Accenture Invests in Deepfake Detection Startup Reality Defender

Accenture has made a strategic investment in Reality Defender, a cybersecurity company specializing in deepfake detection, through its venture arm, Accenture Ventures.

Notably, Accenture has invested in Reality Defender as part of the startup's $33 million series-A-extended round of funding, which is led by Illuminate Financial, with participation from Accenture, Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, and the Jefferies Family Office.

Reality Defender, which won the RSA Innovation award, offers solutions to detect and prevent deepfake fraud across various industries, including financial services, media, and high-tech.

The partnership aims to equip clients with the ability to rapidly identify, detect, respond to, and prevent deepfake fraud, ensuring a more secure digital landscape. Reality Defender's technology includes real-time voice detection and audiovisual detection to catch even the most advanced AI-generated content.

Founded in 2021, by Ben Colman, Ali Shahriyari, and Gaurav Bharaj, and based in New York, Reality Defender provides solutions to detect and prevent deepfake fraud across various industries, including financial services, media, and high-tech. Ben Colman serves as the Co-Founder and CEO, Ali Shahriyari is the Co-Founder and CTO, and Gaurav Bharaj is the Co-Founder and Head of AI.

Reality Defender Founders - Ben Colman, Ali Shahriyari, and Gaurav Bharaj

 Reality Defender's technology includes real-time voice detection and audiovisual detection, which can identify even the most advanced AI-generated content. Reality Defender has recently introduced a tool for real-time video deepfake detection, which is currently in private beta for select clients.

The cybersecurity startup has received recognition for its innovative solutions, including winning the RSA Innovation award and being named the Most Innovative Company at RSA's Innovation Sandbox competition.

Accenture's Cyber Intelligence researchers have documented a staggering 223% spike in deepfake-related tool trading on dark web forums in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. This escalating issue requires immediate attention and education to reduce its potential damaging impacts.

Accenture intends to integrate Reality Defender’s capabilities into its existing deepfake detection and protection offering, including extending it to their call center AI automation solution.

“As deepfakes become more convincing and harder to identify, organizations urgently need scalable and effective detection solutions,” said Paolo Dal Cin, global lead, Accenture Security. “Reality Defender offers a unique approach to proactively detect AI-related threats across image, audio, text and video. Our investment in Reality Defender demonstrates our strong commitment to helping clients confidently navigate the gen AI driven threat landscape, mitigate financial fraud and maintain the integrity of their digital communications.”

Reality Defender is the latest company to join Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, an engagement and investment program focused on working with companies that create or apply disruptive enterprise technologies.

Most recently, the companies that have received investment from Accenture Ventures under Project Spotlight include Martian, Earli Inc, and an AI startup Turbine while cybersecurity/ quantum security companies are – Aliro Quantum, Tenchi Security, SpiderOak and Interos.

Accenture Invests in Brazilian Cybersecurity Startup Tenchi Security

Brazilian company is first Accenture Ventures “Project Spotlight” cybersecurity investment in Latin America

Accenture has made a strategic investment through Accenture Ventures, in Tenchi Security, a Brazil-based third-party cyber risk management company. 

Accenture’s investment in Tenchi Security is part of $7 million Series A fundraise wherein the cybersecurity startup has raised capital from Bradesco PE&VC, L4 Venture Builder (a fund supported by B3, the São Paulo stock exchange), and Accenture is a participant in the Investment round.

Accenture will leverage Tenchi’s SaaS platform as a new component of its managed security services offering to help organizations reduce cyber risks across their supply chain.

Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Tenchi Security’s SaaS platform gives organizations better visibility into their supply chains risks by continuously monitoring relationships with suppliers. Unlike other enterprise cyber risk management providers in the market, Tenchi’s approach provides a holistic view of an organization’s cyber risk profile through a comprehensive risk assessment.

Recent cyberattacks have exposed how greater interconnectivity, network access and ecosystem vulnerabilities can affect even the most secure businesses. In fact, Accenture’s Cyber-Resilient CEO research found that around half (51%) of CEOs ranked supply chain as the second highest external risk, underscoring the vulnerabilities of global organizations across their value chains.

“Supply chain security attacks are happening all too often when security is not embedded at the core of the business and across suppliers,” said Paolo Dal Cin, global lead of Accenture Security. “This is particularly concerning when more than half of executives say their organizations have an insufficient understanding of cyber vulnerabilities in their supply chain. To address this issue, Tenchi and Accenture will offer organizations a complete supply chain risk management security solution that will allow them to identify cyber risks faster and assist in addressing cyber threats.”

Felipe Boucas, CEO of Tenchi, said, “While there is a growing awareness of the need to manage cybersecurity risks across a company’s supply chain, there is a lack of verified, integrated and continuous data and effective remediation. With Accenture’s deep experience in managed security services, we will help organizations build trust between their business, suppliers, and partners, while offering ways to improve upon their cybersecurity and the cyber hygiene of the ecosystem as a whole.”

Tenchi Security is the latest company to join Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, an engagement and investment program that targets emerging technology companies that can help fill strategic innovation gaps for Global 2000 organizations. In addition to making capital investments in emerging startups, Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight offers unprecedented access to Accenture’s technology domain expertise and its enterprise clients. Technology companies co-innovate with Accenture at its Innovation Hubs, Labs, and Liquid Studios, working with subject matter experts to adapt their solutions to the enterprise market and scale faster and more effectively.

Accenture ranked No. 1 in managed security services (MSS) market share by revenue in the Gartner® Market Share: Managed Security Services, Worldwide, 2022 report, 18 April 2023 *. Accenture was recognized as the highest Leader in Everest Group’s Cloud Security Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2023.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

*Gartner, Market Share: Managed Security Services, Worldwide, 2022, April 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Security is a leading provider of end-to-end cybersecurity services, including strategy, protection, resilience and industry-specific cyber services. We bring security innovation, coupled with global scale and a worldwide delivery capability through our network of Cyber Fusion Centers. Helped by our team of 20,000 highly skilled professionals, we enable clients to innovate safely, build cyber resilience and grow with confidence. Visit us at accenture.com/security.

About Tenchi Security

Tenchi Security is a Brazilian information security startup founded in October 2019. The company has developed a monitoring solution called Zanshin, which can, in a matter of minutes, determine and provide a comprehensive security status regarding a company’s cloud environment and its ecosystem. Tenchi’s clients include leading financial, health, telecommunication, and insurance institutions. 

Cybersecurity Startup BluSapphire Wins Big at Nasscom’s Emerge 50 Deep Tech Startup Awards 2023

BluSapphire Cyber Systems has been recognised as one of the top Indian deeptech startups for its ability to reduce SOC (security operations centre) costs by up to 70%

BluSapphire Cyber Systems, a hyper-growth cybersecurity SaaS startup that is empowering businesses with holistic and innovative solutions, has ranked among the prestigious “League of 10” at the Emerge 50 Deep Tech Start-up Awards 2023. Their achievement was recognised at the Nasscom Future Forge 2023 event in Bengaluru.

Commenting on the win, Kiran Vangaveti, Founder and CEO of BluSapphire, said, “We're excited to be named as winners alongside other innovative startups. We're honoured that our deep tech innovation has gained recognition for its impact on the cybersecurity landscape. We thank the Nasscom team for this award. It is a validation of the potential that our full-stack AI and predictive analytics platform has for all types of industry verticals and work environments.”

The Emerge 50 Deep Tech Start-up Awards are one of India's most esteemed awards, recognising and celebrating innovation within the realm of deep tech startups. Through this, Nasscom, the apex body for the Indian IT and BPM industries, recognises groundbreaking startups that are redefining the future of industries and societies worldwide. 

