About us
Whirly Labs is a privately-held, independent, bootstrapped IT security consultancy, founded, operated, and advised by seasoned experts in computer security with established track records both in the IT security industry and academic security research.
Rooted in Computer Science
Whirly Labs has strong ties to the department of computer science at Stellenbosch University, where it offers modules on computer security that are integrated into the curriculum. In addition, Whirly Labs provides internships, student projects, and part-time jobs to students. Finally, Brink van der Merwe, head of computer science at Stellenbosch University, serves as an advisor to Whirly Labs.
Industry Partners
Secfault Security GmbH
Secfault Security is an established German IT security consultancy that offers a wide range of services covering all stages of the software development process, and one of the few companies offering continuous security for agile customers. Our friends and colleagues at Secfault Security have been a supporting force and inspiration to our company from day one. Today, we proudly collaborate with Secfault Security on customer engagements and research projects.
QueDev Security GmbH
Since the inception of Whirly Labs, we have been working in close collaboration with QueDev Security GmbH in Berlin, Germany. In the spirit of "two companies, one team", we have joined forces to bring together a compelling and rare set of skills. Lead by CEO Niko Schmidt, QueDev offers a range of consulting services particular in the area of blackbox and greybox Web application assessments. Having worked together frequently even prior to formation of the two companies, the collaboration is seamless.
Recurity Labs GmbH
Recurity Labs is among the most established players in the German IT security consulting space. The company was founded by renowned hacker and security expert Felix "FX" Lindner in 2006, who today is an advisor to Whirly Labs. Our CTO, Dr. Fabian Yamaguchi, started his career at Recurity Labs as its first employee. The deep bond formed in that time with the team at Recurity Labs has prevailed over the years. Today, the companies mutually benefit from each other's expertise. Our shared goals and values make the collaboration pleasant and fruitful.
KMSEC
KMSEC is a Cape Town, South Africa based cybersecurity services company backed by a decade of experience in the industry. KMSEC has delivered world-class assessments for clients of many different regions spanning a wide collection of industries and engineering specialisation. As a company KMSEC is passionate about engaging with the research community, supporting initiatives that foster skills growth, make training accessible to passionate researchers and penetration testers as well as any initiatives that make the public aware of security and privacy risks.