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# Techcrunch: Use ‘productive paranoia’ to build cybersecurity culture at your startup
- URL: https://cje.io/2020/09/11/techcrunch/
- Published: 2020-09-11T13:55:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-09T01:17:34.000Z
- Description: At TechCrunch Early Stage, we asked Casey Ellis, founder, chairman and chief technology officer at Bugcrowd, to share his ideas for how startups can improve their security posture.
- Author: Casey Ellis
- Tags: Building, Learn

> At TechCrunch Early Stage, we asked [Casey Ellis](https://twitter.com/caseyjohnellis?ref=cje.io), founder, chairman and chief technology officer at[ Bugcrowd](https://www.bugcrowd.com/try-bugcrowd/?ref=cje.io), to share his ideas for how startups can improve their security posture.

From [Techcrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/10/lock-down-startup-security/?ref=cje.io), 11th September 2020

[Use ‘productive paranoia’ to build cybersecurity culture at your startup | TechCrunchBugcrowd’s Casey Ellis talks prioritizing security at your startup.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ec/8a/ec8abb38-39b9-4422-95b9-695b2a5e652e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-favicon-gradient.png)TechCrunchZack Whittaker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ec/8a/ec8abb38-39b9-4422-95b9-695b2a5e652e/content/images/thumbnail/GettyImages-1182994602-1.jpg)](https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/10/lock-down-startup-security/?ref=cje.io)

## SUMMARY

Casey Ellis, founder and CTO of Bugcrowd, discusses practical ways startups can prioritize cybersecurity early to protect themselves from increasing threats and differentiate their business.

## IDEAS:

- Startups often neglect security initially since payroll and survival feel like more immediate, pressing concerns
- Instilling "productive paranoia" across the entire team ensures security awareness isn't limited to just engineers.
- Password reuse remains a major vulnerability and must be actively discouraged within startups from early stages.
- Implementing two-factor authentication early significantly reduces security vulnerabilities and simplifies security management as startups scale.
- Automating software and system updates dramatically improves security posture by preventing outdated, vulnerable software from persisting.
- Outsourcing non-core security functions to specialized platforms allows startups to focus their resources on core intellectual property.
- Making secure processes intuitive and insecure actions obviously problematic helps embed good security habits across teams.
- Having multiple owners of critical accounts prevents single points of failure and allows better oversight of anomalies.
- Security should not be viewed purely as an engineering issue; other departments like marketing and finance significantly influence overall security risk.
- Gamifying security awareness through benign and humorous internal activities improves team engagement and security hygiene.
- Chromebooks or limited devices for non-technical teams like sales and marketing reduce the likelihood of security incidents.
- Security can become a positive differentiator, allowing businesses to leverage it as a competitive advantage in the market.
- Proactive vulnerability disclosure programs and bug bounty initiatives help startups gather crucial external security feedback from ethical hackers.
- Compliance with security standards should be approached incrementally, addressing relevant and achievable requirements progressively rather than immediately.
- Entrepreneurs must view cybersecurity as an integral part of overall business risk management rather than as a separate, niche concern.
- Effective security response to breaches requires calm, systematic assessment of facts rather than panicked reactions based on incomplete information.
- Organizations should carefully avoid prematurely labeling security incidents as breaches due to strict regulatory definitions and consequences.
- Positive reinforcement and rewards are more effective than punishments for encouraging employee security awareness and good practices.
- Security budgets should be thoughtfully integrated into overall financial planning rather than treated as arbitrary percentages of IT spend.
- Enterprises transitioning from traditional IT approaches to agile methodologies face significant challenges in modernizing their cybersecurity practices.
- Security awareness and internalization by employees provide more long-term value than superficial checkbox compliance approaches.
- Creating channels and systems for receiving unsolicited security feedback from external researchers helps startups proactively identify vulnerabilities.
- The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption and remote work, significantly elevating cybersecurity as a critical, front-of-mind issue globally.
- Startups must anticipate security feedback from external researchers regardless of whether they actively seek or encourage such interactions.
- Internal cybersecurity practices established during early startup stages become significantly easier to maintain and scale as the company grows.

## INSIGHTS:

- Integrating security practices early helps prevent costly and difficult retrofitting of cybersecurity measures later on.
- Viewing cybersecurity as an inherent part of business risk management removes stigma and encourages practical solutions.
- Security differentiation in a startup can create significant competitive advantage and positively influence market perception.
- Instilling security awareness as a positive cultural value company-wide is more effective than isolated training for engineers.
- Incremental and realistic adoption of compliance standards allows startups to manage security expectations without sacrificing agility.
- Proactive and positive engagement with ethical hackers provides valuable external security validation and strengthens organizational resilience.
- Automating cybersecurity basics such as updates and authentication systems dramatically reduces human error and organizational risk.
- Security budgeting must be intentional, aligned with business objectives, and viewed as a strategic investment rather than cost.
- Encouraging productive paranoia across departments ensures security awareness permeates all layers of the organization effectively.
- Positive reinforcement and gamification of security habits lead to better employee engagement and sustainable security practices.

