The Secops Group: Bridging Industry Gaps With Smart Security Solutions
As the digital economy grows, digital crime grows. Soaring numbers of online and mobile interactions are creating millions of attack opportunities. Many lead to data breaches that threaten both people and businesses. At the current rate of growth, damage from cyberattacks will amount to about $10.5 trillion annually by 2025—a 300 percent increase from 2015 levels. The SECOPS Group was established by Sumit Siddharth in 2021, after previously finding a cyber security business which was later acquired by Claranet Group, UK. He has active interests in several other creative security start-ups. The company has over 15 years of experience in providing cybersecurity consultancy and has worked with some of the largest blue-chip companies. It offers services such as Application and API Pentest, External and Internal Network Pentest, Mobile, Application Pentest, Cloud Security Assessments, Red Teaming, Source Code and Architecture Reviews, Smart Contracts, and Blockchain security reviews.The SECOPS Group is a team of 30 full-time employees spread across the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. Within the first year of its operation, the company received several awards, including complete CREST membership, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and Cyber Essentials certification, among others. The team also speaks regularly at international conferences (including Black Hat, Defcon, HITB, and OWASP Appsec) and takes pride in employing the greatest talent and staying up to date with the latest in the realm of ethical hacking. Let’s hear more about The SECOPS Group in this oneon- one interaction with Sumit Siddharth.
What are the major expectations of customers from a cyber security startup? How do you strategize to meet those?
When we hear ‘start-up’, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘experience’. Are they equipped enough? Capable enough? Well in all fairness, the major expectations customers have from a cyber security start-up is that of confidence. Confidence and professionalism in terms of achieving timelines, quality of findings, reporting, and post-engagement support as to how the company will help with the remediation suggested and/or walkthrough of the report submitted.
To achieve all of the above, At SECOPS we believe that Quality is at the core of our business. We take pride in having some of the best consultants in the industry. Our research-based approach separates us from our competitors. We focus on appropriately communicating so that the client travels through the assessment with us and has an idea of every step/milestone completed.
How is your company positioned in this market segment?
We have the right experience, vision and leadership that is required for an industry leader. Pentesting is a pointin- time activity, and we understand it. However, we always advise our clients on both points in time as well as continuous testing to mature their software development processes, which will eventually lead to maturing their security posture. We also partner with innovative security startups whose solutions help clients constantly stay ahead of emerging threats.
Shed light on the wide range of services you offer to customers such as Web Application Pentest, External Network Pentest, Internal Network Pentest, Cloud Security Assessment and many others.
Web application, network, cloud, and mobile application security assessments are the most expected services of cybersecurity’s pentest domain which we already offer. These are our USPs as we have just started.
Alongside, we are geared up to provide Blockchain security assessments, to help our customers keep up with the technology and required security measures. We deliver our services with superior customer experience, great quality of work and a research-based pentesting approach.
How has been the journey of the company since its inception? Walk us through the growth it has received in terms of clients.
We started in July 2021 and the journey has been exhilarating. Shortly after launching the business, we were blessed to have been able to work with amazing blue-chip companies who relied on our expertise and experience in this sector to advise them in strengthening their security posture. We also successfully got certified and recognized by CERT, Cyber Essentials and ISO 9001, ISO 27001 in the first year of our establishment. By the end of our first year, we went beyond our comfort zone and started gearing up to provide smart contract security assessments, wherein the idea was to update ourselves and allow our customers to be at par with evolving technologies.
Where do you see this market in the near future? What is the future roadmap for your Company?
Cybersecurity is here to stay. With the advent of technology, the need for cybersecurity will only increase. With more and more devices getting the internet, the need for security assessments will be sky-high and the methodology for all of it will be different. It is challenging to be associated with such an exhilarating domain because here the demand for services is certain, so our roadmap today and tomorrow will be to continue with research and stay at par with the ever-evolving technologies and as a security provider, be ready with know-hows of every type of assessments.
Is there anything you think that the readers must know about your company?
The SECOPS Group has deep roots in information security with repetitive and continuous engagements in the industry and with the information security community where our team members actively participate. Also, we are a boutique cyber security company, composed of innovative cyber security start-ups. Together, the list of services and products currently included in our portfolio are Various Pentesting services, Attack Surface Management (ASM), Passwordless Authentication Solutions, and Vulnerability Triaging Solution. Trusting our experience, and methodologies and keeping quality in mind, we set out to bring newness to the pentesting approaches.
What are your views on startups integrating with the security community in general?
Being a part of the infosec community, that is, attending and speaking at various meets and conferences is nonprofit work. Be it a startup or a well-established company, it doesn't matter. The whole purpose of the community is that ‘together we are stronger’. Learn and share knowledge. Cybersecurity is a complex discipline and together we can stay updated, and we can do it at a fast pace.
Many of our team members are volunteers at various communities, some are chapter leaders, and some have spoken at various international conferences. The SECOPS initiative Vulnmachines is a place to learn and improve penetration testing/ethical hacking skills for FREE. The labs consist of 30+ real-world scenarios to practice latest exploits and cutting-edge hacking techniques.
How has been the journey of the company since its inception? Walk us through the growth it has received in terms of clients.
We started in July 2021 and the journey has been exhilarating. Shortly after launching the business, we were blessed to have been able to work with amazing blue-chip companies who relied on our expertise and experience in this sector to advise them in strengthening their security posture. We also successfully got certified and recognized by CERT, Cyber Essentials and ISO 9001, ISO 27001 in the first year of our establishment. By the end of our first year, we went beyond our comfort zone and started gearing up to provide smart contract security assessments, wherein the idea was to update ourselves and allow our customers to be at par with evolving technologies.
Where do you see this market in the near future? What is the future roadmap for your Company?
Cybersecurity is here to stay. With the advent of technology, the need for cybersecurity will only increase. With more and more devices getting the internet, the need for security assessments will be sky-high and the methodology for all of it will be different. It is challenging to be associated with such an exhilarating domain because here the demand for services is certain, so our roadmap today and tomorrow will be to continue with research and stay at par with the ever-evolving technologies and as a security provider, be ready with know-hows of every type of assessments.
Is there anything you think that the readers must know about your company?
The SECOPS Group has deep roots in information security with repetitive and continuous engagements in the industry and with the information security community where our team members actively participate. Also, we are a boutique cyber security company, composed of innovative cyber security start-ups. Together, the list of services and products currently included in our portfolio are Various Pentesting services, Attack Surface Management (ASM), Passwordless Authentication Solutions, and Vulnerability Triaging Solution. Trusting our experience, and methodologies and keeping quality in mind, we set out to bring newness to the pentesting approaches.
The SecOps Group delivers services with superior customer experience, great quality of work and a research-based pentesting approach
What are your views on startups integrating with the security community in general?
Being a part of the infosec community, that is, attending and speaking at various meets and conferences is nonprofit work. Be it a startup or a well-established company, it doesn't matter. The whole purpose of the community is that ‘together we are stronger’. Learn and share knowledge. Cybersecurity is a complex discipline and together we can stay updated, and we can do it at a fast pace.
Many of our team members are volunteers at various communities, some are chapter leaders, and some have spoken at various international conferences. The SECOPS initiative Vulnmachines is a place to learn and improve penetration testing/ethical hacking skills for FREE. The labs consist of 30+ real-world scenarios to practice latest exploits and cutting-edge hacking techniques.
