Security Champion Blog

At Katilyst, we’ve found that the biggest barrier to strong threat modeling isn’t technical knowledge—it’s engagement. Even with the best frameworks (STRIDE, PASTA, etc.), teams tune out if threat modeling becomes a rote checklist. That’s why we set out to transform it into an epic quest. Inspired by tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, our approach gives security champions the tools to lead fun, collaborative, and genuinely productive threat modeling sessions.

Through a combination of conversations and firsthand experience, we have developed a sixth sense about the mistakes that are most commonly made over the lifetime of a champion program which lead to failures.

In a recent webinar hosted by Wizer, Katilyst's Dustin Lehr joined Gaby Friedlander to explore the importance of cultivating a strong security culture through Security Champion programs.

The key to building security culture is motivating and inspiring your colleagues to take proactive action - focusing on the carrot, not the stick. This can be a lot of work, so we created Katilyst to lift the burden.

With employees dispersed across various locations, ensuring that everyone aligns to security best practices can prove a difficult challenge. In this week's post we explore some methods to build and maintain a strong security culture in remote work companies.

Hosted by Semgrep and led by Tanya Janca (one of our advisors and a close friend to Katilyst), the panel explored the critical elements of creating and maintaining a successful Champions program.

You'll find some great insights into why these programs exist and what champions do on a day-to-day basis.