Abacode Cybersecurity Founder Tech Tribune Interview

Reprinted With Permission from thetechtribune.com
Originally published Tuesday, September 22, 2020 on thetechtribune.com

An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Michael Ferris, the founder and CEO of Abacode, which was honored in our:

• 2021 Best Tech Startups in Tampa

We had an opportunity to be featured in the Tech Tribune as one of the Top 10 Tech startups in Tampa Bay. As part of the process we were able to tell our story. As we head into Cybersecurity Awareness month, I wanted to share some of the key themes.

Tell us the origin story of Abacode – what problem were you trying to solve and why?

As I’ve said many times, Abacode was “born out of the board room.” As members of the C-Suite we often faced many of the same cybersecurity challenges our customers face. We created Abacode to help our customers solve three of today’s the most critical cybersecurity business challenges.

1. Complexity and Confusion. The sheer number of cybersecurity and compliance products on the market is in the hundreds. Most organizations don’t have the time or expertise to stay abreast of the various applications and products. To quiet the noise and to support better strategic decision, we created a Cybersecurity Applied Research Lab (CARL) to help members of the C-Suite and their organizations evaluate, rank, and qualify which products are best for them.
2. Cost Controls – It’s possible to have more than you need and it’s possible to have less than what you need when it comes to cybersecurity. Many of the CFOs we work with aren’t really sure they are making the right investments at the right level. We provide them with an easy to understand dashboard that shows them their entire spend and allows them to run scenarios like: “If we spend X, what does that do to my cyber-risk profile and compliance mandates”..
3. Governance & Compliance –A large majority of boards of directors and CEOs do not have a technical background, so it’s confusing for them to truly understand if they’re doing the right things to protect their data and become cyber-secure. We provide a new governance model that allows the CEO and board of directors to finally have the right checks & balances and reporting in place to enable the entire business to be set up for success. This is a very different approach than most of the other suppliers offering cybersecurity and compliance solutions.

Addressing these three areas are among the first steps in converting cybersecurity from a challenge to a competitive advantage for our customers. If you’re not sure about the state of your cybersecurity, start with a gap assessment. Gap assessments enable companies to identify or determine whether compliance or data security requirements are being met.

Because cybersecurity criminals never take time off, it’s imperative to be vigilant around the clock when it comes to thwarting cyber attacks. Many organizations don’t have a 24/7 security operation center (SOC). This too, is a key differentiator for our customers who leverage our SOC.

If you would like to learn more about getting started securing your companies most vital data with a Gap assessment, contact Abacode now!