The winners of the Emerge 50 Awards are selected through a vote by prominent figures in the startup and PE-VC industry, and the awards serve to honour the entire spectrum of innovation within deep tech startups, contributing to a brighter, more sustainable, and technologically advanced world.

BluSapphire, a Gartner Cool Vendor, has been recognised for its rapid automated cyber attack detection and response platform. It has reduced SOC (security operations centre) costs by up to 70%, delivering faster value realisation.

Founded in 2017 by Kiran Vangaveti, the hyper-growth cybersecurity SaaS platform aims to solve the industry gap in security operations and visibility space. The full-stack AI and predictive analytics platform enables clients to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid work environments. BluSapphire aims to revolutionise the cybersecurity landscape for mid enterprises with cutting-edge cyber products that provide the same calibre of cybersecurity defence as employed by large enterprises.

About BluSapphire

BluSapphire is an Industry-first, purpose-built, cloud-native, platform powered by AI and Big Data analytics. Along with technology, BluSapphire offers managed detection and response services enabling organisations to quickly transform their cybersecurity posture, resulting in faster time to value and allowing faster cyber breach detection and mitigation, thereby reducing the organisation’s overall business risk posture.

The startup was founded in 2017 by Kiran Vangaveti, a veteran of the cybersecurity domain with almost 25 years of experience. Observing that cybersecurity programmes always stayed counterproductive with negative ROI due to siloed technologies and/or service implementation with no automation lever, Vangaveti launched BluSapphire Cyber Systems, a hyper-growth cybersecurity SaaS platform and a Gartner Cool Vendor. Besides India, BluSapphire has a presence in the US and has expanded into the Gulf as well.

In 2022, BluSapphire Cyber Systems raised $9.2 million as part of its Series A round. The round was led by Barings Private Equity India, with participation from cross-border VC firm Dallas Venture Capital, Binny Bansal-backed xto1s0x, RPG Ventures, and Merisis Venture Partners.

Cybersecurity Firm Sequretek Raises $8 Mn in Series A Round Led By Omidyar Network India

• Round also saw participation from Narottam Sekhsaria Family Office and Alteria Capital
• Funds will be used to drive higher adoption of cybersecurity solutions across businesses

Sequretek, a global cybersecurity solutions provider, has raised $8 million in a Series A round led by Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focused on impact. The latest funding round also saw participation from Narottam Sekhsaria Family Office and Alteria Capital. The funds will be utilised to scale its global operations and go-to-market strategies.The funds will also be used to drive higher adoption of cybersecurity solutions for businesses in India and other global markets as well as increase market share and profitability in the small and medium businesses segment.

Founded in 2013 by cybersecurity industry veterans Pankit Desai and Anand Naik, Sequretek offers protection to businesses from cyber breaches through their own AI-powered Percept Cloud Security Platform (CSP). The Percept CSP includes Percept Extended Detection & Response (XDR), Percept Identity Administration & Governance (IGA), Percept Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) products and Managed Security Services (MSS).

Sequretek seeks to make the digital world safer, with its cost-efficient cybersecurity offerings combining people, process and state of the art technology solutions, especially for mid-size businesses who have limited resources to secure themselves against cyber threats. Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), one of the largest unaddressed sectors for cybersecurity solutions, makes up three-fourth of the company’s clientele and includes businesses in BFSI, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, media, manufacturing, and retail & logistics sectors in Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier 3 cities.

Over the last few years, Sequretek has developed a deep understanding of the SMB ecosystem and has identified the right channels to reach them, which most global companies struggle to achieve. This has driven the company’s business and contributed to a CAGR of 50% over the past five years. Sequretek not only protects 150+ businesses across the globe but also helps them meet regulatory/compliance needs.

“Small and medium businesses have increasingly become more susceptible to cyber-attacks in the post-pandemic world. While more SMBs have realized the need for efficient cybersecurity management, lack of budget-friendly consolidated solutions and inadequate in-house resources, have created a large security gap in the sector. With our consolidated offerings and the backing of our investors, we’re channeling our efforts to increase accessibility and create awareness with an integrated cybersecurity management for SMBs,” says Pankit Desai, CEO of Sequretek.

“In today’s hyper-connected digital world, cyber-attacks pose a massive threat to the end-point consumer. At Omidyar Network India, we are focused on driving accessibility of privacy and data governance solutions especially for small and mid sized customers. In the last decade, Sequretek has successfully implemented its vision of taking cutting-edge AI driven cybersecurity products to underserved sectors in India at affordable price points. Their digital plus working model has also demonstrated the business viability in catering to the burgeoning Indian SMB sector which often lacks dedicated information security resources,” says Shilpa Kumar, Partner at Omidyar Network India.

Sequretek’s consolidated SaaS product offerings and its strong deployment of AI-ML technology has made it stand apart from several global players. Sequretek has not only built world class products but has also scaled globally. Sequretek’s workforce of 450+ employees strengthen its technical and service deliverables, amidst the dearth of skilled cyber-security talent in the country.

Sequretek is a global cybersecurity company, dedicated to safeguarding businesses from evolving cyber threats through its Percept Cloud Security Platform (CSP). Percept CSP offers a comprehensive suite of AI-ML based cybersecurity solutions namely, Percept XDR, Percept IGA, Percept EDR and Managed Security Services. Sequretek’s offering combined with people, process and state of the art technology, empower businesses to protect their critical assets, detect and respond to cyber threats in real-time, whilst ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Through a trusted partnership with Sequretek, organizations can take control of their cybersecurity posture and navigate the digital world with confidence, while simplifying security.

Sequretek is recognized by leading global research & analyst firms. Some of the recent awards include the National Award for e-Governance, National Startup Award by Government of India, NASSCOM Emerge 50 and TiE50 Awards. Sequretek was recently featured in the list of Top 250 MSSPs across the globe, by MSSP Alert. Sequretek’s achievements have also been lauded by leading online and print media channels.

Know more: https://sequretek.com

About Omidyar Network India

Omidyar Network India invests in bold entrepreneurs who help create a meaningful life for every Indian, especially the hundreds of millions of Indians in low-income and lower-middle-income populations, ranging from the poorest among us to the existing middle class. To drive empowerment and impact at scale, we work with entrepreneurs in the private, nonprofit and public sectors, who are tackling India’s hardest and most chronic problems. We invest in the areas of Advancing Cities, Digital Society, Education and Employability, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion & Well Being and Property Inclusivity. We are also focused on several emerging areas of investment such as Open Digital Ecosystems, Sustainable Living, The Equal Opportunities Lab, India Innovation Insights Hub. Omidyar Network India is part of the Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations and initiatives, supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.

Accenture Acquires Cybersecurity Co. MNEMO Mexico

Accenture has just acquired MNEMO Mexico, a mid-size company with a wide client-base specializing in managed cybersecurity services, for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in Mexico City in 2012, MNEMO Mexico has 229 cybersecurity professionals and 180 cybersecurity industry certifications with key ecosystem partners. The company’s portfolio includes advanced cyber defense and response capabilities, a cyber intelligence platform powered by generative AI and other advanced technologies and a 24/7/365 security operations center in Mexico City. Its client base spans multiple industries, including telecommunications, banking and insurance.

“The combination of MNEMO Mexico’s managed cybersecurity services, extensive industry expertise and strong client base makes them an ideal partner to complement our existing capabilities. The addition of MNEMO Mexico’s team will help us grow our business in Mexico, expand our presence in Latin America and support our North America business,” said Paolo Dal Cin, who leads Accenture Security globally. “Together, we will help organizations build more cyber-resilient businesses and secure their digital cores, technologies and supply chains.”

Post this acquisition, MNEMO Mexico’s cybersecurity professionals will join Accenture Security’s workforce, which comprose of more than 19,500 professionals globally, extending Accenture’s local resources and capabilities in Mexico / Latin America while addressing the growing regional demand for managed security services.

“The constantly shifting digital world is both a source of opportunity and risk, making it essential to have a well-trained and proficient cybersecurity team,” said Julian Garrido, General Director of MNEMO Mexico. “For more than 20 years our clients have counted on us to safeguard them against destructive cyberattacks. We are excited to join Accenture Security so we can collaborate across industries to help clients in Mexico and around the world build a secure future.”

Mexico consistently ranks among the top countries in Latin America hardest hit by cyberattacks. Additionally, a report in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023 and Accenture revealed that 59% of business leaders and 64% of cyber leaders ranked talent recruitment and retention as a key challenge for managing cyber resilience. And less than half of respondents reported having the people and skills needed today to respond to cyberattacks.

Since 2015, Accenture Security has made 17 acquisitions. Following its January 2020 acquisition of Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business, Accenture became one of the leading global providers of MSS. Accenture further strengthened its cyber defense and MSS capabilities in Latin America through the acquisition of Brazil-based Morphus earlier this year and its 2021 acquisition of Real Protect.

AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platform Zeron Raises $500K in Seed Funding Led by Varanium Capital

Empowering Organizations Worldwide with AI-Powered Cyber Risk Posture Management

Zeron, the pioneering force in cyber risk posture management, is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its journey toward enhancing global cybersecurity. The company has successfully raised $500,000 in seed funding, with Varanium Capital, a prominent fintech-focused fund, taking the lead, accompanied by support from Yatra Angel Network.

100X.VC was the first institutional investor in January 2023 to invest in the Mumbai-based company, Zeron, which has been on an impressive trajectory. It was soon followed by visionary angels such as Mr. Anoop Mathur, Founder & President at Core Media and Partner at AM Capital, and Mr. K.R.S. Jamwal, Executive Director, Tata Industries. 

This infusion of capital is strategically directed towards fueling Zeron's ongoing research and development initiatives, advancing the frontiers of AI-powered cybersecurity, and expanding its global presence to empower organizations in managing cyber risks effectively

A Global Footprint of Trust and Security

By amalgamating trust-building, contextualization, and quantification, Zeron empowers organizations to make informed cybersecurity decisions, ensuring the effective safeguarding of digital assets while maintaining compliance with industry regulations and thereby enhancing overall cybersecurity resilience.

Zeron's innovative solutions have resonated with a diverse array of customers spanning across Indonesia, Canada, Singapore, the UK, the Philippines, and more. Notable clients include Affin Bank, NTUC, Aditya Birla Capital, and Bank Open among others. Zeron's core mission is to bridge trust gaps among stakeholders, including Board Members, Top Management, CISOs/CIOs, and security teams. The platform offers invaluable insights by contextualizing both tangible and intangible cyber risks from each stakeholder's perspective. Moreover, Zeron's robust tools enable the quantification of these risks, seamlessly aligning them with regulatory mandates and compliance requirements.

Tapping into a $2 Trillion Market Opportunity

In an era where the world is increasingly digital, security is paramount. According to a report by Mckinsey, global cybersecurity is a USD 2 Tn market and we are strategically positioned to capture a substantial share by effectively navigating and mitigating cyber risks, protecting critical assets, and ensuring business resilience.

Sanket Sarkar, Founder and CEO of Zeron, shared his vision, stating, "Zeron's vision is to provide organizations with a Single Point of Truth for Cybersecurity. We are grateful to Varanium Capital, Yatra Angel Networks, and all our supporters for believing in our mission. With this infusion of capital, we are well-equipped to continue delivering on our commitment to cybersecurity excellence."

Vikram Pandya, Head of Research at Varanium Capital, expressed confidence in Zeron, stating, "We are thrilled to partner with Zeron in their mission to revolutionise cybersecurity. Zeron's approach to cyber risk posture management aligns perfectly with the evolving needs of organizations globally today. We believe their AI-powered innovative solutions will significantly impact the cybersecurity landscape."

Mr. Ninad Karpe, Partner, 100X.VC, said, “Zeron’s innovative approach, powered by its advanced AI algorithms, is poised to revolutionize cybersecurity. Our investment underscores our belief in the company’s groundbreaking technology for safeguarding digital assets and staying ahead of evolving cyber threats. We are thrilled to continue supporting Zeron as they redefine the future of cybersecurity and expand their reach globally.”

In the coming years, Zeron is poised for transformative growth. Substantial investments will drive the development of Zeron's state-of-the-art cyber risk posture management solution, offering clients access to sophisticated features for safeguarding their digital assets.

“Zeron's relentless focus on AI-powered cybersecurity will lead to the creation of cutting-edge AI algorithms, empowering clients to stay ahead of ever-evolving cyber threats. As the company redefines cybersecurity, it will expand into new markets, fostering strong client relationships. Strategic partner networks will facilitate global expansion, allowing Zeron to protect organizations worldwide. The future of cybersecurity is secure with Zeron.” emphasised Sanket.

About Zeron

Zeron stands at the forefront of cybersecurity, pioneering cyber risk posture management. The company offers an innovative solution that serves as the definitive source of truth for organizations aspiring to fortify their cybersecurity. By contextualizing cyber risks and harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Zeron empowers clients to make well-informed decisions, effectively countering the ever-evolving cybersecurity challenges. For more information, please visit the website at www.zeron.one.

About Varanium Capital

Varanium NexGen is a fintech-focused (SEBI registered CAT I AIF) Venture Capital Fund established in 2019. It invests in fintech startups with early revenues. Varanium has previously invested in fintechs like EaseBuzz, Riskcovry, GetVantage, Homeville, DataSutram, and FinVu. Varanium NexGen is part of Varanium Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd., a Global Multi-Asset Management firm, focused on Emerging Market Strategies managing more than 1.2 Bn USD. Its services include Portfolio Management and Advisory, alternate investment, and offshore fixed income products.

About 100X VC

100X.VC is the first VC to invest in early-stage startups using India SAFE Notes. The fund is sponsored by Mehta Ventures, the Family Office Investment arm of Sanjay Mehta. 100X.VC is SEBI-registered Investment Adviser & CAT I Alternate Investment Fund. 

Ethical Hackers Founded PingSafe Raises $3.3 Mn Seed Fund in Round Led By Peak XV Partners

Cyber security startup PingSafe, founded by ethical hackers — Anand Prakash and Nishant Mittal, has secured a $3.3 million seed funding in a round led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India) along with participation of other investors, reported several media outlets.

Other investors who participated in this round include angel investors, Rahul Chari (PhonePe co-founder), Neeraj Arora, Saurya Prakash, Vivek Ramachandran (SquareX Founder), Gaurav Agarwal (Tata 1mg co-founder & CTO), and early stage VC firm Tanglin Ventures.

In a media statement, PingSafe says that the freshly raised funds will ramp up global business development efforts in US and South-East Asian countries. With the Indian government bringing new regulations like Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) into law, along with the increasing cybersecurity risk faced by clients as they move to cloud, PingSafe is well positioned to serve the Indian cloud security market needs

Since rebranding this is Peak XV's second investment. Last month, Bengaluru-based spacetech startup Digantara secured $10 million from Peak XV.

Founded in 2021, PingSafe is a cloud security platform with a comprehensive knowledge of the attackers' modus-operandi. PingSafe helps businesses across various sizes and verticals transform cloud security and claims to eliminate all hidden and exploitable vulnerabilities at blazing-fast speed and scale.

Anand Prakash, the Co-Founder & CEO, is a renowned white hat hacker who ranked in the top 5 bug bounty hunters by companies like Meta, Uber, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Salesforce. He has helped secure over 400+ leading companies and was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia - Enterprise Technology in 2017.

Indian Cyber Security Solutions Wins Best Cyber Security Company Award at Global Startup & Entrepreneurship Conclave 2023

Indian Cyber Security Solutions (ICSS), the leading cybersecurity firm in India, won the Best Cyber Security Company prize at the Global Startup & Entrepreneurship Conclave 2023, which was held at Manav Rachna University. With this award, ICSS is honored for its commitment and dedication to offering its customers top-notch cyber security solutions. It is also a reflection of the dedication of the entire team, which is dedicated to ensuring that clients' information and systems are always safe from online dangers.

Abhishek Mitra, CEO & Founder of Indian Cyber Security Solutions and CyberSecOpsPvt Ltd, as well as Shilpi Dutta, COO of Indian Cyber Security Solutions, and Mr. Rajdeep Mukherjee, CTO & ML R&D Lead of CyberSecOpsPvt Ltd, accepted the award.

ICSS provides a range of cybersecurity services, including vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, security audits, incident response, and managed security services, and is known for its expertise in identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks for businesses across various industries, including banking, healthcare, and e-commerce. The company's team of highly skilled cybersecurity professionals.

"We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award," said Abhishek Mitra. "It is a proud moment for us, and we are grateful to the Global Startup & Entrepreneurship Conclave organizers for recognizing our efforts." He added, “This award is a testament to our commitment to delivering cutting-edge cyber security solutions to our clients."

Along with receiving the award, Abhishek Mitra took part in a panel discussion on the significance of calculating cyber risk using the SAVE methodology, a unique, secured AI-based Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Enterprises that simplifies vulnerability scanning of the web, networks, and cloud-based assets. It is designed to be accessible to businesses of all sizes, from startups and small and medium-sized businesses to larger enterprises. By empowering users with proper access to their assets or tools, SAVE enables them to complete the setup quickly, easily, and at affordable prices, leaving the rest to the AI. The discussion explored the effectiveness of various tools and solutions that can help organizations implement this methodology successfully.

One product that stood out was the Secured AI-based Vulnerability Assessment tool for Enterprise, developed by CyberSecOps Pvt. Ltd. The tool uses advanced AI algorithms to detect vulnerabilities in enterprise systems, which can be used to identify areas of risk and prioritize remediation efforts. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive reporting, this tool can be easily implemented by startups looking to enhance their cyber defenses.

"We highly recommend that all startups consider using the SAVE framework and tools like the Secured AI-based Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Enterprise to protect their businesses and customers from cyber threats," said Abhishek Mitra.

The Global Startup & Entrepreneurship Conclave 2023 serves as a forum for the Indian startup ecosystem and a project to close the funding gap between startups and investors. A live one-day event for startups, it features 400+ minutes of in-depth knowledge sharing and learning from experts, countless networking opportunities with investors and business leaders, recognition for the brilliant minds and visionaries behind entrepreneurial achievements, and much more.

Indian Cyber Security Solutions remains committed to delivering cutting-edge cyber security solutions to its clients and contributing to the growth of the cyber security industry in India.

Automated Ethical Hacking Platform FireCompass Raises $7 Mn to Help Enterprises Identify and Mitigate Risks Faster

• FireCompass is a Bangalore-based SaaS startup working on automating Red Teaming — a continuous process of rigorously challenging the systems using ethical hackers
• The startup helps enterprises from data breaches by continuously scanning the deep, dark and surface webs using AI-tools

On a mission to revolutionise Cybersecurity, FireCompass, today announced $7 million in funding led by Silicon Valley-based Cervin and Athera Venture Partners ( previously Inventus Capital) along with existing investor BIF (Bharat Innovation Fund). The investment will be used to expand FireCompass' operations across India, U.S. and other international markets and also to bring on new talent.

“Organizations typically test some of their assets some of the time, whereas, hackers are attacking all of the assets all of the time,” said Bikash Barai, Co-Founder of FireCompass. “At FireCompass, our vision is to make Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART) available to all so that organizations can continuously discover and test all their assets at all times – just like the real attackers”.

Bengaluru and Boston based FireCompass is a category creator for Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART) and has been recognized as part of the Gartner Hype Cycle. FireCompass is reinventing traditional red teaming using the power of AI and SaaS. The solution runs continuously without the need for software, hardware or additional employee resources.

FireCompass’ automated red teaming and attack surface discovery platform helps companies to mitigate risks faster by identifying vulnerabilities and prioritising the ones that are most likely to be exploited by attackers. Unlike other conventional External Attack Surface Management (EASM) Tools, which stop at the discovery of the attack surface, FireCompass conducts real attacks using its proprietary playbooks. The key advantages are:

• Faster mitigation of risks due to continuous discovery and testing of cyber attack surface
• Lower false positives due to active testing of reconnaissance findings
• Better prioritisation and lesser noise by using attacker-centric playbooks

"FireCompass' technology is a game-changer for organizations looking to stay ahead of cyber threats," said Cervin’s Managing Partner, Preetish Nijhawan. "Their automated red teaming and attack surface discovery capabilities provide unparalleled visibility into exploitable risks, and we are excited to partner with the FireCompass team as they continue to innovate and grow."

“We are very impressed by the list of top Fortune companies who use FireCompass” said Rutvik Doshi, Managing Director of Athera Venture Partners. With the funding, FireCompass plans to continue innovating on its platform and expand its team across engineering, research and sales.

About FireCompass:

FireCompass is a SaaS platform for Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART) and Attack Surface Management (ASM). FireCompass continuously indexes the deep, dark and surface web to monitor an organization's cyber attack surface. It then launches safe attacks, mimicking real attackers, to help identify attack paths that are otherwise missed by conventional tools. FireCompass is led by serial cybersecurity entrepreneurs and backed by prominent investors and venture capitalist funds. To learn more, visit www.firecompass.com.

Cyber Security Platform WiJungle Achieves Milestone, Mitigates Over 3 Bn Cyber Threats

Of the 3 billion+ cyber threats eliminated, the unified cybersecurity platform has successfully mitigated more than 18% of high-risk cyber threats and 31% of moderate threats collectively across its customer base.

WiJungle- a one-stop unified cyber security platform, has recently announced a new milestone with the successful mitigation of more than 3 billion cyber threats across its global customer base. With this achievement, WiJungle has progressively established its eminence worldwide across all major industry verticals like IT/ITES, defence, hospitality, Healthcare, education, retail, BFSI, manufacturing etc.

As India embarks upon the next stage of digitalization, riding on digital technologies, cyber risk resilience and privacy considerations become imminent. Accordingly, cyber risks must be identified and eliminated across levels, from consumer to enterprise to nation. To foster cyber as a culture and create safe cyberspace along with a well-fortified infrastructure, many companies are stimulating cyber security solutions to bolster every nook of the ever-widening digital world. WiJungle, a ‘Make in India’ startup, is helping the government as well as private giants to up their cybersecurity game.

Delighted with the achievement, Karmesh Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of WiJungle, said, “We are pleased to announce that none of our customers have ever faced any security breach. It is a testimony to our tech staff working exhaustively to make cyber resilience easy for our esteemed customers. To enable India to reach greater heights in cybersecurity, we are bolstering the cybersecurity framework by managing and securing the digital infrastructure.”

Of the 3 billion+ cyber threats eliminated, WiJungle has successfully mitigated more than 18% of high-risk cyber threats and 31% of moderate threats collectively across its customer base. The unified security platform also stated that none of the companies’ customers have ever reported a security breach. To drive the next growth stage, the cyber firm plans to expand its technology team to strengthen further its AI & ML powered OS.

Founded in 2017, WiJungle develops and markets ‘Unified Cyber Security Platform’ and currently serves the government as well as private giants. The company is also among the highest-rated vendors on Gartner in network security and caters to the cybersecurity needs of businesses across multiple countries. Being the world’s first Unified Cyber Security Platform, WiJungle aims to transform the way cybersecurity is consumed today by enterprises.

WiJungle also raised seed funding at a valuation of $22 million from SOSV, a global venture capital firm based out in the United States that operates early-stage startup development programs. Besides securing the funding, the company has also relocated its headquarters to Gurugram & further recently received the National Award from Government of India. To accommodate the growing needs of customers, the company also plans to hire for multiple positions across different departments, including but not limited to Engineering, Sales, Operations, HR, Support etc.

Cybersecurity Platform WiJungle Bags National Award on National Technology Day 2022

WiJungle, a one stop unified cyber security platform has been felicitated with the prestigious National Technology Award 2022 by Dr. Jitendra Singh – Honorable Minister of State for Science & Technology. The award was presented in a ceremony organised on National Technology Day held on 11 May 2022 & presided over by Dr. Srivari Chandrsekhar – Chairperson, Technology Development Board & Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Mr. Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, Technology Development Board. The award consisted of a gold plated leaf trophy and cash award of INR 15 Lacs.

The Eleventh (11th) May of every year is celebrated as the National Technology Day as a symbol of the quest for scientific inquiry and technological creativity and the translation quest in the integration of Science, Society and Industry. This year, the National Technology Day was celebrated under the theme ‘PRAGATI – Promoting avenues for Growth through Technological Innovations’ at The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. Speaking at the event Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the future belongs to technology-driven economy and calls for building an Innovation Ecosystem in the country. 

Hon'ble minister also launched the SSR and SRIMAN Guidelines on the occasion of Technology Day function and said SSR is vital for strengthening science and society linkages for making S&T ecosystem responsive to societal needs, while SRIMAN guidelines aims to promote efficient utilisation and wider access of Research Infrastructure (RI) to scientists, researchers and industry professionals across the country

Delighted with the win, Karmesh Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of WiJungle said - 

At WiJungle, we are dedicated to enabling organizations to secure and strengthen their entire network through the single window. We consider this award as an honour that solidifies our foundation and efforts in the domain of cybersecurity.

With the increased surface for cyber threats, being an AI and ML based security platform, WiJungle eradicates the need to have several standalone security products and safeguards organizations' networks.

The cybersecurity platform overcomes the management and scalability challenges by reducing the capital investment of an organization by up to 60 percent. In a short span, it has witnessed extensive growth in customer base by 200 percent with major traction coming from SMBs and the Government.

Technology Development Board, a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India by the virtue of its mandate, honours technological innovations that have helped in the national growth under the aegis of National Awards from the year 1999.

Cybersecurity Startup WiJungle Raises Seed Funding at Valuation of $22 Mn From SOSV

The Unified Cyber Security Platform plans to allocate the acquired funds to enhance its technical capabilities and drive sales expansion. 

WiJungle- the world’s first Unified Cyber Security Platform, has recently raised its seed funding at a valuation of USD 22 Million from SOSV, a global venture capital firm based out of the United States that operates early-stage startup development programs. The company aims to leverage the capital to enhance technical capabilities and boost its sales expansion plans.

With the recent fund acquisition, Karmesh Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of WiJungle, said, “We decided to be a part of the SOSV program from the point of global scalability and the mentorship to co-work on our expansion plans. The cohort program proved to be an invaluable learning curve for us, starting from refinement in pitch and sales strategies to improvement in KPIs and growth plans. Indeed, SOSV has proved to be super founder-friendly and with this funding, we will be able to augment our technical capabilities, serve more customers across the globe and drive our sales strategies."

Incepted by Karmesh Gupta and Praveen Gupta, WiJungle currently enables organisations to secure and strengthen their entire network through a single window. The AI and ML-driven security platform offer a comprehensive security stack encompassing multiple standalone solutions like Network Firewall, Web Application Firewall, Hotspot Gateway, SD-WAN, Data Leakage Prevention and Vulnerability Assessment, among others. WiJungle’s AI-powered capability and unified single-window network management ability empower enterprises to streamline their cybersecurity operations cost-effectively.

WiJungle is currently serving the government and private giants across industry verticals like hospitality, healthcare, education, defence, transportation, retail, BFSI and ITES, among others. The company is also among the highest-rated vendors on Gartner in network security and caters to the cybersecurity needs of businesses across multiple countries.

To serve the needs of its growing customer base and accelerate growth and development, WiJungle has recently relocated its headquarters from Jaipur to Gurugram. Additionally, the company is also planning to strengthen its leadership team to achieve a strategic scale up and facilitate expansion plans.

"Cybersecurity in the age of hybrid work and cross-border collaboration is an existential issue for companies of all sizes. WiJungle impresses us with their unwavering commitment to technical excellence and customer happiness, and we can't hope for a better team to tackle this challenge at a global level," says Oscar Ramos, Partner at SOSV.

3i Infotech’s US Subsidiary Makes Strategic Investments in 5G Cybersecurity Firm Exium

 

3i Infotech’s US Subsidiary Makes Strategic Investments in Exium to Deliver 5G Capable SASE Solutions for Enterprises

The investment to accelerate adoption of 3i Infotech’s NuRe Edge, a SASE based platform  

3i Infotech Inc., USA, step-down subsidiary of 3i Infotech Limited (BSE: 532628, NSE: 3IINFOLTD), a global Information Technology company, committed to accelerating business transformation, has announced a strategic investment in Exium, a pioneer in 5G powered Secure Access Services Edge (SASE) solutions, to help accelerate innovation in cloud-delivered security and digital experience. 3i Infotech will offer this as a premium security offering to its customers globally and across verticals spanning banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and telecom. The first-of-its-kind for 3i Infotech in the SASE space, the strategic investment reinforces a shared vision for increasing adoption of borderless security at the edge. 3i Infotech initially established a multi-year partnership last year. 

NuRe Edge is a SASE platform with Secure Internet Access (SIA) and Secure Private Access (SPA) which converges network with security. It is a platform available today with 5G zero-trust model, hardware security, native XDR (Any Detection & Response), and 5G IoT edge computing platform. It eliminates the need for high upfront costs with subscription or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pricing. It can be deployed across any vertical, be it telecom or BFSI. 3i Infotech as part of its one-stop solution provider proposition offers NuRe Edge as a managed services offering. NuRe Edge is offered on Oracle OCI, Azure and AWS. For enterprise customers, this can also be offered in a hybrid model as well. 

The investment into Exium is part of 3i Infotech’s larger ‘Resident Entrepreneurship’ program which allows for technology entrepreneurs to join hands with 3i Infotech and invent new value creating intellectual property in the fields of 5G, Edge Services, cognitive computing services and education technology. It is part of the company’s plan to incubate and accelerate startups, to fuel new services lines and build new IPs. 

As part of expanding the partnership, 3i Infotech is also nominating Nilesh Gupta, SVP & Global Practice Head, 3i Infotech Limited to serve as a strategic advisor to Exium. Speaking on this collaboration, Nilesh said, “I would term this as a lethal combination of sorts, with Exium’s laser-sharp focus on product innovation combined with our global presence, market know-how and best-of-breed solutions, creating a real value and differentiator for our customers. As part of this strategic investment, we will work closely with Exium’s product development team to further enhance market needs towards better digital transformation journey.  Combined, we have a huge addressable market to serve. Through this collaboration, we plan to work extensively with Exium to offer edge solutions at scale to all verticals."

"We're thrilled to welcome Nilesh Gupta to our board of advisors,” said Farooq Khan, CEO of Exium. “Both his management wisdom and domain expertise run broad and deep in virtually every aspect of high-tech business growth — from product to business development and sales to engineering needs for cloud, security, applications, and analytics. We are confident that his contribution will be significant to the advisory board, and benefit from decades of global entrepreneurial experience.” 

