Hacker attacks are a part of everyday life these days. Companies naturally try to protect themselves as best they can, but significant security gaps still occur again and again. The Munich-based cybersecurity startup Crashtest Security offers automated security tests to protect its customers from cyberattacks.
The Munich team developed Crashtest Security Suite enables the detection of critical security vulnerabilities in real time. Through integration into the agile software development cycle and an intelligent scanning automation that is triggered after each deployment, the company offers developers Usable Security, i.e., user-oriented IT security. Intuitive operation is intended to enable small and medium-sized businesses to actively integrate cyber security into their everyday lives.
Experts at work: On the way to the USP
It is clear that such a complex topic requires expertise: The founders Janosch Maier, René Milzarek and Daniel Schosser are IT security experts, while Felix Brombacher — the fourth member of the team — takes care of sales, financing and marketing.
The founders met during their studies and the idea for Crashtest Security originates from a project. Felix joined the team to support the founders on the business side and already knows Janosch and Daniel from previous work.
Now, the idea of automated security testing is certainly not a brand-new one. However, Felix points out that competing products are very complex to configure and are almost never used in development, but only after the software has been fully developed.
"This leads to significantly higher troubleshooting costs and cannot guarantee consistently secure software for every deployment. We're changing this with our solution. We're also teaching our scanner to recognize application logic processes and thus test for this vulnerability. Once this technology is mature, we'll be the only security provider on the market that can perform a fully automated pentest, all made and hosted in Germany."
How do you convince small and medium-sized businesses?
Before that happens, however, there are still a few hurdles to overcome. According to Felix, it's a particular challenge to gain the trust of the target customers—German medium-sized companies with their own software development—and to sell them a product that's still in the development phase. However, the Crashtest Security team is optimistic about the future. Discussions with potential distribution partners have begun, and sales to other startups and software development agencies are already going well.
“The perfect location”
Felix and his colleagues are more than satisfied with the progress and development of their company so far. They attribute this, among other things, to the choice of location:
"Munich is the perfect location for us, both professionally and personally. It gives us access to Germany's best university startup centers and leading industrial companies. But the city also offers us a lot of support personally, as we all have strong social and familial roots here. Friends and family are therefore never far away when we need a break."
Until recently, the company's focus was on getting its product ready for market. It has been available online since September. Paying customers have already been acquired. A financing round is planned for the end of the year.
