Ted Gutiérrez: “When I was an auditor at Shell, I spent so much time manually collecting data and writing reports. SecurityGate.io would have cut out so much of the slow, manual processes”

For many years, it has been widely acknowledged that security plays a crucial role in risk management, with physical security frequently cited as an organization's first line of protection. Everywhere, from parking barriers and surrounding cameras to entry control at the front entrance, risks visible to the unaided eye are frequently given priority. But as technology has developed, cyberattacks—such as hackers breaking into vital Industrial Control Systems (ICS)—have become more prevalent. These attacks frequently manifest as invisible threats with equally dire implications.

With SecurityGate's risk management acceleration solution, Ted Gutiérrez helps industrial companies recognize cyber risks earlier and make improvements more quickly.

Changing risk assessment: Meet Ted Gutiérrez

Ted Gutierrez is SecurityGate's CEO and co-founder. Ted has extensive expertise in risk and compliance from working for one of the biggest oil corporations in the world. He also has an entrepreneurial spirit and has led and founded startups to lower risk in various contexts, including vital infrastructure.

Ted's distinct perspective allowed him to recognize the necessity of automation in the field of risk management, particularly with regard to critical infrastructure. He personally witnessed the lack of sufficient skilled personnel to carry out these assessments on location. Ted understood, though, that the need for assessments to identify security gaps would only grow as a result of the ongoing technological revolution occurring across critical infrastructure sectors—energy, chemical, and water, to name a few—where industrial critical systems (ICS) and operational technologies (OT) are increasingly connected. Ted co-founded SecurityGate.io because of his enthusiasm for safeguarding these technologies and the society that depends on them.

He became aware that free and fair elections were just one of many vital infrastructures that might be the target of cyberattacks after witnessing the effects of foreign meddling in the 2016 election.

Ted realized that companies in all critical infrastructure sectors would need to start stepping up their cybersecurity efforts and evaluations after looking at what was going on in the larger geopolitical context. Nevertheless, the number of experts needed to do these evaluations quickly, effectively, and affordably would not increase to satisfy the upcoming needs of those sectors. It was to overcome this obstacle that he cofounded SecurityGate.io.

Securing critical infrastructure with SecurityGate.io

Ted realized that the critical infrastructure industry needed a risk management platform that was tailored to their needs and lightweight, having conducted numerous risk assessments himself.

In contrast to other solutions that necessitate costly deployment and laborious configuration, the SecurityGate.io platform was created to be immediately utilized in both the OT and ICS sectors.

Additionally, auditors may easily enter data into the system and obtain immediate insights thanks to the platform. Executives are able to make quick decisions that can reduce the risk posture for their firm by seeing risk scores across numerous entities and sites in a single pane of glass.

SecurityGate.io is the only workflow solution on the market that comprehends the critical infrastructure culture. The modules speak the same language as the professionals conducting the assessments because the platform offers predefined questions on OT and ICS that are frequently used in the field, together with an assessment procedure. The platform is considerably superior to its competitors because of its simplicity of use and ability to instantly synthesize auditor feedback.

Ted is most proud of his platform, SecurityGate.io

Talking about his time as an auditor, Ted said, “When I was an auditor at Shell, I spent so much time manually collecting data and writing reports. SecurityGate.io would have cut out so much of the slow, manual processes.”

Ted feels that SecurityGate.io could have made him a more effective auditor in the following ways:

• Minimizing travel while increasing throughput. 

By eliminating the need for travel, SecurityGate.io enables users to exponentially grow the number of examinations and remediation programs they facilitate. Clients can provide staff members working on-site with a link to the assessment and instruct them to complete it on their own. After reviewing the results, staff members can encourage teams to focus on and fix the most crucial issues, which will expedite and improve job output.

• Solving problems instead of just documenting issues. 

Fixing problems that an auditor knows involve danger is their main passion. They are compelled to spend all of their time conducting the evaluation and compiling the data, though, because documentation is more important than repair.

SecurityGate.io modifies the reward system. The auditor can then concentrate on strengthening the team and systems rather than just pointing out issues, as the assessment may be finished in a matter of hours as opposed to days, and insights can be obtained immediately.

• Repeatable, standardized assessments. 

Getting the analyses of different auditors to agree is one of the difficulties in putting an assessment program into action. Because various people have varied preferences and ideas about what matters most, evaluations might frequently alter based on the auditor who was present. Businesses can have confidence in the outcomes since SecurityGate.io eliminates the prejudice of a specific auditor by offering standardized operations that are exactly replicable.

As the CEO of SecurityGate.io, Ted is aware that regardless of the technology a critical infrastructure organization uses, our platform can assess and align its cybersecurity policies to a recognized standard. The market has been lacking this feature for far too long. The challenge of integrating discrete manual assessment methods into a more comprehensive lifecycle approach is resolved by SecurityGate.io.

Meet the Co-Founder and CEO

Ted Gutiérrez is the Co-founder and CEO of SecurityGate.

“We work with leaders in the industry to help organizations reduce the burden of the risk assessment process and close the gap between traditionally siloed teams.”