Headquartered in Mumbai, India, since inception in 1993, 3i Infotech has been committed to driving business value across multiple industry verticals. 3i Infotech, today, has emerged as a leading name in propelling the current wave of digital transformation initiatives, with deep domain expertise across BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail and Government sectors. The Company has over 5000 employees in 30 offices across 15 countries and over 1000+ clients in more than 50 countries across 4 continents. With a wide range of IT services, 3i Infotech has successfully transformed business operations of customers globally. The Company has a very strong foothold and client base in geographies like North America, India, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and South Asia. 

Website: https://www.3i-infotech.com/ 

Exium is an American full-stack cybersecurity and 5G clean networking pioneer helping organizations to connect and secure their teams, users, and mission-critical assets with ease, wherever they are.

To learn more about Exium, visit https://exium.net/. 

Tech Veterans and Former AWS Executives Join Coralogix to Launch Cybersecurity Venture Snowbit

Leading provider of observability, Coralogix, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, announced the launch of Snowbit, a full-service cybersecurity venture focussed on empowering cloud-native companies to secure themselves against growing cyber risks in a quick, efficient, and cost-effective manner.

Founded and being led by tech veterans and former Amazon Web Services (AWS) executives - Navdeep Manaktala and Zack Barak, Snowbit will have operations across Tel Aviv and New Delhi/Gurgaon. An Indo-Israeli venture, Snowbit will have its operations (R&D, product development, and expert teams) across India and Israel to leverage the best of Israeli cybersecurity talent and India's unique position to become the global cybersecurity hub of the world.

Snowbit's Managed Extended Detection and Response (MxDR) incorporates a SaaS platform and expert services. The platform gives organizations a comprehensive view of their cloud environment's security and compliance (CIS, NIST, SOC, PCI, ISO, HIPAA). The expert teams are offered 24x7 to provide support for more efficient remediation.

Snowbit's MxDR platform builds on the strengths of the Coralogix data streaming platform. It seamlessly ingests and enriches a broad range of data sources. The platform then scans your entire cloud environment for abnormal activity, configuration, network, and vulnerability issues. It automates threat detection and incident response leveraging machine learning, an extensive set of pre-configured rules, alerts & dashboards, and support for integration with any orchestration platform. Snowbit takes a holistic and proactive approach to cybersecurity vis-a-vis point solutions largely focused on detection and response.

The MxDR platform is complemented by a team of security experts deployed at Snowbit's 24x7 Global Security Resource Centre in New Delhi. The expert service centre comprising of analysts, researchers, and threat hunting & incident response professionals will offer real-time guided responses to enable organizations to respond decisively to threats detected in their environment.

Snowbit will support multi-cloud infrastructure and SaaS environments. In addition, owing to the large investments outlined for the Indian market, allow customers the unique advantage of being able to process and retain data within the country at all times thereby remaining compliant with applicable data localisation norms including those proposed under the upcoming Data protection regulation.

Navdeep Manaktala is a technology industry veteran with 20+ years of experience in building and scaling cloud, mobile, and Internet businesses at companies such as Nokia, Microsoft, and AWS. Most recently, he was at AWS, where he established and led the cloud giant's startup business comprising tens of thousands of customers across Asia-Pacific & Japan. Zack Barak is a cybersecurity industry veteran with 25+ years of cross-functional experience with Sygnia, Israel Aerospace, Israel Defence Force, and most recently was the CISO of Annapurna Labs (an Amazon company).

Navdeep Manaktala - Co-founder, Snowbit & President - APJ, Coralogix, said, "Rapidly accelerating cyberthreats are leaving many organizations exposed and unable to effectively deal with security challenges as they arise. Snowbit aims to address fundamental security-related challenges faced today including growing cloud complexity, increasing sophistication of attacks, lack of in-house cybersecurity expertise, and the overhead of managing multiple point security solutions."

"Observability forms the bedrock of cybersecurity, and as a result, Snowbit is strategic for Coralogix as it enables us to offer a powerful integrated observability and security proposition to unlock the value of data correlation," said Ariel Assaraf, CEO of Coralogix. "Snowbit's platform and services enable organizations to overcome challenges of cybersecurity talent and disparate tools to more effectively secure their environments."

"The Snowbit MxDR, with its proactive approach and pre-built detection capabilities complemented by the expertise at our Security Resource Centre, is one of the most powerful offerings for holistic cloud security," said Zack Barak. 

Tech Veterans and Former AWS Executives Join Coralogix to Launch New Cybersecurity Venture Snowbit

Investments slated for R&D, Product Buildout, and establishing Global Security Resource Centre

Snowbit’s SaaS platform and expert services teams enable organizations to proactively monitor their entire cloud environment’s security and compliance.

• India and Israel will be initial focus markets given its large existing customer base and the growing base of cloud-native businesses
• To institute 24x7 Global Security Resource Centre comprising of Security Analysts, Security Researchers, and Threat Hunting Professionals in New Delhi
• Snowbit aims to enable cloud-native companies across domains to comprehensively monitor and address cybersecurity risks

Leading provider of observability, Coralogix, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, announced the launch of Snowbit, a full-service cybersecurity venture focussed on empowering cloud-native companies to secure themselves against growing cyber risks in a quick, efficient, and cost-effective manner.

Founded and being led by tech veterans and former Amazon Web Services (AWS) executives - Navdeep Manaktala and Zack Barak, Snowbit will have operations across Tel Aviv and New Delhi/Gurgaon. An Indo-Israeli venture, Snowbit will have its operations (R&D, product development, and expert teams) across India and Israel to leverage the best of Israeli cybersecurity talent and India’s unique position to become the global cybersecurity hub of the world.

Snowbit’s Managed Extended Detection and Response (MxDR) incorporates a SaaS platform and expert services. The platform gives organizations a comprehensive view of their cloud environment’s security and compliance (CIS, NIST, SOC, PCI, ISO, HIPAA). The expert teams are offered 24x7 to provide support for more efficient remediation.

Snowbit’s MxDR platform builds on the strengths of the Coralogix data streaming platform. It seamlessly ingests and enriches a broad range of data sources. The platform then scans your entire cloud environment for abnormal activity, configuration, network, and vulnerability issues. It automates threat detection and incident response leveraging machine learning, an extensive set of pre-configured rules, alerts & dashboards, and support for integration with any orchestration platform. Snowbit takes a holistic and proactive approach to cybersecurity vis-a-vis point solutions largely focused on detection and response.

The MxDR platform is complemented by a team of security experts deployed at Snowbit’s 24x7 Global Security Resource Centre in New Delhi. The expert service centre comprising of analysts, researchers, and threat hunting & incident response professionals will offer real-time guided responses to enable organizations to respond decisively to threats detected in their environment.

Snowbit will support multi-cloud infrastructure and SaaS environments. In addition, owing to the large investments outlined for the Indian market, allow customers the unique advantage of being able to process and retain data within the country at all times thereby remaining compliant with applicable data localisation norms including those proposed under the upcoming Data protection regulation.

Navdeep Manaktala is a technology industry veteran with 20+ years of experience in building and scaling cloud, mobile, and Internet businesses at companies such as Nokia, Microsoft, and AWS. Most recently, he was at AWS, where he established and led the cloud giant’s startup business comprising tens of thousands of customers across Asia-Pacific & Japan. Zack Barak is a cybersecurity industry veteran with 25+ years of cross-functional experience with Sygnia, Israel Aerospace, Israel Defence Force, and most recently was the CISO of Annapurna Labs (an Amazon company).

