The practice behind the open-source moat.
Founded in Toronto, 2015.
ASEC (Aleks Security Cyber Intelligence Inc.) was founded in 2015 by Nick Aleks with the belief that the only honest way to improve security is to attack it first. The following year, in 2016, Nick founded DC416, Toronto's DEF CON chapter. Ten years on, DC416 has grown to 2,880 members and remains the community it was founded to be: "where hackers meet hackers." The chapter and the firm have grown in parallel, each reinforcing the other's credibility in a field where community trust is the only currency that matters.
ASEC operates from 18 King Street East, Suite 1400, Toronto, in the middle of Canada's financial district, a deliberate choice. The firm's clients include some of Canada's most significant financial institutions, critical infrastructure operators, and defense-adjacent organizations. The proximity is not incidental.
DC416: where hackers meet hackers.
DC416 is Toronto's DEF CON chapter, founded by Nick Aleks in 2016. Ten years on, the chapter counts 2,880 active members and is one of Canada's largest hacker communities. It has always operated on the principle that intelligence should not be hoarded; that the only way to build a stronger security community is to share what you know, openly, with the people doing the work.
The relationship between DC416 and ASEC is deliberate. The same hacker-community credibility that sustains the chapter informs how ASEC approaches clients: as a practitioner talking to practitioners, not as a vendor performing a service. "Where hackers meet hackers" is not a marketing line. It's the operating premise of both organizations.
Institutional participation, not just affiliation.
ASEC is a member of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) , whose mandate is to enhance Canada's sovereignty, safety, and security through a strong and competitive domestic defense and security industry.
Membership reflects ASEC's active participation in Canada's defense procurement community, not a marketing credential.
ASEC participates in the Atlantic Council's Cyber Defence Committee (ACDC) and the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX) , the national platform for threat intelligence sharing among Canadian private-sector organizations. ASEC's position in CCTX reflects the firm's view, articulated by Nick Aleks at MapleSEC 2022: It's not OK to hoard intelligence. Only when we come together can we fight threat actors.
ASEC is also a member of IN-SEC-M, the Quebec-based innovation cluster focused on cybersecurity industry development in the Canadian market. Across all four memberships, ASEC's engagement is practitioner-led and technically grounded, the same posture the firm maintains with clients.