How CyberFish's founder got hooked on Cheltenham
Berta Pappenheim, CEO and co-founder of CyberFish, explains how the NCSC For Startups programme has transformed her professional and personal life.
Possessing a dual background in organisational psychology and insider threat intelligence, Berta spent a significant part of her career within a consultancy working with large organisations. Increasingly finding herself working with Latin American companies establishing themselves in the UK, US and Europe, threat intel analytics become a key focus during their entry into new markets.
After a career break for maternity leave, Berta decided she wanted to do something in "In the space between people and threats. Incident response is the area I feel I can add the most value, because experiencing a crisis is a very stressful time, During those moments, a lot of people are involved in resolving the situation, and I realised it’s a process that could be optimised through my understanding of how people behave and make decisions while under stress."
“There's a lot of talk about the human element in awareness, such as making sure people don’t click on phishing links. But the bottom line is there will be a breach. It’s not a question of if, but when.”
The CyberFish team therefore designs scenarios that help organisations factor in how to be 'crisis ready'. Do they know the plan? Do they know what to say (and do)? If someone is absent, what’s the chain of command? Is that person aware of the steps required? How do they influence stakeholders?
These are among the many questions customers are encouraged to ask themselves and prep for. "You have to practice so that's what our platform helps organisations to do,” she explains.
From CYBERUK to NCSC For Startups
Berta was encouraged to apply to NCSC For Startups following a discussion with the NCSC's former Technical Director Ian Levy at CYBERUK 2019. “He gave me some product feedback and that convinced me to apply for the programme.” That conversation led to a transformation of both the business and Berta’s way of life.
Berta recalls how, on starting the programme, the NCSC encouraged her to transform CyberFish's offering. “We had a product and paying clients, but it was a manual tabletop exercise. Through the programme it became an online solution with marketable products. I really benefitted from the NCSC’s mentoring because it prompted me to go back to basics and assess what the solution really is and what’s important.
"It’s easy to get tunnel vision operating on your own, so having another expert help you gain both business and technical perspective is valuable for success.”
Today, CyberFish has developed technology that allows scenarios (such as ransomware attacks on banks or manufacturer supply chain networks) to play out in a safe environment whilst providing feedback on decision-making to help clients improve their responses.
Since evolving the business format from manual to online, Berta has spent time in the UK and Malta, the latter of which is where the engineering teams are based, having been encouraged by Maltese government incentives. That’s not the only spot of travelling Berta has done; she recently relocated (with her family) to Cheltenham to be closer to the programme. “Having initially commuted to and from Cheltenham for events, we eventually decided to make the move there as a family permanent. It was a great business decision to be closer to the NCSC activity but also a provided us a better quality of life away from a shoebox in Canary Wharf.”
The NCSC has also been key for senior leadership at CyberFish. Their CTO is now John Davies, the previous mentor-in-residence for the NCSC For Startups programme. “He’s been a huge positive addition to the team,” says Berta. “To get someone with his expertise, experience and background was the dot on the i. This couldn’t have happened if I’d not applied for the programme.”
Possessing a passion for product development, John’s career has involved developing technical capability and managing engineering teams within environments spanning secure government, tech startup and a defence prime.
Bigger phish to fry...
Looking to the future, Berta has her sights set on CyberFish becoming catch of the day overseas, with Europe and the US highlighted as a specific market of interest beyond the UK and Malta. This international growth will be supported by raising seed investment.
Reflecting on how important the programme has been (and continues to be) Berta enthuses “The support is really amazing and I feel as though we’ve been cared for, which is so important. That continuity is almost a way of justifying the investment you’ve made as a founder and the fact you’re not just disconnected by still having that ecosystem there. I’m still talking with a lot of companies that I’ve met over the past couple of years and there’s always new opportunities and ideas.”
Gill H
Cyber Innovation Communications Lead, NCSC
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