Cybersecurity has never been more important than it is now, and its importance will continue to grow as more interactions become digital. Many people in the industries’ youth had a difficult time describing what cyber meant to them; however, one man is aiming to leave a legacy in the industry that will have decades of impact – Daniel Tobok, the founder and CEO of CYPFER.
Daniel was off to a quick start after attending York University and founded Digital Wyzdom in 2005. He went on to successfully sell it to TELUS where he would lead their Digital Forensics and Security Consulting Division. Since then, Tobok has continued to create successful cybersecurity companies based on a market he forecasted would only increase in size.
“According to Statista, in 2005, there were 157 data breaches reported in the US, with 66.9 million records exposed. In 2022, the number of data compromises in the United States stood at 1802 cases, with over 422 million individuals affected by data compromises, including data breaches, leakage, and exposure.”[1]
This number will continue to increase unless more businesses – big and small – understand they have value. Tobok states, “Every business has a value, and that is why cyber ignorance is not an option. That’s why you need a proactive strategy.” The speed in which the digital valuableness of companies increased during the pandemic is nothing short of staggering.
According to McKinsey, among North American companies surveyed, they reported that at least 65% of their customer interactions are digital and the adoption rate was accelerated by 3 years.[2]
When you combine the digital rush factor with the industry youth factor, along with some foot dragging on the part of companies to adopt new security measures, the opportunities for criminal elements to deploy ransomware and other cyberattacks are huge. Daniel has seen this evolution happen over the course of his 20+ years in the industry and has a sharp understanding of evolving attack vectors having been involved in over 3,500 digital forensic investigations during his career thus far. Given the inevitability of greater influence from cyberspace in our lives, it is imperative that companies make cybersecurity a part of their ongoing business strategy. In response to company executives who may be tired, apathetic, or undecided on the need for proactive cybersecurity, Daniel states, “How to win the fight against threat actors is not a question of when, it will be an ongoing battle for the rest of time. It exists because all someone needs is an internet connection to connect to you at any time, and the threat actors have a way to monetize it.”
According to the report, Cybercrime in a Pandemic World: The Impact of COVID-19, finding[s] reveal[ed] the imminent need for organizations to prioritize and strengthen their cybersecurity architecture. The findings indicate that during the pandemic, 81% of global organizations experienced increased cyber threats with 79% experiencing downtime due to a cyber incident during a peak season.[3] (That was written in 2021)!
Can you imagine all these companies having to re-earn the trust of customers, lost revenue and time, the loss of privacy, and the confidential nature of the information that maybe have been exfiltrated? These are significant issues to recover from and this is where Daniel Tobok, CEO of CYPFER, is leading the company within the cybersecurity industry. “CYPFER will be different because we are going to focus on the full cycle of recovery for clients.” After an attack has been thwarted, there is lots to do in evaluation, ‘clean up’, and rebuilding a stronger defensive posture.
There are two points that Daniel continually makes clear in his discussions with C-level executives, and that is the old paradigm of cybersecurity is no longer adequate and cyber is not a part of the business that can be relegated to a deep corner in the basement – it needs consistent evaluation. The old paradigm that Daniel highlights is, “Adding new tech, new software, new platforms is the old way of thinking. We have that now. But that isn’t a strategy.” Now, add the common assumption that someone in IT automatically knows about cybersecurity. Tobok accurately states, “Being an IT person doesn’t make you a cybersecurity person.”
Daniel’s ambitions for CYPFER in the next 5-10 years are large and far reaching. Tobok wants to double the company size to 250 employees within the next year and continue a global expansion that already sees offices in the United States, Canada, UK, and the Caribbean. Additionally, he wants to make CYPFER a household name for the recovery from cyber attacks and breaches. On top of that, Daniel is changing the conversation around cybersecurity to something that people can understand through CYPFER’s brand promise of Cyber Certainty™. Cybersecurity is finally understandable, relatable, and attainable. 
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