Nigerian cybersecurity expert offers free tools to boost UK SME resilience
Abdullateef Abdulsalam, a cybersecurity analyst at Guaranty Trust Bank UK Limited and founder of Fa3Tech Limited, says his unconventional path from Industrial Relations to security began after a 2012 cyber attack on his former Nigerian employer made threats personal. In a Premium Times interview, he explains that building three security platforms—PrepIQ, DefenceIQ, and CertPulse—stemmed from seeing a structural failure: UK organisations without security budgets are left exposed despite being part of larger supply chains. PrepIQ and DefenceIQ are free, open‑source tools offering cyber preparedness modules, incident simulation, fraud intelligence and more; CertPulse is a commercial SSL monitoring service that funds the free tier. Abdulsalam argues that real cyber resilience depends on human behaviour, not just training, and criticises the sector’s narrow talent pipeline that overlooks operational and social‑science backgrounds. He notes that his tools already serve 78 users across 12 UK organisations in finance, health, education, retail and public sector, and aims to expand to thousands of SMEs, NHS trusts and civil society groups by 2030. For Nigerian entrepreneurs and small businesses, the free platforms provide a way to strengthen cyber defences without costly enterprise contracts.