Ethan Stein '15 launches cyber security company, eyes changing the world

Brandeis senior to make a contribution in fight against cyber crimes

Photo/Mike Lovett

Ethan Stein '15

Imagine a time when computer hacking and cyber-terrorism are a thing of the past—when the right means of defense would protect companies like Sony and Target from attacks that compromise the security of its computer networks.

One Brandeis senior is working to make that a reality.

Ethan Stein ’15 recently launched CyberSecurityPlan, a company to protect businesses’ computer networks and safeguard confidential information through a customized computer business plan. Stein says his suite of services and team of experts can save companies a great deal of money while keeping them protected and up to date in the ongoing fight against cyber crime.  

“Hopefully I can say in the coming year through this venture, in no cliché way, that I changed the world,” says Stein, a triple major in computer science, film and Near Eastern and Judaic studies. “It’s extremely important to be protected. I want to inspire people to urge companies, health care providers, and anyone else with their personal information, medical records and credit card data to have the highest level of protection and security.” 

Stein started CyberSecurityPlan in June 2014 with the help of his uncle, Michael Rosenblatt, a New York City-based attorney, and Israeli computer expert Eitan Magid, a former computer networking engineer for the Israeli Defense Forces and one of the architects of the rebuilt Affordable Care Act’s website, healthcare.gov. 

CyberSecurityPlan, which has an office in Manhattan, works with computer experts who will attempt to hack into their clients’ system to check for vulnerabilities and then help the clients fix any flaws that would make it easy for a hacker to gain access. Stein says his company also offers a licensed application that can detect a cyber attack and then alert the client via their smartphone, allowing them to quickly respond and block the attack.

“We focus on the front end — the workers who have access to information,” explains Stein. “With a cyber security plan in place, someone oversees access to confidential information”

Stein’s expertise and interest in computer science has grown throughout his time at Brandeis. Though he serves, and has served, as a teaching assistant for a variety of computer science courses, his experience in the field started with an introductory course taught by professor Antonella DiLillo.

 “Professor DiLillo is an extraordinary person, friend, mentor and teacher,” says Stein. “I had the great privilege of learning from her numerous times and was engrossed in her classes from day one. It is to her credit that I am where I am today.”

Stein was quick to laud the other professors in the COSI department, whom he was able to work with and learn from. “I am thankful to all the professors who taught me the skills and information needed to put CyberSecurityPlan together” and those such as Pito Salas “for teaching me the entrepreneurship side of the field. Pito was immensely supportive of the company’s concept from the start.” 

Stein says Brandeis has given him the foundation for both his interests and the founding of CyberSecurityPlan, while also helping him emerge as a leader. 

“I love the foundations of leadership here,” says Stein. “I have always seen myself as a community builder. I am a big advocate for the computer sciences, as the way of the future. I want to guide people who are not students of computer science in this field and hopefully inspire them to pursue it.”