Meet Kris Rides of Tiro Security in El Segundo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Rides.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m originally from London and I followed my passion for DJing and music at 16 which led me from predicted grades good enough to enter Oxbridge to just passing my A levels in math, physics and chemistry.

I took the decision to follow that path for a short while and delay university for a year.

While looking for a job in sales, I interviewed for what I thought was an IT sales role. Once in the interview, I realized it was actually an IT recruitment role and after a grueling 6 stage interview process, I managed to get the job as a sourcer…. this seemed to involve working 14 hours a day finding people for jobs while also grabbing people’s dry cleaning and making coffee. As a side note, this is where I realized if you can make really bad coffee everyone stops asking you to do it.

Anyway, I actually was pretty good at the sourcing part of my job and the dry cleaning runs stopped and I was quickly promoted.

This motivated me hugely and so I continued to work hard eventually becoming their top global biller before moving into management.

After managing multiple teams across multiple brands and building succession, I was asked to consider moving to one of their international offices. I was offered roles in Singapore, Dubai and New York and after a visit to NYC decided that was the way to go. My job was to turn around a failing team and we went from loss making to a 7 figure profit in the first year and after three years were a multi-million dollar profit-making team which had grown to 5 times the size but I was hungry for more.

I was training other managers to open more offices on the east coast but wasn’t getting any recognition for that and decided after 14 years my next challenge would be to open my own company.

With a brief but really enjoyable stint in Houston while my non compete played out, I then moved to LA and founded Tiro Security in 2012.

Tiro Security was profitable from year one and with its unusual mix of cybersecurity staffing and professional services, we have built a brand with a fantastic reputation for delivering on our promises. LA has been fantastic for us and early on we were bought in as subject matter experts by the Motion Picture Authority to help write it’s first ever web application and cloud security guidelines and so we’ve had a great ongoing relationship with the entertainment sector.

Now our clients range all across the US and are in pretty much every sector.  Our staffing arm supplies some of the most successful companies in the country and our cyber security services arm has become the go to company for small to medium businesses putting together cost effective security programs.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve focused on speaking at cybersecurity conferences and have managed to check off some of the most prestigious in our industry from DEFCON and RSA to the (ISC)2 Security Congress.

I am heavily involved in this exciting industry and was a founding board member and I am the current president of the LA chapter of the cloud security alliance. I am also an advisory board member of the national cybersecurity Training and Education Center (NCYTE) a non-profit that helps community colleges, universities and high schools train the cybersecurity workforce of tomorrow.

Has it been a smooth road?
Well being so far away from family and old friends has certainly been tough, especially through having a child and then let’s face it this pandemic hasn’t really helped much.

2019 was a record year for us and pre-COVID was looking much the same but after being hit quite hard initially, we are very much seeing a bounce back.  A pandemic doesn’t stop cyber security criminals and so we will continue to be busy.

I’m proud to say in our industry we are one of the few companies that didn’t furlough or lay off staff and that’s paying dividends now we are back busy again.

I’m thankful now to have an established company and amazing staff that despite everything that’s gone on in 2020 have pulled together to line up another amazing year.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Tiro Security – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I’m so so proud of my staff and to find out it was a previous staff member that had recommended me for this interview was amazing to hear.

I’m a firm believer that regardless of how things work out, you should stick to your morals and I hope that anyone that works with me currently or has in the past comes away having experienced some personal growth.

Most recently I’m extremely proud to launch our nextCISO program. We are taking people from underrepresented groups with no experience in cybersecurity and putting them through a free six months apprenticeship program that they can complete alongside their full-time job. They come out of the program with commercial experience, industry recognized certifications and ongoing mentorship.

We are looking to build partnerships with companies that are interested in offering the students their first role at the end of the course.

This is our way of Tiro Security giving back to our industry and the community.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I’m from the UK and so I LOVE the weather, especially living near the beach where it’s never too hot or too cold. Also the whole outdoor lifestyle, great hiking with amazing views.

Hmmm…. least. Well, it’s a long flight for family and UK-based friends to visit but in terms of something that could be done, I wish there was more help for the homeless and especially those that have found themselves in that situation from a lack of assistance around mental health issues.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tirosec.com

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