Cobalt is a company that developed a Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) platform, which has been modernizing traditional pentesting by combining a SaaS platform with an exclusive community of testers and the company delivers the real-time insights needed to remediate risk quickly and innovate securely. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cobalt chief marketing officer Lisa Matherly.
Lisa Matherly’s Background
Matherly has two decades of experience in B2B marketing and cybersecurity with expertise across customer segments, indirect/direct channels, product marketing, growth marketing, and operations.
“Before joining Cobalt, I served as the marketing leader at [24]7.ai where I led the brand and go-to-market transformation for their SaaS business in conversational AI and contact center automation. Prior to my role at [24]7.ai, I worked with McAfee, Intel, and 3Com in various leadership roles across marketing, customer service, and sales,” said Matherly. “I am currently based in Silicon Valley and as for my educational background, I received my bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University where I graduated with a focus in business administration and marketing.”
As CMO of the company, Matherly is leading a global team responsible for driving brand awareness and go-to-market growth through analyst relations, branding, communications, product marketing, demand generation, and partner marketing.
“I’ll work closely with these teams to execute the company’s larger brand and marketing strategies to help spread the word about the amazing work our teams are doing,” added Matherly.
Favorite Memory Working At Cobalt
“While I’m still settling into my new role at Cobalt, there are a few things that excite me in particular about the company. I felt an instant connection with the Cobalt leadership team and their core values. The Cobalt values are all about humble learning, leading with grit, providing quality service with speed, and connecting as ‘One Cobalt.’ These values are felt throughout the entire company and you don’t just get that everywhere, I knew that was something special,” Matherly reflected.
Core Products
What are Cobalt’s core products and features? “Cobalt’s main product is its Pentest as a Service (PtaaS), a solution to traditional, static, pentesting. By combining a SaaS platform with an exclusive community of testers, we deliver the real-time insights companies need to remediate risk quickly and innovate securely,” Matherly explained. “The heart of Cobalt’s work lies with our Cobalt Core, a group of highly skilled and rigorously vetted pentesting professionals. For each pentest, Cobalt hand-selects the right person for our client’s unique needs.”
Evolution Of Cobalt’s Technology
Cobalt’s technology continues to evolve since launching over a decade ago. Most recently, the company launched its new Agile Pentesting service, and a Pentest Management Platform (PMP).
“The Agile Pentesting service proactively identifies and addresses vulnerabilities at a faster, more frequent rate to minimize the risk of a corporate attack. Agile Pentesting also allows organizations to test specific parts of their systems, a key feature when it comes to long-term breach prevention. PMP aims to increase the efficiency and quality of pentesting programs,” Matherly explained. “The platform enables in-house security teams, MSPs, or outsourced security teams to cover the entire lifecycle of a pentest from planning, launching, and collaborating on tests to writing reports, tracking vulnerabilities, and remediation efforts.”
Most Significant Milestones
What have been some of Cobalt’s most significant milestones? Along with Cobalt’s continued growth and product development, Cobalt has recently become ISO 27001 certified. ISO 27001 is known for setting the golden standard for information security, requiring companies to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
“To obtain this certification, Cobalt went through a rigorous audit and in-depth review of our policies and controls. Additionally, Cobalt just released its 5th State of Pentesting Report, which highlights the biggest issues and vulnerabilities cybersecurity professionals are facing,” Matherly shared.
Customer Success Stories
When I asked Matherly about customer success stories, she cited work that was done with Credit Karma.
“Credit Karma provides free credit card scores, reports, and financial tips and tools to customers across the globe, and needs to be able to ensure their customers that their private data is safe and secure. While being able to provide the security measures Credit Karma needed, Cobalt was also able to provide the seamless integration their team needed,” Matherly assessed. “The Cobalt dashboard provided a complete overview of the entire application and scope of the pentest and communicated with researchers throughout the pentesting process to spot any critical issues at hand.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Cobalt from its competition? “Traditional pentesting services take weeks to schedule and deliver, work in isolation, and provide written results long after the release of the code. Cobalt transforms this traditional pentesting model by combining on-demand access to expert talent with a modern SaaS delivery platform that allows for real-time collaboration and quick solutions,” Matherly pointed out. “Unlike traditional pentesting where findings must be manually entered, Cobalt’s PtaaS platform enables organizations to pass pentest report findings directly and instantly to engineering, developer, and security teams. As a result, DevSecOps workflows are optimized and vulnerabilities can be quickly resolved.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Cobalt’s future company goals? “Cobalt as a company hopes to continue to expand its partner program and continue to provide as many crucial pentests as possible. When it comes to my personal goals for the company, I want us to focus on creating a multi-segment portfolio strategy that will reach the right audiences with a new approach to solving their security needs,” Matherly concluded. “We have some exciting products in the pipeline that will help our customers continue to defend themselves in an ever-evolving threat landscape.”
