Turkey aims for higher level of cybersecurity

Alamy/Reuters

• State prioritises security startups
• Campaign to bolster defences
• Struggle to keep talent in country

Turkey has outlined plans for a new cybersecurity directorate to encourage private sector research and new startups.

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said last week that the directorate would be established in the autumn as part of a campaign to strengthen the state’s defences against all forms of cyber attack. 

“We have more or less completed our preparations for a much stronger institutional structure, especially in cybersecurity,” he told a meeting of officials in the western city of Izmir. “We will take our technology to higher levels in every sector.”

Last year, Turkish entities were the target of increasing numbers of cyberattacks, particularly phishing, according to Kaspersky, a security adviser, cited in the Daily Sabah newspaper.

One already aiming higher is Gökhan Say, the founder and CEO of CyBridge Capital, an early-stage investment, advisory and exit strategy company which works with startups in cyber security, risk and compliance. 

Say founded CyBridge in 2022 to help Turkish tech startups, particularly in the security segment. He had previously exited his own startup ATAR Labs, selling off to a foreign tech company.

“Today the biggest problem is not our brothers and sisters developing software,” he told AGBI. “Yes, it is very important to develop amazing software but the most important next step is to open it up to the world. 

“Getting onto the global stage is different and you don’t have the luxury of a mistake.”

Many tech startups fail because of weaknesses in building relationships, developing business, marketing and sales plans, rather than a poor product, Say believes. So a broader based strategy is needed. 

Among the tactics deployed by CyBridge to prepare developers for selling their products is what he calls “cybersharks” – having startups pitch their ideas to a jury of information security officers from leading Turkish companies, who are then asked to criticise the presentation ruthlessly. 

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“Should you have the opportunity for a remote meeting with a global firm, if you do not tell your story well by the end of the very first minute, your microphone is muted and by the second minute your camera switched off and the opportunity is gone,” he said. 

Turkey’s government has set the ambitious target of creating and developing 100,000 new startups by the end of the decade, with at least 100 of these having a market value of $1 billion or more. However, relatively low levels of direct funding make it difficult to foster growth, Say said.

Another major stumbling block is that the nation’s young people do not seem keen on signing up for the programme. 

A recent study by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation found up to two thirds of Turks between the ages of 18 and 25 would leave the country if given the chance, with the rate even higher for those with advanced education or training. Many cite limited economic opportunities as a reason for wanting to head for the door. 

“This is a problem because we have so few developers and these guys are moving or sometimes starting their own business or working remotely from Turkey for foreign companies,” Say said. “We have to increase the number of our developers and keep them in our country.”

While he says there is also an upside to the skills outflow, with Turkish developers working abroad acting as ambassadors for Turkey’s tech sector, it is going to take time for the advantages to flow back home.

“We will suffer from it today, but I am sure we will have benefits out of it in the future.”