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Greenville startup’s belief in ‘psychological security’ featured in Forbes

Molly Hulsey //August 24, 2021//

Greenville startup’s belief in ‘psychological security’ featured in Forbes

Molly Hulsey //August 24, 2021//

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Lee Macilwinen, SCRA investment manager; Adam Anderson, Hook Security cofounder and chairman of the board; Zachary Eikenberry, Hook Security cofounder and CEO and Bob Quinn, SCRA executive director pose with the latest SCRA investment. (Photo/Provided)If the COVID-19 pandemic and Colonial Pipeline hack has pushed all cybersecurity concerns to the fore, it has also brought one Greenville company into the state and national spotlight. 

In an article called “Why your company’s security starts with company culture,” Forbes magazine used tech startup Hook Security as an example of how the organization’s culture and safety go hand-in-hand through “psychological security,” a term coined by CEO Zachary Eikenberry and Chairman Adam Anderson. 

In other words, breaches in the cybersecurity armor of a company typically come down to behavioral or cultural problems within a business. 

“Entrepreneurs can learn from Hook Security’s holistic approach to tackling a common business issue,” Shama Hyder, CEO of Zen Media, said in the story. “Instead of creating quick fixes that cause greater stress or uncertainty for employees, they went right to the root cause of the problem: lack of unity in companies.” 

As Hook Security has taken to the road with that philosophy, the company also has been garnering investment. 

In 2019, the firm became member and portfolio company of the S.C. Research Authority through an initial investment of $250,000. 

This year, SCRA’s affiliate SC Launch Inc., invested an additional $500,000 in the company, presented by SCRA Investment Manager Lee Macilwinen and Executive Director Bob Quinn at DIG South’s Wild Pitch event. 

“Cyberattacks are more common than ever, and the risk to businesses is greater than ever,” Macilwinen said in a news release. “What used to be a best practice activity is now a critical necessity for all organizations. Hook Security has developed a unique approach to the training they offer, making it ‘edu-taining,’ and user-friendly for employees.” 

Hook Security’s platform enables businesses to launch, measure and automate cybersecurity phishing tests and security awareness training programs. 

“We’ve developed an entertaining way to offer training for something that is very serious,” Eikenberry said in the release. “The uniqueness of our platform is why we are a growing business. We offer services including phishing tests, security awareness training, compliance training, and PsySec, our psychological approach to training. Having trusted partners like the SCRA and SC Launch Inc. teams is also a big part of our continued success. They believed in what we were trying to do from the first time we shared our vision with them.” 

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