We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason Zaffuto and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Jason, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I spent eight years in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/Integrator (33W). During this time, I learned a tremendous amount. Not just learning about my job, but how to be a leader, work under challenging conditions, sometimes difficult people, and genuinely live the Army values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage).
When I started my business, I carried those values to my company. Our clients must trust us as a business that does ethical hacking/penetration testing. That trust is built not only with technical know-how but our reputation as a company with integrity (doing the right thing morally and legally). We also must ensure that we find all their vulnerabilities before the malicious hackers do, as their company’s reputation and security depend on it.
Additionally, we always try to exceed our client’s expectations. We never try to meet the minimum needs of the client’s goals; we go the extra mile as if it was our company. At the end of each job, our clients see that effort, which is why they continue coming back to us. We also build great relationships with our clients and speak to each other like old friends. Having that personal touch with clients goes a long way in building trust and having success.
Lastly, I believe our success is due to our staff loving their work. Each of our members excels at their craft; it is not only a job but a hobby we spend a lot of time doing. When you have a job that you love doing, it is easier to be a master of it.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Artifice Security is a penetration testing business in Denver, Colorado. We specialize in ethical hacking for businesses of all types. A penetration test, or “pentest,” is an authorized cybersecurity assessment designed to evaluate the security of your infrastructure by safely exploiting vulnerabilities. This test shows you the strengths and weaknesses of your infrastructure and how to remediate vulnerabilities while giving you an idea of your organization’s security risks.
What sets us apart and what makes us a top-rated penetration testing company is:
Our Experience – From small and medium businesses to global enterprises and government agencies, our consultants have helped every type of organization improve its security.
Our People – Our security experts are diverse with experience working as system administrators, web developers, network engineers, and cloud specialists to military veterans and former NSA employees who held Top Secret clearances. Artifice Security consultants have also taught and spoken at cybersecurity conferences and created tools used by many penetration testers today. Each of our consultants is not only highly passionate about security, but they are also highly credentialed.
Our Research – Each penetration tester spends time conducting research, publishing articles, creating tools, finding 0-days, and contributing to the security community.
Our Deliverables – Every report we deliver gives our customers a prioritized list of issues based on the exploitability and impact of each finding. We give our clients a step-by-step storyboard that walks them through sophisticated attack chains, including instructions on replicating the attack yourself. We highlight positive findings that show the effectiveness of their security controls and give remediation steps that are tailored specifically to their environment.
The lessons we’ve learned along the way are to always treat people like you would want to be treated and to always go above and beyond a client’s expectations.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It’s hard to pick what my favorite places are in the city. I would say for drinks/cocktails, Death & Co. is one of my favorites. It’s a beautiful building, and the drinks are fancy and unique. They also have some great burgers there too. I would say that my favorite restaurant in Denver is Guard and Grace. It’s a bit pricey, so we only go on special occasions, but they have the best steaks I’ve ever had. Their wagyu NY strip is insane.
As for things to do in the city, I like the Denver Botanical Gardens and the Aquarium. Both are nice to visit and unique. If I were taking family and friends new to the area, I would travel outside of Denver and go to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park. That’s one of my favorite places to go.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like first to thank my wife. She’s always been a bright beacon when the path was unclear. I don’t think I would be doing what I love doing now without her. Whenever I was unsure about taking a risk, she always challenged me to face it head-on and always had my back.
I also would like to thank my parents. They helped shape me into the person I am today. They always encouraged me to improve and showed me that success is hard-fought but worth the fight. They were always there for me through thick and thin.
Lastly, I would like to thank all the soldiers and mentors I worked with in the Army. Without them, I wouldn’t be as successful or strong as I am today.
Website: https://artificesecurity.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/artifice-security/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/artificesec
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtificeSec/