We are thrilled to welcome Klaus Agnoletti to the CrowdSec family as our Head of Community!
Klaus has an impressive background in information security. He spent almost 20 years as an infosec professional and consultant who eventually became a senior security architect. Just a few months ago, he joined CrowdSec and jumped directly into community building. So we thought a little interview with Klaus would be an excellent opportunity to introduce him to you and let you get to know him better.
Hi Klaus, tell our community about yourself.
My name is Klaus Agnoletti. I’m 46 years old and live in Copenhagen, Denmark, with my wife and our two cats.
I’ve been an infosec professional for almost 20 years and an avid user of Linux and open-source software in general for close to 25 years. Alongside this, I have been actively involved in the local infosec community in Copenhagen since 2008, when I started arranging events within the realms of OWASP Copenhagen. Since 2019, I’ve also been involved in founding and organizing BSides København.
I am not your average non-technical community manager. I have always been a geek and a tinkerer. At some point, I started thinking about what made me happy and realized that the most joyful times I’ve ever had in my professional life were when I have been arranging talks or events for the community. Through these events, I saw how happy people were, how much they’d learned, or even how many interesting people they managed to talk to. That’s what drives me.
So eventually, I realized that it was possible to get an actual job doing this. Through a common friend, I found that CrowdSec was seeking an unusual person like me, someone who knows about infosec, Linux, and other open-source software and who really cares for the community. I applied, and the rest is history.
What is your mission at CrowdSec?
As you might know, CrowdSec is all about getting intelligence about potential attacks. The more we get of that – the more installations of CrowdSec there are, the better intelligence – and the better we’re able to help our users protect themselves. So basically, my job is to facilitate that by talking to our users, making sure that their wishes for CrowdSec are heard while encouraging an active and engaging community.
Our humble goal is to have 1 million users by 2025. That’s ambitious but I don’t have any doubts that we’ll succeed!
Why did you choose CrowdSec?
First of all, I liked that the position that CrowdSec was trying to fill was exactly what I was looking for in terms of community engagement.
Secondly, I liked the geekiness in their company culture. It was very obvious that these guys shared my love for open-source software and Debian Linux.
I liked the humor (the job ad said: “it’s an advantage if you speak English with a heavy accent to fit better in with the rest of us.” Most of my colleagues are French and some speak English with a very heavy and stereotypical accent). I just loved that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Neither do I. There aren’t many things in life you can’t laugh at.
Last but not least, I really liked the founders’ vision of CrowdSec and their desire to try and make the world a better place. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of something like that?
What is your vision for the community?
I want people to feel at home when they join our community. I want them to find the help, the feeling of camaraderie, or whatever they’re looking for. I want to have an open and inclusive community where people are helping each other out.
Fun fact about yourself.
If I didn’t do this, I would probably have an animal sanctuary. I love animals and have always done so, having had dogs and cats (just to name a few) all my life.
What is your dream for the future of cybersecurity?
I think I share this with most infosec professionals: I want the world to be a better place where people don’t have to fear ransomware or other attacks from devious criminals. A place where companies would prioritize security and employees would care about it before they got attacked themselves. Where there’s no crime or cyber bandits. I don’t find this very realistic (and if it was, I would probably be out of a job since there would be no need for infosec professionals like me).
Want to connect with Klaus? Feel free to reach out to him on LinkedIn, Twitter, or klaus@crowdsec.net.
