NCSC For Startups diaries: PORGiESOFT
We caught up with George Brown, founder of PORGiESOFT, about his first few weeks in NCSC For Startups...
As an edTech startup that’s now branching into cyber security with an AI-powered fraud detection tool, PORGiESOFT has found the NCSC For Startups programme a great way to meet and learn from their peers.
“Being part of a community and getting insights from people who are experienced in the sector has been so helpful” says George Brown, the company’s founder.
It’s been a learning experience, moving into cyber. “One of the key differences I’ve observed is the high level of accuracy required when it comes to predictions generated by a machine” says George. “In other fields, a new model is usually allowed to learn through experience, including trial and error.” In cyber the tolerances are very fine. “Cyber also does come with more responsibility.”
A meeting of minds
Through NCSC For Startups, PORGiESOFT connected with Aquilai, an alumni of the programme. “They’ve gone through a similar path to us and fully understood the problem we’re trying to solve” explains George. Having someone to talk to who really ‘gets’ your challenges can be priceless, particularly when the challenge is somewhat rarefied.
That problem is the tricky issue of fraud detection using machine learning. “We were able to bounce ideas off the team at Aquilai, and learn from some of the mistakes they made.” Other lessons have included “ideas on implementing a cloud architecture, explainable AI and best practices for testing code.”
It hasn’t stopped there, either. NCSC security architects have helped PORGiESOFT learn how to objectively assess product vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, George adds, “The team at Plexal are always on the ball too, giving us access to what we need, from resources to contacts.”
George Brown, Founder of PORGiESOFT
Challenge accepted!
George seems to be something of a cyber evangelist. Sharing his advice to other tech startups considering taking on a cyber challenge, he says, “go for it.” The NCSC For Startups programme has been a key factor in this, ”being part of the ecosystem”.
Pivoting into a new sector may be daunting, there are lots of technical challenges to negotiate, but there are also plenty of business matters to deal with too. On this front, NCSC For Startups comes through with the goods as well, “In fact, I’ve been surprised by how helpful the non-technical support has been” says George. “We’ve learned about positioning our product, differentiating ourselves from competitors in cyber and the best route to access for the enterprise market.”
There’s also an element of less is more: “We’ve not only been able to learn what we need, but what we don’t really need, such as over-engineering.”
These developments have already uncovered a new market opportunity for PORGiESOFT and adjusted the company’s product roadmap, expanding scope to include consumer cyber fraud. A change which will entail migrating from an on-premise solution to a SaaS solution.
A reasonable upgrade
“Next” says George, “we’re going to be working on a new feature that could really set us apart.”
The ambition is to produce AI which doesn’t just give a decision, but also a reason for its choice. This will make the use of AI considerably more transparent, though George points out, “without revealing anything confidential!”
Gill H
Cyber Innovation Comms Lead
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