Interview with Sinan Eren – Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Fyde

In a world where users constantly face phishing issues and are exposed to numerous threats like identity theft, hacking, and various other problems, they need a solution that can help them secure their data.

To protect users from these privacy threats, a new form of technology is available at their disposal, Fyde. We reached out to the founder and CEO of this revolutionary technology, Sinan Eren and got to know more about Fyde.

Introduction of Fyde

Fyde is a network security and edge computing company solving the greatest challenges in cybersecurity.

When and how did you start your career in the cybersecurity industry?

Almost 20 years ago while attending college. At the time, it was a curiosity and mostly a hobbyist subject especially vulnerability research and exploit development.

What was the core idea/reason for establishing this platform?

Genesis of Fyde was the DNC hack during the ran up to the 2016 elections. We were reminded once again that the greatest weakness in our national cybersecurity posture is the human factor.

How difficult it is to turn down online scams and are users aware of the dangers?

Users are aware to a limited extend however due to architectural failures in the design of the World Wide Web, the online scammers have a large advantage. For example, free or cheap domain registrations all across TLDs, the availability of unicode characters in domain names, how easy it is to trick cert authorities in regards to EV certificates, Let’s Encrypt free X509 cert service.

How is your anti phishing platform different from others?

Our phishing platform operates as local proxy at the mobile device without the need to route traffic to infrastructure. Fyde app inspects network metadata and applies a hybrid methodology to detect phishing attacks which include blacklists, whitelists, expert knowledge and statistical models.

What type of data does Fyde AI collects for its operation?

We collect data from your network traffic, however this data set never leaves your device. Detection and prevention related computation takes places directly on the mobile device.

What’s your say on the dangers of AI? Is it a real threat in the future?

We strongly believe using AI in social sciences and law enforcement is extremely dangerous and should be regulated. For example, AI and ML based solutions used in the legal system for minimum sentencing and recidivism rates are built on historical data sets which are proven to be heavily biased towards race and poverty therefore leading to inequitable outcomes for the large parts of our communities.

What challenges/ barriers do you face in your mission? And how you are tackling them?

The amount of hype and noise in the cybersecurity domain is the greatest challenge companies’ face. We tackle this challenge by focusing on customer needs and demands over the market noise.

Why cyber security is becoming essential in today’s online landscape?

Our personal reputation, financial well-being all depends on our online hygiene. Eventually our online footprint might even take over our personal space in the physical world therefore, it is critical to keep it safe.

What is Privacy according to you? (What’s your definition of Online Privacy)

Being able to first understand in very simple terms and second control the exchange and storage of personal information on online platforms and solutions.

Where do you see Fyde and cyber security in the next 10 years?

We see Fyde becoming an essential and smart assistant for your online security and privacy. I think in 10 years cyber security will purely be a problem of human cognitive limitations and challenges around deception of the human perception.

Do you think user behavior is changing around data privacy?

Yes, I believe so but unfortunately, more people are more worried and confused than taking the right steps to assure better privacy.

What tips/advice you would like to share that can help protect privacy of users?

Ask customer support for a better EULA and TOS, a simpler version without the obscure “legal speak”. Use tools to block trackers and aggressive advertisers. If living in a country or jurisdiction with known civil liberties issues, use online proxies and possibly consider using nicknames (nom de guerre) instead of your real name.