Get to the Root of the Problem: Madrid-based buguroo is Flying High, Thanks to its World-class Cyber Sleuths

One breakthrough advantage is that our new bugFraud Defense technology is entirely host- and cloud-based and does not require any action by an end-user client in order to be protected: Pablo de la Riva Ferrezuelo, CEO & Founder buguroo Offensive Security.

 Just within the past year, cyber-attacks have become a scary reality for practically every individual and organization. No matter who the individual victim or what the size of the business or the organization’s government stature, the looming threat of hackers on a mission to steal information is real.

And, as the frequency of cyber-attacks and data breaches grows, the failure to have a plan of counterattack for your company is not an option.

Instead, businesses must be prepared and responsible when it comes to protecting themselves from hackers.

In light of the above-mentioned concern, we are thrilled to present buguroo – provider of cyber security services designed to provide protection against current cyber threats.

The firm’s cyber security services has extensive experience in cybersecurity software development. In the past, the company has developed two tools: the buguroo CTI Platform, which applies intelligence to existing threats online, and the bugurooAppSec Platform, which applies intelligence to companies’ software and active code vulnerabilities, enabling the clients to have access to the services from any part of the world. Both platforms have been purchased by the partners offering the services.

Currently, buguroo dedicates all its resources to its new anti-fraud platform, bugFraud, based on Deep Learning and Behavioral Biometrics.

Against an onslaught of high profile data breaches, nation-state cyberthreats, and flourishing cybercrime, celebrated cybersecurity professionals at bugurooare taking the fight back to the threat actors themselves. Using aggressive techniques to hack the hackers like Dark Web data mining, malware back-tracing sandboxes and deceptive decoys, buguroo is taking aim at the very criminals behind the attacks, as well as the malware, botnet networks and command and control centers on which they rely.

Proud Moment

buguroo was named a ‘Cool Vendor’ in 2016 by Gartner and has been awarded by CyberSecurityBreakTrought as the ‘OverallFraud Prevention Solution of the Year 2017’. The firm has received the mention to the ‘Most promising Cybersecurity solution in 2017’ by the prestigious CIO Review.

Interview Excerpt: Pablo de la Riva Ferrezuelo, CEO & Founder

Why was the company set up? How did you select the vertical and decide to be a part of the global platform?

Before creating buguroo, we were offering security services. Because of our success offering services, it was difficult to attend the demand of customers that were interested in working with us. Attempting to provide service by hiring more and more people became increasingly difficult. So, the only way to achieve the scalability that we desired to became global, and to work with more companies at the same time, was to automate the process and develop software.

Our first product was bugScout: a source code analyzer. We started with that one because our favorite service was ethical hacking and inside ethical hacking. We had tremendous success stories with bugScout, big customers are working with the technology because of its flexibility, scalability, and design.

We have presence through our partner network in several countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Central America. And we focus mainly on banking sector.

What were the grounds on which you have expanded your company and its offerings over the years?

It’s not a matter of just knowing the industry, it is a matter of keeping up on how the industry is evolving, and how technology is changing and participating in the offerings of those industries. It’s not enough to know just one side or the other; either the business domain or the technology, it’s mandatory to know both. Clients engage experts in the industry to help give them a leg-up on the competition and that is why our clients engage with us. To be close to our customers and learn about their necessities guide us to create a solution that really helps them in our common objective: to fight cybercrime.

There were a lot of challenges we had to face initially: identify right talent, launch the idea and create an elevator pitch that works for your audience, raising funds, find the right partners to establish alliances, to sale with an unknown brand, to evangelize about a new trend.

Next-Generation bugFraudDefense Solution

bugFraud, an online fraud solution, uses Deep Learning and User Cognitive Analytics to detect and prevent emerging threats to digital banking users

One breakthrough advantage is that buguroo’s new bugFraudDefense technology is entirely host- and cloud-based and does not require any action by an end-user client in order to be protected, such as installing software or an agent. The buguroo software is transparent to the user, requires minimal resources and does not degrade the user experience and performance.

bugFraudDefense is very easy to implement at the Web server level for both development and security teams. It requires only a lightweight modification in regular server content to link online sessions to the cloud-based fraud detection engine. The solution has already proven itself in several competitive evaluations and trials and is currently being rolled out in production implementations to protect tens of millions of end-user customers for its industry-leading multinational clients in banking and other sectors.

‘It is difficult to start a venture. But far more difficult to maintain it’ - How would you and your team interpret this saying?

The competition is tough. We are in a global world, so the competitors aren’t local anymore. A lot of companies appear in a niche and only some survive to fight one more day.

Whenever you release the accelerator, in another part of the world another one is squeezing it. You need to work hard to become a relevant player before than the others, otherwise, you can lose competitively, and that process would be more difficult each time.

What are the biggest assets to your organization? What would they be and why?

To work together successfully, employees should be trained to recognize the value of accepting new ideas and trusting opinions from all members. Teams learn to focus on what they can create together from different backgrounds, skill sets, and personalities.

We strive to provide an environment where learning is prized, and not just the action of learning but the measured application of new methods, new technologies, etc. We also want people to share their knowledge, by sharing they undergo a deeper level of learning themselves.

People – We have an excellent team of individuals that are passionate about customer service and delivering value to our clients.

Technology – We have a disruptive technology that solves a current necessity and adds value to our customers.

Shared Vision – Our team has a strong alignment on why we are here and how our customers find us valuable. To have that common direction and purpose in mind helps us decide where we want to focus our efforts to get better every day.

Alliances – Our partner network extends our capabilities in several aspects and makes us stronger. We are a team with them.

Customers – We improve every day to offer our customers best in class solutions. They are the biggest asset to our organization.

Two-way communication is most effective, and employees need to feel they have an outlet for sharing their observations and ideas. How does this idea come to life at buguroo?

buguroo’s office culture is innovative and energetic, and everyone periodically rolls up their sleeves to help co-workers when needed, regardless of their titles. We are looking for employees who share a similar sense of purpose as it is imperative to surround yourself with great teams – both at work and at home. Having teams that you can rely on allows you to maximize your time, whether you are in the office or on the road.

Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

Our plan is to continue to grow our services, revenue and geographic presence around the globe. We will continue to expand into new countries in the years ahead.

The Brain Behind the Picture

 Pablo de la Riva Ferrezuelo, CEO & Founder: Pablo is the chief executive officer of the company. Prior to joining buguroo, he was in charge of more than 200 hundred technical team member when he was CTO at Écija, leading different areas such as ethical hacking team, antifraud, managed security and others.

“Our mission is to defeat cybercrime and that is what we love.”