Playing with computers at three years old
I have twenty years experience as a CEO in the cybersecurity industry and currently hold a role as an advisor to several financials and IT companies, I am a cybersecurity scientist who conducts university research and lectures on cyber risk management and decision-making, and I have written three best-selling books. Looking back at my background, I need to rewind the clock to when I was three years old, I started playing with computers. I started coding at six years old. This is no surprise to children today, but it was rare for Generation X (the generation born between 1965 and 1980) growing up in Japan. And I believe that experimenting with different ideas in cyberspace as a teenager was one of the original experiences that got me involved in the work I do now.
I started earning pocket money by taking on personal system-development projects from university professors when I was a student at around eighteen years old. I then started my IT start-up in graduate school and have since experienced start-ups, M&A and EXIT in London, New York, and Tokyo. The start-up in Tokyo has given us a 70% market share in a particular security product category in Japan. At almost the same time as starting my start-up, I also started working as a university lecturer. Since then, I have lectured at several universities and participated in many research projects, leading to better results by doing business and academic activities simultaneously.
When I was three years old, I started playing with computers. I started coding at six.
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We don’t want cyber risk to be just a conversation in the server room
I am building a new business that uses AI to provide business intelligence to support cyber risk management decisions for financials, investors, and companies. This builds on my academic research work. For example, if there are potentially three cyber risks in your business, in what order should you address them? You could be unaware of two of those three in the first place. It could be that the cyber risk is brought to you by your business partners. Many of us know that cyber risks make the business environment highly uncertain. In such an environment, managers are required to make decisions and the consequences of those decisions. We don’t want cyber risk to be just a conversation in the server room. We want to provide business intelligence to help management make decisions, be accountable to stakeholders, further grow the business and improve investor performance.
Cyber-attacks can still be done while you have a pleasant conversation
Have you ever heard of the Marvel movie character Iron Man? Iron Man uses technology to help people by solving problems caused by technology, and there are moments when I feel that I am doing exactly the kind of work that Iron Man does. Iron Man depicts many scenes in which the main character Tony Stark solves problems with the support of his AI companion, J.A.R.V.I.S. In the past, a prototype of a security product developed by my start-up also had a chatbot that would start when I said “JARVIS!” and “Protect it from that attack!” and we have developed one that protects it when you speak to it. Of course, we never officially released this feature, as the damage caused by cyber-attacks can still be done while you have a pleasant conversation with the chatbot.
If I don’t act, I won’t fail. But it can leave me with great regrets later on.
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There is a lot to be said about failing… sometimes it is a necessary process for success
I want to avoid as much as possible decisions that I regret not having made. Have you read the novel ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro? It is the story of a man who was the butler of a prestigious British aristocrat who had great political power before World War II, who looks back on his past and ponders. There is a lot to be said about failing, both at work and in my personal life, and sometimes it is a necessary process for success. If I don’t act, I won’t fail. But it can leave me with great regrets later on.
Enjoy the situation you are in
Always enjoy the situation you are in. Many successful people and professionals I have met in my life have all been fun people – they are people who make me feel happy. Of course, it doesn’t mean they are fun because they tell funny jokes. If I am having fun in my own life, I will naturally convey the fun atmosphere to others, and this fun and stimulating network will further expand. So, have great fun!
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