do a wrap-up of the previous episodes:
Why building cybersecurity solutions remains critical. My first post of the substack
AI Pass Hacker Test - GPT-4's Remarkable Performance in CEH Exam. How is AI taking over the world of penetration testing?
2023 Q1 - State of the VC market for Cybersecurity. If you are planning to raise money, read this first!
RSA 2023 - Platforms, AI, and 400 vendors! My takeaways from RSA and some stats about the event from a European cyber builder perspective.
FIC 2023. I also attended a significant event in the north of France. Check out my views.
Take advantage of the opportunity to be part of this exciting journey! Share my substack with friends and colleagues. Stay tuned for more engaging content about the cybersecurity industry. Together, let's build something great!
In this wrap-up post, we'll give you a sneak peek into the treasure trove of content that awaits you in the Cyber Builders blog series.
Why building cybersecurity solutions remains critical.
🔗 Link: https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/why-building-cybersecurity-solutions
I shared my story and journey through the cybersecurity industry, from my engineering background to becoming a cybersecurity entrepreneur. As the founder of Sentryo, I've experienced firsthand the rapid growth and dynamic nature of the OT cybersecurity market. Our flagship product, Cyber Vision, has been instrumental in protecting the most prominent manufacturers and utilities worldwide.
In this post, I discussed the importance of cybersecurity in modern society, touching upon the risks and challenges that come with new technologies such as AI, cloud, and IoT. The geopolitical landscape plays a significant role in shaping the future of cybersecurity, making threat intelligence essential for anticipating technical attack vectors and understanding the motivations of threat agents.
I also addressed the importance of thinking globally and acting as European citizens in the cybersecurity community. 🇪🇺 Europe has immense potential to play a significant role in the industry, with countries like France, Germany, the UK, and Italy boasting a large pool of engineering talent and emerging security ecosystems.
AI Pass Hacker Test - GPT-4's Remarkable Performance in CEH Exam
🔗 Link: https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/gpt-4s-remarkable-performance-in
I recently conducted a fascinating experiment to assess GPT-4's cybersecurity knowledge. I started by testing GPT-4 against a cryptography college exam, and it scored impressively well, outperforming most of my students. However, it did make some mistakes, mainly when dealing with recent changes, local references, or specific acronyms.
To raise the bar, I tested GPT-4 against a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) exam covering various cybersecurity topics. To my surprise, GPT-4 scored an incredible 89%! It's important to note that this result might reflect GPT-4's training on practice exams and other security content. Nonetheless, this experiment demonstrates the immense potential of LLMs in cybersecurity applications.
Transparency is crucial for the future of cybersecurity products that leverage LLMs. We should strive for product designs that accurately reflect the data and insights generated by these powerful tools. In addition, the cybersecurity community could benefit from a model trained on vetted reference documents corpus, which would allow us to retrieve sources alongside answers and crosscheck them against reputable sources.
I'm eager to hear your feedback on this research! Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.
2023 Q1 - State of the VC market for Cybersecurity
🔗 Link: https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/riding-the-cybersecurity-investment
Did you know that due to the pandemic and other geopolitical factors, the valuations of established cybersecurity companies are returning to pre-pandemic levels? While this might seem concerning, I want you to know that cybersecurity remains strong and attracts investor interest. I shared insights on the investor market in 2023, particularly the impact of the worldwide economic context on the cybersecurity financial market.
Interestingly, there has been a shift in investor focus towards seed-stage funding, with large deals becoming rarer. This is a positive sign, as it indicates that investors are optimistic about the potential of high-quality companies. Europe's cybersecurity ecosystem, in particular, remains strong, with high investment activity in Q1 2023 with still a significant drop. Despite recent decreases in cyber M&A and funding, cybersecurity is one of the few sectors yet to see a substantial reduction in funding.
In case you missed it, please check out the full post for a more comprehensive analysis of the current state of the cybersecurity investment market. I've included charts and data illustrating these trends and a conclusion offering valuable takeaways for Cyber Builders like us.
RSA 2023 - Platforms, AI, and 400 vendors!
🔗 Link: https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/rsac2023-wrap-up-unraveling-the-convergence
🔗 Link: https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/rsac-2023-a-cybersecurity-enthusiasts
I had an incredible time at RSA Conference 2023, where I got the chance to attend numerous talks, engage in vendor conversations, and catch up with old connections. The conference's strengths lie in its diverse cybersecurity community and the wide range of topics.
One significant theme was the transition from providing top-notch products to becoming a platform provider in the cybersecurity industry. This shift responds to customers' desires for unified solutions rather than multiple, disconnected products. Another hot topic was AI in cybersecurity, with companies like Microsoft and Google showcasing how AI can improve productivity for security analysts.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is no longer seen as the ultimate authentication method, as attackers have found ways to bypass it. This shift emphasizes the need for new identity and authentication management features to detect phishing schemes earlier.
RSA Conference provides a unique opportunity to hear from pioneers in Cryptography. As a security practitioner, it's an enriching experience to listen to these brilliant minds discuss challenges, opportunities, and trends in cryptography.
Overall, the RSA Conference offers a diverse range of topics, allowing professionals to stay informed on various subjects within cybersecurity. During the RSA Conference 2023, there were 400 vendors listed, with the majority being from the Americas (70%), followed by Europe (15%), Israel (10%), and the rest of the world (a few percent). The United States and Israel were the two major contributors, with 274 and 41 vendors, respectively. European vendors at the conference were predominantly from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Finland.
When comparing ecosystems, funding and headcount data show that US and Canadian players are well-funded businesses with fast growth. At the same time, Israeli companies have increased funding and fast growth rates. On the other hand, European companies have lower average funding and a higher average headcount, indicating a mix of large EU service providers and older bootstrapped product companies.
FIC 2023: Insights and Takeaways from Europe's Premier Cybersecurity Tradeshow
https://cyberbuilders.substack.com/p/fic-2023-insights-and-takeaways-from
In April, I attended the FIC 2023 tradeshow, Europe's premier cybersecurity event, which brought together a diverse range of attendees from startups, large companies, and researchers. The event highlighted the vibrant and growing cybersecurity industry in Europe and provided valuable insights into the industry's challenges and opportunities.
One key takeaway from the event was the need for cybersecurity vendors to improve their marketing and messaging, focusing on differentiation and unique value propositions. Many vendors need to shift their focus from simply promoting their technology as the ultimate solution to emphasizing the practical benefits of their products and how they address specific use cases.
Another important insight from FIC 2023 was the increasing maturity of the relationship between cloud computing and security. Cloud technology is no longer seen as a security risk and has become an indispensable tool for many businesses. This shift in perception has opened up new opportunities for innovative security solutions specifically designed for cloud environments.
Additionally, significant announcements like the European "cyber solidarity act" and the "cyber dome" demonstrated the growing importance of cybersecurity on a global scale. European nations are uniting their forces to better detect and defend against increasing cyber threats, with plans to invest in operational security centers and create a European cyber reserve.
Conclusion
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I hope you enjoyed this wrap-up of Cyber Builders' blog series and found it informative and engaging. If there's a specific cybersecurity topic you're interested in learning more about, please feel free to submit it to me! I always seek new ideas and insights to share with my readers. Let's continue to build a community dedicated to tackling security, fraud, and privacy challenges together.