STARTUP STORIES
We meet bugshell, the Berlin based startup who are building a community to make penetration tests more efficient, transparent, and accessible.
Tell us about your start up
Bugshell is a cybersecurity platform that helps companies analyze the security of their IT from an attacker’s perspective. To do this, the platform taps into a European community consisting of highly specialized cybersecurity experts. Similar to online dating, bugshell matches the needs of its customers with the skills of its experts. Currently, bugshell offers penetration testing and phishing simulations. Our target customers are the German Mittelstand.
What is your USP?
Our USP is the ability to match the best-fitting experts to the requirements of our customers and the ability to transparently map the entire cybersecurity testing process on our platform. This results in significantly more time for testing and higher quality. What is also unique is our EU-exclusive approach.
We only work with European cybersecurity experts using European servers.
What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
IT security is one of the most pressing problems of our time. Companies in the telecom sector are a constant target of cyberattacks. A perfect match for our services, as we test the IT security of a company from an attacker’s perspective. We have also gained significant experience in this field, due to one of our largest clients working in this industry.
How have you got to your current stage of development?
From the very start of our founding in summer 2021, we have been backed by an experienced German business angel. This provided us access to a vast business network and enabled us to develop our platform at lightning speed.
Since April 2022, we are actively engaging clients on the market and have already tested several clients. So far, the feedback has been extremely positive. This is not only due to our transparent processes, but our ability to only test what is necessary at a significantly lower price than our competition.
Why did you establish the business?
Since 2019, damages caused by cyberattacks have risen by several hundred percent. In Germany alone we are looking at EUR 203 billion damages in 2022. This cannot continue and is the reason why we founded bugshell. We think that one of the biggest issues in cybersecurity is that the processes are too slow and not adaptable enough. Companies want to harden their IT security against cyberattacks but lack the ability to do so. To solve this problem, they would need a whole staff of highly skilled employees. But even if the necessary capital is available attracting top talent is extremely difficult.
Their only option is to work with external vendors that offer questionable and inconsistent quality. This is the framework in which bugshell has built its business idea for a scalable platform.
What is your motivation?
The reason to found bugshell was caused more by frustration than inspiration. We wanted to create a European answer against the rising threat of cybercrime. We are also adapting the European idea: Uniting the knowhow of cybersecurity experts from different members states on one platform.
What does the future hold for your business?
Cyberthreats are on the rise and so is the cybersecurity testing market. The German market is the fastest growing market in the EU. Bugshell is, therefore, perfectly positioned. Our goal is to become Europe’s leading IT security platform. We want to foster innovation and give cybersecurity experts a larger voice, with the vision “For a safer digital world” in mind.
Company CV
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Employees: 8
Funding: Pre-seed (Currently in late seed venture capital round)
URL: https://bugshell.com/
Founders
Volker Haupt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/volker-haupt-302461a4/
Inko Lorch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inko-lorch/
Jakob Semmler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakob-semmler-858437158/
Bugshell are one of the startups exhibiting at Connected Germany on the 6 – 7 December 2022. The event takes place at Mainz Congress, Germany. Get your pass HERE
The post Stay safe – think like an attacker first appeared on Total Telecom.