Women in Cyber interview with Yubico's Co-Founder and now Chief Evangelist, Stina Ehrensvard

Stina's impact on Yubico reminds us that women are crucial to shaping the future of cybersecurity. By highlighting her achievements and those of others like her, Yubico hopes to inspire more women to pursue careers in cyber and pave the way for an even more inclusive and diverse industry.

What was the easiest and hardest thing about founding Yubico?

I've told the story many times about how Yubico came to be. My husband Jakob, an internet security expert, told me that my online bank's security was easy to break. To inform the bank about this risk, I called the bank's customer service and told the guy on the phone line I had a friend who said it would take him less than a day to write the code that could empty my bank account. The response was, 'Please, tell your friend not to do that', and it was a catalyst to start the company. 

The easiest part of starting Yubico was being inspired by the challenge of helping to solve this problem. I have a background in industrial product design, and when I had a conversation with the bank, I knew practically nothing about internet security. My bank's poor security got me excited about the problem and helped me realise that phishing and account takeovers were the biggest threats to our modern society and to our future on the internet. 

The hardest part of starting Yubico was to convince the world - customers, investors, new team members, and industry analysts - that the strongest and the easiest authentication solution would be a new kind of hardware USB key, not a software application, a phone app or biometrics. It took three years, and not until Silicon Valley tech giants started to deploy our products, to get some tangible business momentum. Another decade of continued innovation, open standards work and advanced cyber attackers until our technology was more widely acknowledged as the Gold Standard for strong authentication. 

What are you looking forward to most in the future?

Now, when the technologies proven to stop the most significant IT security problems are available, I am inspired by the challenge of educating more than a billion internet users about what I have learned as a tech entrepreneur and how to stay safe online. 

Research shows that around 90% of all breaches involve a breached password or other weak authentication method. However, the basic understanding of the different authentication solutions and other simple things we can all do to reduce 90% of breaches has yet to reach the masses.

As Chief Evangelist, I am helping to bring internet security education to a wide range of non-technical people. To reach a broader audience, we cannot ask people to download a technical whitepaper, but if we make it more fun, there is a stronger chance of success. Stay tuned—there's lots more to come. 

What was the best piece of advice you have ever received?

There are so many great pieces of advice that I have received over the years, but the single one that is something that I truly follow is to do what you love and follow what makes you happy. I loved coming up with the idea of Yubico and the YubiKey almost two decades ago. I loved building, creating, and establishing a company that has disrupted the market. I have loved seeing our brand, technology, partners, and the YubiTeam grow. And now, I love where I am, and I am very excited to help educate the world on internet security and how everyone can stay safer online! 

What is your advice for young women entering the cyber industry?

It is true that women are still underrepresented in cybersecurity, but I am seeing positive changes. I've had the pleasure of working and engaging with some of the brightest female minds, not only in technology but across all industries, and it's exciting to see women continuing to excel in many fields. Many women, like myself, who do not have an engineering degree have fulfilling careers in cybersecurity.

My advice to young women is to mirror the advice that I have had: if something makes you happy, drive towards it. Follow the path as you create it. Few people succeed alone, so always be respectful to everyone you encounter on your journey. If your dream is solving a big problem that is beyond your own personal interests, stay bold and kind and you will get help from unexpected places. You can get there without a detailed map. You just need to have a North Star to be focused on.