Navdeep Manaktala – Co-Founder, Snowbit & President – APJ, Coralogix, said “Rapidly accelerating cyberthreats are leaving many organizations exposed and unable to effectively deal with security challenges as they arise. Snowbit aims to address fundamental security-related challenges faced today including growing cloud complexity, increasing sophistication of attacks, lack of in-house cybersecurity expertise, and the overhead of managing multiple point security solutions.”

“Observability forms the bedrock of cybersecurity, and as a result, Snowbit is strategic for Coralogix as it enables us to offer a powerful integrated observability and security proposition to unlock the value of data correlation,” said Ariel Assaraf, CEO of Coralogix. “Snowbit’s platform and services enable organizations to overcome challenges of cybersecurity talent and disparate tools to more effectively secure their environments.”

"The Snowbit MxDR, with its proactive approach and pre-built detection capabilities complemented by the expertise at our Security Resource Centre, is one of the most powerful offerings for holistic cloud security," said Zack Barak.

About Snowbit

Snowbit is a cybersecurity technology innovator with a vision to empower organizations across the globe to quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively secure themselves against omnipresent and growing cyber risks. To enable this, Snowbit is looking to offer the broadest cloud-native managed detection and response offering available. The team is currently looking to expand globally - if interested, find the current open positions here. Users can sign up here to get alerts about the Snowbit launch.

About Coralogix

Coralogix is the leading in-stream observability platform, using proprietary Streama© technology to provide modern engineering teams with real-time insights and trend analysis for their data with no reliance on storage or indexing.

Xscale Accelerator Invests in Securweave, India's 1st and Fully Indigenously Built Advanced Cybersecurity Solution

The deep tech startup has developed India's first and fully indigenously built security solution to eliminate advanced cyber threats in cyberspace.

Xscale – a deeply focused accelerator program for Indian Startups, has recently onboarded and invested an undisclosed sum in SecurWeave Research Labs – a new age Hardware Enforced Security solution provider headquartered in Bengaluru. The deep tech startup has developed CHESS -(Configurable Hardware Enforced Security Solution) India's first and fully indigenously built state-of-the-art platform to detect, report, and mitigate advanced cyber threats.

Conventional security solutionas tend to fail against the sophisticated malware attacks of today. For instance, Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) – a highly sophisticated and advanced malware that can bypass and disable security solutions implemented in the OS. Considering the widespread need for secured devices and networks, SecurWeave focuses on developing cutting-edge solutions that can cater to the security needs of multiple industry segments. It has also filed multiple patents, of which one has already been granted, and two are under review.

Commenting on the announcement, Neeraj Saxena, Founder & Managing Director of Xscale, said, "India is the hub of innovators with excellent technical skills, and SecurWeave is no exception. It’s made-in-India products are a perfect fit, given the growing threats by advanced malware in cyberspace. Considering the key achievements of the startup, we have on boarded SecurWeave to our exclusive accelerator program. We look forward to helping the startup expand Internationally and revolutionize the growing global Cybersecurity market."

SecurWeave has exclusively developed CHESS that leverages hardware virtualization extensions of processors to ensure robust security infrastructure in cyberspace. Moreover, the company has developed the first and only RISC-V-based hypervisor for kernel-mode protection in the world. Its x86 variant is already released and installed in IIT-M, while the RISC-V variant is still under the final testing stage. In addition, it is developing enhanced functionality for the embedded world (edge devices, aeronautics, automotive, defense), which will be released in 2022.

Being the developer of India's first and fully indigenously built solution using Hypervisor technology, the company anticipates being the most preferred choice for Indian national security and defense establishments. It is also in discussions with various Government, Defence, and private companies for PoC and deployment.

As part of the accelerator program, Xscale will build a Go-To-Market plan, including Geographic Coverage, Target Industries, Sales Channel design, and Pricing for SecurWeave. Xscale will also help set up a demand generation engine, i.e., creating a funnel from India and then creating an onsite distribution channel in the form of resellers, partners, or the company's own sales force to make the sales happen in international markets. Xscale's internal VC fund that invests up to 1.5Cr in its accelerated startups will help the deep-tech startup scale its business operations and grow exponentially in the near future.

Cybersecurity Firm Netmonastery Raises Pre-series a Funding From Mr. Sharad Sanghi of NTT-Netmagic

Shomiron Das and Sharad Sanghi

NETMONASTERY NSPL, a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution provider with superior analytics and extreme scaling capabilities has raised an undisclosed Pre-series A round from Sharad Sanghi, CEO, NTT-Netmagic in his personal capacity. The funding will be used to increase NETMONASTERY’s market presence.

With over 25 years of extensive experience in developing Internet backbone infrastructure and providing Internet services, Sharad Sanghi exemplifies what it takes to be a successful business leader. As a pioneer in the Indian cloud computing and data center space, Sharad founded Netmagic Solutions in 1998 which was later acquired by NTT, a Fortune 500 company. He also serves as the Chairman of the Data Center Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

NETMONASTERY delivers through its product DNIF HyperScale SIEM, a single window cybersecurity solution designed for enterprise Security Operations Centers (SOC) that includes a combination of a SIEM, User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR). The product promises pioneering threat attribution using subjective machine intelligence and detects multi-stage threats without human arbitration. DNIF is part of the cybersecurity nerve center for leaders in finance, banking, government, media, manufacturing and electronic commerce.

“The cybersecurity market in India is slated to grow to USD 3.05 billion by 2022. Although this is big, given the recent outrage of cybercrimes and attacks, there is a pressing need for improved cyber resilience through technologies providing better visibility into the threat landscape. For more research on core technologies and building capabilities, there is a need for companies that have the vision to change existing paradigm and lead cyber tech innovation. I see that in NETMONASTERY whose enterprise-grade DNIF HyperScale SIEM with strong analytic capabilities is a definite game-changer. This strategic investment in my personal capacity is an attempt at securing the digital infrastructure in India and a step towards my vision of partnering with such companies and mentor them to strengthen the ecosystem,'' said Sharad Sanghi.

Shomiron Das Gupta, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NETMONASTERY said, “Sharad Sanghi is a pioneer in the Indian IT, Data Centers and cloud computing space with a remarkable track record of having steered Netmagic (now an NTT company) to become a leader in the data center space. His vision for the ecosystem is remarkable and his investment in NETMONASTERY and guidance and wisdom will be an enabler for us.”

The DNIF Hyperscale SIEM platform revolutionizes the SIEM segment by enabling easy ingestion and unlimited retention of high volumes of data. Where competing solutions work well with “thousands” of events per second, DNIF enables customers to operate at “hundreds of thousands” of events per second on-premise to “millions” of events per second in the cloud. Apart from having bleeding-edge SIEM capabilities - DNIF is built as an automation platform that can stitch together detection, validation, response and more - allowing customers to build and operate autonomous security operations. DNIF aims to enable the next generation of security management capabilities by democratizing the ability to work with petabyte scale data.

About NETMONASTERY

NETMONASTERY provides log analytics and threat detection capabilities for security operations centres. Leveraging cognitive machine learning, the DNIF HyperScale SIEM protects customers from cyber-attacks using advanced analytics with a combination of SIEM, UEBA and enhanced response using SOAR. DNIF is part of the cybersecurity nerve centre for leaders in finance, banking, government, media, manufacturing, and electronic commerce.

Website: www.dnif.it

C3iHub, IIT Kanpur Launches 1st Cohort of Cyber Security Start-ups & R&D Investigators

The program aims to nurture the next generation of cyber security entrepreneurs and develop products and services to safeguard critical infrastructure

• C3iHub, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur launched the first cohort of 13 start-ups and 25 R&D Principal Investigators for Incubation and Research programs
• The cohort would be working across domains of Cyber Security Domains like UAV Security, Blockchain, Intrusion Detection and Cyber Physical System
• This would go a long way in strengthening the Cyber Security ecosystem in India

23rd July 2021, Kanpur: C3iHub, the Technology Innovation Hub on Cyber Security at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur today launched the first cohort of start-ups who will develop services and products across the critical cyber security domains of UAV Security, Blockchain, Intrusion Detection, and Cyber Physical System. 

