FOUNDER PROFILE

Shadrach Akong

Founder of VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST and a cybersecurity awareness advocate focused on making digital security practical and easier to understand.

Shadrach Akong
VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST
01 · ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Shadrach Akong

Founder & Technical Lead

Shadrach Akong is a Computer Science graduate and cybersecurity enthusiast with a growing practical focus on ethical hacking, digital security and cybersecurity awareness.

His work brings together technical security knowledge and the human side of cybersecurity. Helping ordinary users understand how everyday decisions can expose accounts, money, information and devices.

Core message

STOP. CHECK. VERIFY. THEN ACT.

02 · THE WORK

Making cybersecurity easier to understand.

Cybersecurity is often presented as a highly technical subject. Shadrach's approach is to make important security principles understandable and practical for people who may not have a technical background.

Security Awareness

Turning cybersecurity concepts into practical guidance that people can apply to their everyday digital lives.

What does this mean?
Security awareness is not simply knowing that threats exist. It is understanding how risky situations develop and knowing what to do before an unsafe action is taken.

Human-Centred Security

Helping people recognize the decisions attackers try to influence. This includes clicking, approving, transferring, sharing or trusting.

Why focus on people?
Many attacks succeed because a person is persuaded to perform an action that benefits the attacker. Better awareness can interrupt that process.

Practical Cybersecurity

Turning security knowledge into practical decisions through simulations, assessments and interactive security tools.

How we make it practical

VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST is designed to move cybersecurity awareness beyond reading. Users can learn a security principle, test their understanding, analyze realistic situations and practise making safer decisions.

Learn through practice
  • Security Simulations: practise responding to realistic security situations.
  • Security Assessments: evaluate security habits and identify areas that need attention.
  • Message Analyzer: examine suspicious messages and recognize warning signs.
  • Scam Analyzer: assess potentially fraudulent situations before taking action.
  • Security Tools: use practical resources when dealing with real-world security questions.
  • Knowledge Center: understand the deeper principle behind each warning.
  • Business & Organization: apply secure practices to accounts, payments, access, recovery and incident response.
LEARNPRACTISEVERIFYACT
03 · WHY VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST

Because trust should not replace verification.

The idea behind VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST grew from a simple observation: sophisticated security systems can still be undermined when people are manipulated into making unsafe decisions.

A message can look legitimate. A familiar name can be copied. A voice can be imitated. A website can be designed to look genuine. An urgent request can create pressure before someone has time to think.

The goal is therefore not to make people afraid of technology. It is to give them the confidence to pause, ask questions, independently verify information and make better decisions.

STOPCHECKVERIFYTHEN ACT
04 · CYBERSECURITY DEVELOPMENT

Learning, practising and building.

Shadrach continues to develop his cybersecurity expertise through practical learning, security exercises and continuous exploration of how digital systems can be protected from emerging threats.

Ethical Hacking

Developing practical understanding of how vulnerabilities are discovered, assessed and responsibly addressed.

Web & Network Security

Exploring the weaknesses that can affect web applications, networks, accounts and connected systems.

Security Awareness

Connecting technical security knowledge with the everyday decisions that determine whether people remain protected.

05 · THE VISION

Build confidence, not fear.

Good cybersecurity education should help people recognize risk without making them afraid of the digital world.

The objective is simple: understand the risk, recognize the warning signs, verify important requests and know what to do when something goes wrong.

VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST.

06 · CONTINUE

Continue exploring the team.

Return to the team page to meet the people contributing to VERIFY BEFORE YOU TRUST.

Back to Meet Our Team →