The Cybersecurity Startup Showdown

June 2025 -

It was another Cyber Investor Days matchup: the meeting organised by ECSO, the European Cyber Security Organisation, between investors (VCs tec) and European startups In the cybersecurity domain.

It was the first time that the event was taking place in London, in the prestigious “The Shard”. The innovative startups participating at the event have been carefully selected by the jury of experts. The investors members of the ECSO Invest4Cyber initiative, had already filled the room and were ready to listen to the pitches.

Bill Hackerman, the CEO and founder of the first selected SME, come to the podium. He had 5 minutes to present their product, their market and give sufficient reasons to justify the investment. The company, NoMoreHacks, was promoting the use of their revolutionary “Quantum Firewall”, called “STOP ATTACKS”.

Bill, was sweating through his hoodie, trying to explain why their tech could stop any hacker, even those using future quantum computers.

The pitch was over when investors started their questions. An angel investor named Seraphina Bright, whose portfolio glowed with ethical AI startups, started to ask “Bill, your firewall sounds divine. I do not need more discussions and want to have it in my portfolio: I ’ll fund you with €5 million, plus mentorship to keep your product ethical and respective of European values. Cybersecurity is about trust, after all.”

She almost did not finish her speech that a mysterious figure in a red suit, calling himself Azazel Horn, entered the room, apparently not invited by the organisers. Azazel’s laugh echoed like a dial-up modem and said: “Trust? Boring!” he sneered, tossing a flaming business card onto the table. “I’m offering €20 million. My only condition? Add a backdoor to your firewall. You know, for… ‘testing purposes.’,”

The participants murmured. It has never happened to assist to an immediate auction for a technology during the pitches round, and Azazel offer was… tempting.

Bill hesitated, visions of so many millions dancing in his head, thinking at the same tile that a backdoor in his product would have been like selling a lock with a free key!

Seraphina stood, her voice calm but firm. “Bill, an angel investor like me lifts you up without strings. What is he, a “devil investor”? He’ll burn your startup to ash for a quick buck.”

Azazel grinned, revealing suspiciously pointy teeth. “Ash is trending, Seraphina. Besides, my backdoor could be a useful feature! Call it… ‘VIP access.’ After all even police could need it in case of forensic investigations.”

Bill, caught between heaven and hell, had an idea. “How about a demo?” he said, firing up his Quantum Firewall. He invited Azazel to hack it. “Go on, Mr. Devil Investor. Try your worst.”

Azazel’s fingers flew across a laptop, unleashing malware, ransomware, even a retro virus: a digital inferno!

But the firewall held, its interface flashing: “Threat Neutralized … Have a Nice Day and go to Hell!”

The crowd roared. Azazel’s smirk crumbled as his laptop sparked, infected by his own malware bouncing back. “Impossible!” he screeched. The firewall’s screen flashed: “Threat Quarantined. Azazel Horn, You’ve Been Phished!”

Laughter erupted as Azazel’s image hit the projector—a cartoon goat in a cheap suit, courtesy of NoMoreHacks’ AI prank filter. “You’ll regret this!” he wailed, vanishing from the room in a pixelated smoke.

Seraphina clapped. “Well done, Bill. That’s the trust we invest in. €5 million, no strings.”

Bill grinned. “Deal. And I’m adding that prank filter—call it ‘Devil B Gone’!”

As the crowd toasted with expensive Shard coffee, Bill’s phone pinged. A post on X from “@AzazelAI”: “Phished? Me? I meant to do that! Backdoors still rule!” Below, replies roasted him: “Nice goat pic.” Azazel’s “AI” had met its match: Human Intelligence.