Cybersecurity, children online and Skenify’s road to first place at AIM 2026
A morning-show conversation on RTV Herceg Novi: the WhatsApp voting scam, keeping children safe online, and how Skenify won first place at AIM 2026.
On Novsko jutro, the morning show on RTV Herceg Novi, we talked about how much cybersecurity matters to every one of us today. We discussed the scams currently hitting people in Montenegro and how to keep children safe online. We also talked about Skenify, the platform that took first place in the startup competition at AIM 2026, an international investment conference.
The internet is in our pocket, 24 hours a day
The line between the real and the digital world has practically disappeared. We used to be “online” only when we sat down at a computer. Today the internet is in our pocket: messages arrive non-stop, and most business happens online.
The same technology has made starting a business far more accessible, in Montenegro too. It used to take serious money from investors, grants or loans. Today you can test ideas quickly and cheaply before you hire anyone or go looking for funding.
Artificial intelligence is changing the rules
Cybersecurity matters more than ever, above all because of the new threats artificial intelligence has brought. There are more and more scams and attacks because everything is automated. Cybercriminals hand their tasks over to AI, which carries them out at scale and often better than before.
AI is also used for disinformation and for shifting narratives, and our social networks are flooded with generated videos and “news”. Using AI to create content is not bad in itself. When it is used to deceive people, it is already a criminal act.
The best protection is continuous education
Scams evolve so fast that something new appears every month, if not every week. That is why we have to keep the public informed about new threats.
The WhatsApp “vote for my friend’s child” scam
This scam has been very active in Montenegro in recent months:
- 01You get a WhatsApp message from someone you know and have recently been chatting with. They ask you to vote for a friend’s child in a dance, ballet or art competition.
- 02The link leads to a page with photos of children. When you try to vote, you are asked to “confirm your phone number” by entering a code that arrives on WhatsApp.
- 03That code is not a verification. It is the code the attacker uses to link your WhatsApp account to their own computer and take it over.
- 04The attacker then writes to your most recent contacts. Some get the same scam; others are asked for a loan (“I’ll pay you back tomorrow”). They pick your closest friends from your conversations, the people most likely to actually send the money.
A lot of people in Montenegro have lost money this way, and some of them have come to me personally for help.
What to do
- —Call the person before you send any money. The real person will answer, and you will know at once whether they really need it. That also stops the scam from spreading further.
- —If you have already sent money, call your bank immediately. Minutes count. Payments are faster now, so there is less time to block a card or a transaction. The chances of getting the money back are slim, but they exist if you react quickly enough.
Children are the most vulnerable internet users
Children get access to the internet earlier and earlier. Parents give them phones to stay in touch, and children set up groups on Viber and Snapchat and carry their friendships online. Two big problems follow from that.
Peer bullying no longer stops when a child gets home. It existed before the internet, but now it carries on 24/7 through group chats and ridicule. Lately, artificial intelligence is also being used to make images with a child’s likeness. Montenegro has had many such cases in which institutions had to step in. Parents have complained about the system’s inadequate response to these new forms of online violence.
Predators pose as peers. They add children on Instagram from fake profiles and push them to send photos and videos, or to meet in person, which can have catastrophic consequences.
What parents can do
- —Be aware that all of this is happening on your child’s phone.
- —Talk to your children about these topics.
- —Build trust, so that your child comes to you as soon as they notice something like this happening.
- —Watch for the signs in your child’s friends too. Children often confide in a friend first, and only then in a parent or teacher.
No child should have to put up with this. That is why I often give talks in schools through NGO projects, and talk with parents about how to recognise these signs in time.
Skenify: the problem we solve
The first question investors ask, and everyone else too, is: what problem are you solving?
The problem is the sheer number of security vulnerabilities that have emerged because of artificial intelligence. AI can now analyse software code and find new vulnerabilities. Experts used to do that work by hand, and it took days or months; AI does it in a very short time. Attackers use those vulnerabilities to compromise systems, steal data or money, cause chaos or even shut a company down.
Skenify does three things
- —It finds vulnerabilities as fast as AI and the internet allow.
- —It connects them to the context of the company and all of its systems.
- —It decides what needs patching first, with the goal of keeping the company’s security level above 90% at all times.
A company that uses the platform continuously is always patching its systems and becomes more and more resilient to attacks.
How the idea came about
The idea came from our own problem. Before Skenify, I already had a cybersecurity services company working with large enterprises. Every day we were flooded with risks and vulnerabilities, and we could not tell clients clearly what to focus on first.
We solved the problem for ourselves first. Then we saw that it was a global problem, so we adapted the product so that any company can use it on its own, without our help.
Protection for small and mid-sized businesses from day one
Awareness of cyber threats in small and mid-sized businesses is low, right up until an attack happens. Then a company finds its website down or defaced with compromising or propaganda content, or its employees’ and customers’ data stolen or encrypted. Healthcare, finance and insurance are especially exposed, because a leak of sensitive data there affects a large number of citizens.
Companies usually start dealing with information security late, when they are already exposed, and by then it can be too late. That is why we built a platform that is extremely affordable and simple to use, so that even a four-person startup can look after its cybersecurity effectively from the very beginning.
First place at AIM 2026
Skenify won first place in the SME and startup competition at AIM 2026, an international investment conference in Portonovi. I think several things contributed to the win:
- —A relevant problem at the right moment.
- —An innovative approach built on the latest generation of technology.
- —Quality that stands comparison with Silicon Valley companies, which often lead this field: in quality, innovation and technology we can stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
- —A home-grown product from Montenegro. Not wine, olive oil or prosciutto, but technology, and I was proud to present it.
Experience in presenting certainly helped. I often speak about information security through volunteer education as well. I see it as a social responsibility of experts, the same way we listened to doctors during COVID.
What comes next
During the conference we spoke with several investors who are very interested in a partnership. In early 2027 we start raising our first investment round. Right after that, we plan to hire 10–15 people in Montenegro in distribution, new feature development and research.
Our focus is sales in the US market, which we already developed well with our previous company. We also want to keep our talent in Montenegro, and to be proud of home-grown products.
A message to young entrepreneurs
Building a product is not hard; selling it is. The startup scene in Montenegro is waking up, and young people have great ideas. Still, the energy and the passion to create matter more.
- —Don’t get attached to a single idea. Good ideas come through iteration. I have tried plenty of things that didn’t work myself, and I learned from those failures.
- —Sales is key. There are great products nobody knows how to sell, and bad products someone knows how to sell. At least one person on the team has to know how to present the product and break into the market.
- —You don’t have to go global straight away. Focus on a smaller market, even a single city, be the best there, and then grow the team and sales step by step.
Artificial intelligence cannot replace sales skills. It is a tool for campaigns and content, but people set the strategy. AI will take over the jobs nobody wants to do and leave people the more creative ones. In my team we have already automated some things, so we achieve more with fewer people.
There is still little support for young entrepreneurs in Montenegro. Progress is visible from year to year, but on the road to the European Union we have to be competitive and move faster.