## QUOTES:

- "Teach your business to wash its hands while it's still young."
- "Make secure easy and insecure obvious." – Diego Moneka (quoted by Casey Ellis)
- "Security is inherently difficult; it's easier to pass through a hole than unlock a door."
- "Instill productive paranoia in your entire team, security is not just an engineering problem."
- "Cybersecurity is becoming a differentiator, not just a responsibility."
- "Be ready for security feedback from the internet, whether you're asking for it or not."
- "Security awareness is often a part of compliance; checkbox security doesn't cut it."
- "Security becomes a lot easier if you start when you're small."
- "Don't refer to it as a breach until it's absolutely confirmed that it is a breach."
- "Cybersecurity is just one of those risks; the less scary it becomes, the more practical it is."
- "Implementing two-factor authentication early significantly reduces vulnerabilities."
- "Outsource security functions that aren't core to your intellectual property."
- "Positive reinforcement works better than punishments for encouraging security awareness."
- "Budgeting for security must be thoughtful and proactive, not just an arbitrary percentage."
- "Every user is different; some are good at security, others frankly terrible—that's just humans."
- "Chromebooks or cut-down devices for sales teams reduce security incidents significantly."
- "Security is part of overall risk management; less spooky, more practical."
- "Compliance standards should be incrementally adopted, not tackled entirely at once."
- "Gamifying security internally can be fun and highly effective if done without shaming people."
- "Productive paranoia creates a culture that values security across the organization."

## HABITS:

- Implementing two-factor authentication universally within the organization early on ensures security from the start.
- Avoiding password reuse by using enterprise password managers like 1Password, Keeper, or LastPass boosts security.
- Automating software updates to eliminate reliance on human action significantly reduces vulnerabilities and security risk.
- Assigning two primary owners for key service accounts to avoid single points of failure and oversight issues.
- Gamifying security awareness internally, using humor and positivity to reinforce good security habits among employees.
- Using simplified or secure-by-design devices like Chromebooks for non-technical departments reduces overall security risks.
- Actively creating channels for external security researchers to report vulnerabilities through bug bounty or disclosure programs.
- Proactively budgeting for security as an intentional strategic investment, rather than an afterthought percentage of spending.
- Encouraging a culture of productive paranoia across all departments, not limiting security awareness to technical teams alone.
- Implementing incremental compliance measures, addressing relevant security standards progressively rather than attempting immediate full compliance.
- Calmly assessing security incidents based on facts without prematurely labeling them breaches to avoid unnecessary regulatory complications.
- Rewarding employees for proactively identifying and reporting suspicious security activities to encourage continuous security vigilance.
- Instilling early-stage security practices to build habits that scale effectively as the startup grows in size.
- Outsourcing non-core security functions and infrastructure to expert platforms to maintain focus on core business intellectual property.
- Regularly reviewing and updating internal security processes and habits as the startup expands and evolves over time.

## FACTS:

- Bugcrowd has paid over $40 million to ethical hackers for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities through bug bounty programs.
- Reused passwords are one of the most common and easily exploited vulnerabilities causing security breaches in organizations.
- Two-factor authentication has become increasingly standard and expected for securing critical accounts like email and finance.
- COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption and remote work, dramatically elevating the global importance of cybersecurity.
- Ethical hackers and security researchers proactively seek and report vulnerabilities even without explicit invitations from organizations.
- GDPR and CCPA compliance standards have significantly raised security expectations and requirements for startups selling globally.
- Companies prematurely labeling security incidents as breaches may inadvertently trigger regulatory actions and unintended legal consequences.
- Security awareness training often forms part of compliance standards but can be superficial without internalization of security values.
- Chromebooks and similar simplified devices significantly reduce security risks compared to traditional, full-access employee laptops.
- Security incidents handled calmly and transparently by companies tend to preserve user trust and minimize reputational damage.

## ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY:

Integrate practical cybersecurity measures early in your startup to prevent future vulnerabilities and create competitive differentiation.

## RECOMMENDATIONS:

- Implement two-factor authentication across all critical startup accounts immediately to significantly reduce future security incidents.
- Use enterprise password managers early to prevent password reuse and reduce common startup cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
- Automate software and device updates to minimize security risks associated with outdated or vulnerable software versions.
- Establish multiple account owners for critical services to prevent single points of failure and security oversight.
- Instill productive paranoia in all teams, ensuring cybersecurity is not perceived as solely an engineering issue.
- Use simplified devices like Chromebooks for non-technical teams to reduce the likelihood of cybersecurity incidents significantly