Q&A with HackerOne's New Vice President, APAC, Attley Ng

Fueled by tremendous demand for hacker-powered security in the region, security veteran Attley Ng has joined HackerOne as Vice President of Asia Pacific, based in our Singapore office.

Public and private organizations across Asia Pacific have been setting an example for the rest of the world to follow with their forward-thinking approach to security. Since Nintendo launched their Hacker-Powered program in 2016, leading organizations including Xiaomi, Zomato,  Toyota, Nintendo, Grab, Alibaba as well as the Singapore Government’s Ministry of Defence and Government Technology Agency, among others are inviting hackers to help them improve their security.

We sat down with Attley to get better acquainted with him. Check out our conversation! 

Q: Tell us about yourself. What led you to security and HackerOne?

HackerOne’s unique approach to security is what attracted me to join the company. The concept of leveraging the best and brightest ethical hacking community to weed out highly critical vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by criminals is quite novel and has proven to be quite effective. Companies all over the world are increasingly using this approach as a means to fortify their defense systems, which is encouraging.

Learning about the major cybersecurity incidents of our time is what initially led me to start a career in cybersecurity. I joined the security industry with the goal of solving the pain points of customers who are constantly under threat. That was more than 15 years now, and I am excited for this next chapter with HackerOne and the growing community of hackers. 

HackerOne’s mission, to empower the world to build a safer internet, aligns with my personal mission and is why I first began my career in security. I look forward to leveraging the expertise of our hacker community to help protect our customers and make the internet a safer place. 

Q:  Why is there so much interest in hacker-powered security in the APAC region? 

Cyberattacks are borderless!  Based on recent industry reports, more than 40% of all cyberattacks originated from APAC.  We can see that cyber incidents have increased in volume, complexity and impact at internet speeds.  Both private and public organizations globally are seeing the benefits of hacker-powered security and looking to partner with companies like HackerOne to safeguard their most critical digital assets. The Cyber Security Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore has also recommended financial institutions adopt bug bounty programs as part of their cyber testing.

Q: Why is customer success so important for hacker-powered programs?

HackerOne is passionate about helping customers find highly critical vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by cybercriminals. No customer wants to be a victim of a major data breach that could negatively impact their reputation and cause huge financial losses. We need to BEAT the cybercriminals to it!  Customer and hacker success is always HackerOne’s success.  We are all in this together and it is a privilege to work with forward-thinking customers like Nintendo, Grab, Xiaomi and the Government of Singapore. 

Q. As a newcomer to the hacker-powered security industry, what are your first impressions?

I am very intrigued by how far the the hacker-powered security industry has come and particularly impressed with the talented hacker community.  HackerOne has accomplished something quite incredible: crowdsourcing the hacking talent of independent security researchers to make the digital assets of businesses and organizations safer, while also making ethical hacking more lucrative and accessible for all. It’s a win-win-win for all involved when we work together to make the internet safer.  I feel privileged to partake in making the world a safer place. Not to mention, I also feel so cool to be hanging out with hackers who are committed to making the internet safer.

Q: What are you most excited about at HackerOne?

I am excited about HackerOne’s culture, people and passion. The talent, hacker community and everyone shares a common mission, and that is to make the internet a safer place. I lead the business with my brain and build teams with my heart. I hope to bring the best out of everyone on the team and continue to build on the momentum we’ve seen so far!