Tanzania: Esther Lugoe Mengi, a specialist in corporate cyber security

Esther Lugoe Mengi is a Tanzanian cyber security expert. She is the co-founder of Serensic Africa, a company specialized in web data security. In 2019, she was ranked among the top 50 women in cyber security in Africa.

Esther Lugoe Mengi is a web « policewoman ». She fights piracy, cyber crimes and all forms of security threats on the web. Through her company, Serensic Africa, she protects the activities of client companies by securing their sensitive information and that of their customers, while protecting the reputation and value of these companies.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics in 2014 from the American International University and an MBA in Information Systems Management in 2015 from the same university, she started her career in 2010 alongside her studies. She worked as a security systems administrator for a Tanzanian company. Among other things, she was responsible of security vulnerability assessments and penetration testing of corporate IT systems, data and networks. Since 2014, after graduation, she worked at the United Nations office in Nairobi, Kenya. She was, among other things, in charge of programming system, analysis, development and maintenance of systems within the organisation. 

Less than five months after this experience, she resigned. In January 2015, she founded a company specialized in cyber-security and digital forensics, called Serensic. The company was born from the founder’s vision that “trust and confidentiality do not come from knowing that nothing can happen, but from knowing the risk factors and dangers that can occur and preparing proactive and reactive solutions to prevent and counter them”.

Based in Tanzania and with a branch in Kenya, Serensic provides information security services and training, among other things, to corporate clients and individuals. 

Esther Lugoe Mengi is also the vice-chair of the Advisory Board of RAFIC, a World Bank-funded project. As part of this project, she has developed threat intelligence systems known as Askari. It is a cyber artificial intelligence technology that protects systems from hackers, attacks and other threats using intelligent algorithms.

Her expertise in cyber security has been recognised and praised with various awards. Forbes Magazine named her and her husband, the co-founder of the company, in the list of “Africa’s 30 Most Influential Young Entrepreneurs Under 30”. In 2019, she was ranked among the top 50 women in cyber security in Africa.