New Product Spotlight: CrowdCurity – Finding Your Bugs for You

by Ron Finberg
  • Entering the market to create a bug testing and cross product performance evaluation product for financial firms is a new startup CrowdCurity. The company partners with crowdsourced 'hackers' to analyze products.
New Product Spotlight: CrowdCurity – Finding Your Bugs for You
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For every Forex firm, protecting client data as well as ensuring that products operate flawlessly is a critical part of their business. In terms of product operation, this has become an increasingly greater item to monitor as brokers face users from around the world, as well as offering trading platforms that are expected to be accessed across multiple operating systems and computer devices. Entering the market to create a bug testing and cross product performance evaluation product for financial firms is a new startup CrowdCurity.

crowdcurity_logo

CrowdCurity’s creation comes as firms have been evolving the way they do business due to technological shifts. Among new trends, crowdsourced and cloud-based are two buzz terms that have become part of our lexicon in recent years. Moving away from centralized networks towards distributed business models, as well as the rise in mobile technology have led to cloud-based computing become an essential part of our lives. Similarly, as the world has become increasingly global and connected, sharing ideas and opinions with the rest of the world and gaining instant feedback has become the foundation of crowdsourced innovation.

Leveraging both trends, CrowdCurity has entered the market with the aim of bringing crowdsourced vulnerability testing for web-based programs. In short, businesses sign up with CrowdCurity to have their cloud-based products hacked by CrowdCurity’s list of security testers. Working as the middleman, companies partner with CrowdCurity to have their products tested, while the firm canvasses testers. After signing up, businesses list on CrowdCurity the types of vulnerabilities they want testers to search for, while offering financial ‘bounties’ for bugs that are found. Based on the level of importance of bugs, the value of awards for finding bugs changes.

Currently, CrowdCurity is targeting it services to financial firms. Speaking to Forex Magnates, CrowdCurity CMO, Esben Friis-Jensen explained that although testing is important for firms from all different types of sectors that offer cloud-based products, the financial industry is specifically vulnerable to cyber-attacks. He explained that the sector is an area of startup growth with many new companies entering to launch forex related businesses or payment solutions. However, he added that, “Despite that many of these startups are smart people, they handle large values and confidential information for their clients."

Currently, one area of growth where Friis-Jensen stated that they are seeing a demand is from Bitcoin related firms. Friis-Jensen explained that, “The value of bitcoin has exploded. This success has meant that the web-based bitcoin exchanges and wallets are increasingly attacked by criminals trying to hack and steal bitcoins or user data.”

The company was launched by four founders, Friis-Jensen, along with CEO Jacob Hansen, COO Jakob Storm, and CTO Christian Hansen. Among its current customers for their services include Canadian bitcoin exchange, Vault of Satoshi, as well as financial related firms that have begun to run bug testing campaigns.

CrowdCurity Founders

CrowdCurity Founders

In terms of why firms with their own dedicated IT staff would be interested in services from CrowdCurity, Friis-Jensen explained that by using a crowdsourced hacking campaign “Testers can check in many different ways that a firm may not be aware of.” He added that their testers also reside all around the world, which provides analysis of a company’s products from around the globe.

Overall, although a new name to the financial space, CrowdCurity brings an innovative approach for brokers and cloud-based product developers to quickly check their products. Specifically, products that are moving to public beta can be reviewed for scalability and performance before being launched to wider-scale usage.

For every Forex firm, protecting client data as well as ensuring that products operate flawlessly is a critical part of their business. In terms of product operation, this has become an increasingly greater item to monitor as brokers face users from around the world, as well as offering trading platforms that are expected to be accessed across multiple operating systems and computer devices. Entering the market to create a bug testing and cross product performance evaluation product for financial firms is a new startup CrowdCurity.

crowdcurity_logo

CrowdCurity’s creation comes as firms have been evolving the way they do business due to technological shifts. Among new trends, crowdsourced and cloud-based are two buzz terms that have become part of our lexicon in recent years. Moving away from centralized networks towards distributed business models, as well as the rise in mobile technology have led to cloud-based computing become an essential part of our lives. Similarly, as the world has become increasingly global and connected, sharing ideas and opinions with the rest of the world and gaining instant feedback has become the foundation of crowdsourced innovation.

Leveraging both trends, CrowdCurity has entered the market with the aim of bringing crowdsourced vulnerability testing for web-based programs. In short, businesses sign up with CrowdCurity to have their cloud-based products hacked by CrowdCurity’s list of security testers. Working as the middleman, companies partner with CrowdCurity to have their products tested, while the firm canvasses testers. After signing up, businesses list on CrowdCurity the types of vulnerabilities they want testers to search for, while offering financial ‘bounties’ for bugs that are found. Based on the level of importance of bugs, the value of awards for finding bugs changes.

Currently, CrowdCurity is targeting it services to financial firms. Speaking to Forex Magnates, CrowdCurity CMO, Esben Friis-Jensen explained that although testing is important for firms from all different types of sectors that offer cloud-based products, the financial industry is specifically vulnerable to cyber-attacks. He explained that the sector is an area of startup growth with many new companies entering to launch forex related businesses or payment solutions. However, he added that, “Despite that many of these startups are smart people, they handle large values and confidential information for their clients."

Currently, one area of growth where Friis-Jensen stated that they are seeing a demand is from Bitcoin related firms. Friis-Jensen explained that, “The value of bitcoin has exploded. This success has meant that the web-based bitcoin exchanges and wallets are increasingly attacked by criminals trying to hack and steal bitcoins or user data.”

The company was launched by four founders, Friis-Jensen, along with CEO Jacob Hansen, COO Jakob Storm, and CTO Christian Hansen. Among its current customers for their services include Canadian bitcoin exchange, Vault of Satoshi, as well as financial related firms that have begun to run bug testing campaigns.

CrowdCurity Founders

CrowdCurity Founders

In terms of why firms with their own dedicated IT staff would be interested in services from CrowdCurity, Friis-Jensen explained that by using a crowdsourced hacking campaign “Testers can check in many different ways that a firm may not be aware of.” He added that their testers also reside all around the world, which provides analysis of a company’s products from around the globe.

Overall, although a new name to the financial space, CrowdCurity brings an innovative approach for brokers and cloud-based product developers to quickly check their products. Specifically, products that are moving to public beta can be reviewed for scalability and performance before being launched to wider-scale usage.

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