Tech startup Trickest helping to spearhead the rise of the ethical hackers

Worldwide spending on cybersecurity and risk management is projected to reach $215 billion in 2024. However even with all of the resources being spent on the industry, the number of cyberattacks continues to be on the rise.

Last year malware rose by 11% to more than 6 billion attacks — the highest volume since 2019. In particular the markets in North America and Latin America saw increases. 

This is where Trickest, founded in 2020, is looking to play a part.

The company, on a mission to democratize offensive security with best-in-class solutions, equips teams with the tools needed to build, automate, and execute critical workflows and integrations. 

The tech startup’s platform, which has raised $3M in total funding, empowers organizations to automate the tedious work of offensive security engineering, leading to increased productivity along with more identified threats.

Rising cyber threats pose serious concerns

Put simply, Trickest understands a simple truth: in today’s market, offensive security can no longer be an afterthought. 

Both of the startup’s founders, Nenad Zaric and Mihailo Tomic, have long been a driving force in shaping the future of digital security.

Zaric, for one, was a hacker and a security professional who used to hold top rankings for companies like Uber, Paypal, and Snapchat on bug bounty platform HackerOne.

Said the co-founder in an earlier interview, “The cybersecurity field faces a significant challenge with millions of unfilled jobs. To address this, we’re seeing a trend where professionals are increasingly doing the work of two or more people.”

“This approach is putting immense pressure on individuals in the cybersecurity space. As a solution, it’s crucial to develop effective tools to help manage these challenges, continue evolving, and ensure global security,” added the executive.

The Rise of Ethical Hacking

Ethical hacking, which the company is advancing, brings ingenuity and a human perspective to approach technical systems. In the end, it’s the job of ethical hackers to identify these weaknesses and how they can be exploited — and then present a document that outlines the challenges and proposed solutions.

This is particularly important due to the rise of AI, which has opened up digital enterprises to new vulnerabilities. 

Luke Stephens, an ethical hacker, said that what sets the startup apart is, “the Trickest platform is flexible enough to allow human creativity to shine while removing the pain of managing scalable infrastructure. The workflow UI is so beautifully designed that building out security workflows is a pleasure.”

Today, Trickest is continuing to be a pioneer in enterprise security automation that lets security teams — including companies, security providers, and ethical hackers — create automated attack simulations, among other areas.

The company is backed by investors including Underline Ventures, Credo Ventures and Earlybird Digital East fund, alongside angel investors such as UiPath’s Daniel Dines, Vlad Ionescu, and Marius Tirca.

This article includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company