Cybersecurity in the Internet of Things – When Pandemic Amplifies the Need for Cybersecurity

Mirko Ross, CEO, and Co-Founder of asvin.io tells us about integrated trust and security for the Internet of Things.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Mirko Ross: We are all healthy and have arranged with homeschooling and home office. Currently, I am sitting on the couch, having coffee, and answering your questions while the family is with me. So the situation is quite good.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded asvin.io.

Mirko Ross: I am a cybersecurity expert from the bottom of my heart. I started as a hacker while a teenager, but always turned my skills into ethical hacking to improve cybersecurity. In 2016 the Internet of Things Industry has been shaken by a major cyber-attack – the Mirai botnet – by that, I was focusing on IoT security. In 2018 the idea of building an IoT-specific cybersecurity solution has been born and in 2019 I’ve formed a team and raised pre-seed investments. Voila, asvin.io has been founded.

How does asvin.io innovate?

Mirko Ross: We have built an excellent R&D team and we collaborate with cybersecurity researchers around the globe. 75% of innovation is about sharing ideas and getting inspired by people. I think we have created a pretty well ecosystem for that and a super team to turn valuable ideas into products.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Mirko Ross: Luckily we had gained a stable finance base before the pandemic by investors’ funds.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources and what are the lessons learned?

Mirko Ross: Good questions. Hiring people based on Zoom interviews has become a new experience for me. It worked quite well. So lessons learned: we can organize and build a global team based on virtual collaboration platforms.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Mirko Ross: We are in B2B business and customer relationship there has been built in past mostly on real relations than on virtual ones. In the pandemic, we have seen that building such a new relationship has become more difficult. On the other side, we have implemented now a lot of digital tools to optimize the customer experience and we will benefit from this after the pandemic.

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Mirko Ross: Yes, my team did a fantastic job of saving government grants to keep a stable operation. But these grants are only the tip of the iceberg on our funding strategy. Our company relies on traction revenues and VC funding to amplify traction.

Your final thoughts?

Mirko Ross: Times of crisis are times of opportunities.

Your website?

www.asvin.io