The first cohort includes a select group of 13 start-ups and 25 R&D Principal Investigators for Incubation and Research programs respectively who were selected after a rigorous application process. The presence of cutting-edge technology in cyber security is accompanied by an increasing need to protect digital assets and deploy solutions for the common public as well as government and industry.

The event was graced by Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; Prof. Sandeep Verma, Secretary, SERB; Prof. AR Harish, Dean, Research and Development, IIT Kanpur; Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Project Director, C3iHub, IIT Kanpur; Prof. Sandeep Shukla, Co-Project Director, C3iHub, IIT Kanpur; and Dr Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, C3iHub, IIT Kanpur. The honorable panelists charted a way forward for the selected cohort aiming to redefine cyber security with a holistic approach in India. The dynamic nature of threats and ever evolving advancements necessitates the need for dedicated centres such as C3iHub supported by an evolving ecosystem such as IIT Kanpur.

Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India said “The Government is committed to bring India to a leadership position in Cyber Security. C3iHub IIT Kanpur’s focus on safeguarding cyberspace including critical infrastructure is vital in this regard. I urge innovators and researchers to take up challenges by solving problems through technology."

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur shared, “We are excited to launch the first set of start-ups cohort in cyber security. Over the next few years, C3iHub is committed to create a vibrant eco system of cyber security start-ups fostering world class innovations”.

The event brought together industry veterans and experts in the Indian cyber security space to commemorate the launch of the start-up and R&D cohort. The start-ups, supported by C3iHub at IIT Kanpur, will innovate to disrupt the cyber security space, focusing on design and development of services and products to safeguard India’s critical infrastructure. The program’s interdisciplinary focus will nurture R&D in cyber security and cyber physical systems across India.

Prof Manindra Agarwal noted, “C3iHub aims to develop technologies for cyber security, work with industry and nucleate start-ups to deploy them, and train a new generation of cyber security experts. Our target is to become the leading source of cyber security related technologies in the country.”

Dr Nikhil Agarwal, congratulating the selected cohort at C3iHub, said, “We will be incubating around 25 start-ups with a generous funding support every year. The first cohort of researchers and start-ups is a demonstration of increasing interest in cyber security in India”

About C3iHub (https://c3ihub.org/)

C3iHub has been set up to address the issue of cyber security of cyber physical systems in its entirety. From analysing security vulnerabilities and developing tools to address them at various levels of system architecture, to translating these tools to deployment ready software, to nucleating start-ups developing these tools at scale, to partnering with industries in this domain and co-development and transfer of these technologies, to train the next generation of cyber security researchers and professionals.

2 Indian Cybersecurity Startups among Finalists of Kaspersky Open Innovation Program

Two Indian Cybersecurity startups have selected in top 12 finalists of Kaspersky Open Innovation Program “Cyber Security for Small & Medium Businesses”, a startup support & growth program by Moscow, Russia-based cybersecurity company, Kaspersky. Kaspersky and its partners reviewed 186 applications from 36 countries including the US, UK, Israel, Russia, Germany, and France.

Two Indian companies selected are -- HaltDos and InstaSafe.

An online Demo Day held on 30 September, where all 12 finalists successfully presented their projects to Kaspersky experts. This is the 4th set of startups in the year of the Open Innovation program. The Moscow firm focused on a narrow request from business – a focus on cybersecurity solutions for SMB (small and medium-sized businesses) to protect cloud applications and the network.

In the next stage of the programme, the winners chosed from these 12 finalists, will work jointly with Kaspersky on product development, as well as receiving technical and business mentoring. Those that pass the pilot will also have access to Kaspersky channel partners (including distributors and resellers), clients and prospects.

Noida-based HaltDos is an IT security company providing AI-based network and application security solutions both on-premise and on-cloud. HaltDos claims to be World's first Integrated WAF & DDoS mitigation solution that 'Detects, Mitigates & Monitors' network/Application on a continuous basis to protect from DDoS & Web Application attacks.

Bangalore-based InstaSafe is a cloud-based SaaS solution provider, delivering protection to mobile and remote workers, enabling them to securely access enterprise apps, email and web from anywhere on any network.

The List of Finalists:

1. Blaick (Israel) Сyber-security company which deploys proprietary Artificial Intelligence threats detection technology for early prevention of online cyber crime, including phishing, malware and scam.
2. CyberCyte (United Kingdom) 360° Protection for On-Premise and Off-Premise Users in Minutes. 
3. Cyolo (Israel) The first real zero-trust solution, a safer architecture that allows organizations to securely connect their internal, remote and third-party users to their working environments. 
4. Haltdos (India) IT Security company providing AI-based Network and Application security solutions both on-premise and on-cloud. 
5. InstaSafe (India) Cloud-based Security-as-a-Service solution provider delivering comprehensive and uncompromising protection to mobile and remote workers enabling them to safely and securely access enterprise apps, email and web from anywhere on any network. 
6. Polaris Infosec (Singapore) Next-generation AI engine to monitor and analyse website and API traffic. 
7. Polymer (United States) Real-time detection and redaction of sensitive material such as PII, HIPAA-protected health information, and regulated financial information in popular collaboration tools like Slack, Zendesk, Zoom, Github and more. 
8. Pyxsoft PowerWAF (Chile) Protection against DoS and OWASP top 10 attacks, data theft, server infiltration, blocking of installed malware, and zero-day attacks. 
9. Safetica (Czech Republic) DLP suite which combines data protection with behavioral analysis and endpoint monitoring. 
10. WEBGAP (United States) Browser isolation cybersecurity startup, fully-hosted and fully-managed remote browsers. 
11. Zecurion Data Loss Prevention (Russia) Comprehensive protection against the leakage of information throughout the course of its lifecycle – from creation and recording to archiving and deletion. 
12. Zero Networks (Israel) Preventing attacks from spreading and causing damage by automatically restricting network access to only what is normally needed, everything else goes through 2-step verification.

Source - gotechinnovation.com

Karnataka Launches 'H.A.C.K' - Accelerator Programme for Cyber Security Startups

A startup accelerator programme called 'H.A.C.K' has been launched by the Karnataka’s Centre of Excellence in cyber security (CySecK) for cyber security-specific startups.

H.A.C.K, which is Karnataka’s first cybersecurity-specific accelerator programme, is housed at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and already has 21 startups on board, which in turn are divided into three cohorts -- 10x cohort, 0-1 cohort and virtual cohort.

Applications are invited from all cyber security startups, both early-stage and growth-stage, to apply for the zeroth cohort launching in Q2 2020.

H.A.C.K. will provide an innovative incubation platform to connect participating startups with the vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and marquee mentors from around the world. If you’re a startup looking to get connected to government, industry or market players, H.A.C.K. is the place for you.

H.A.C.K. is brought to you by the Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security (CS-CoE), which is a Government of Karnataka initiative under Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) as the Anchor Institution and Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) as the Implementing Agency.

The late date for applying is 15th March, 2020. Eligibility criteria for growth-stage startups can be found here. Certain criteria may be relaxed for early-stage startups.

Formed in 2017 by Govt of Karnataka, CySecK is part of the state's Technology Innovation Strategy, to promote the cyber-safe and conducive environment for industry collaboration, address the skill gaps, build awareness and facilitate innovation in this emerging technology field of Cyber Security.

CySecK also facilitate standardization and best practices for information security across industry domains, foster innovation, research & development and conduct some of the high-end-in-house-training programs within Cyber Security Technologies.

Via ~ New Indian Express