Aranya Consulting is growing

Hi, Thomas, and welcome to our team!

Why are you starting here?

It’s simply more fun to work with others. I used to be a solo consultant, but I missed the opportunity to exchange thoughts, ideas, and knowledge with colleagues. There’s strength in numbers.

Why did you choose Aranya Consulting, specifically?

It was the right opportunity, but above all, it was about the people. Here, you feel seen, no matter what role or assignment you have. As an independent consultant, my work has largely revolved around one assignment after another. Now, the people around me are becoming a much bigger part of my job.

What will you be doing at Aranya Consulting?

I will be working on consulting assignments while also helping to develop both the business and the people at Aranya Consulting. My first assignment involves vulnerability management at a large organization.

Why has vulnerability management become so important?

If you don’t know what you have, you don’t know what you need to protect. That’s why vulnerability management is key to good security—often at an extremely detailed level.
It forms the basis for all risk decisions regarding, for example, updates and vulnerabilities. It’s important to stay on top of things so you can make good decisions when something does happen—for example, when a new critical vulnerability is discovered or an incident occurs. Today, everything also moves much faster than it used to.

What have you done in the past?

I’ve been working in cybersecurity for 17 years. During that time, I’ve worked with penetration testing, networks, and vendor security, among other things, but also more generally with how to structure security processes.
A common thread has been making security efforts work in practice: getting processes, technology, and people to pull in the same direction—and thereby making organizations a little safer.

What made you get into cybersecurity?

It all started when I read *Takedown*, a book about Tsutomu Shimomura’s hunt for the hacker Kevin Mitnick. It sparked my interest in digital forensics, which then became my gateway into the field of cybersecurity.

You’ve just returned from parental leave. Do you have any tips for other tech-savvy parents who need projects to work on while the kids are asleep?

I used AI to analyze the communication in my dishwasher so I could build my own app to check its status and connect it to my home automation system.
My next project is to take apart my robot vacuum and solder on a port so I can install a local solution and avoid giving the manufacturer access to my home. In that regard, I recommend the Valetudo project, whose slogan sums up the idea quite well: “Free your vacuum from the cloud.”