by Jonathan Shieber
The Tel Aviv-based security startup LightCyber has some bad news for enterprises — their networks have already been compromised.
But the new security technology vendor, which just raised $10 million from Battery Ventures, with additional participation from existing Israeli investors Glilot Capital, and Marius Nacht, the founder of Check Point Software, is selling software that can automate the discovery of holes in corporate defenses and suggest ways to address them.
“We started from the assumption that you have already been breached,” says chief executive Gonen Fink. “It’s no longer a question of potential future breaches… We are fitting behind the security lines and our job is to protect active breaches.”
The company’s software monitors networks to look for anomalies in the ways in which systems engage the network. Fink says there are three components to the technology. The first is an automated network monitoring system, the second is an anomaly detection piece, and the third is the remediation phase where the company’s technology provides tools to repair the damage done to the network.
LightCyber is already working with “dozens” of customers and has a strategic partnership with Check Point Software to provide breach detection and response for the security giant’s customers. In a statement, LightCyber said it would use the capital from Battery to expand its sales and marketing efforts in the U.S. as it looks to attract more retailers, banks, and other prime targets for security hacks.
“In today’s landscape of advanced, persistent threats, old-fashioned, perimeter security measures are no longer sufficient,” said Battery Ventures general partner Itzik Parnafes, who joins the LightCyber board of directors. “Today, a company’s security arsenal must contain technology that can identify malicious activity in the internal network with a minimum of false-positives.”
According to Gartner data, the cost of cybercrime in the U.S. has risen by approximately 30 percent in the past 12 months. As a result, the analyst firm estimates that enterprise budget allocation for rapid detection and response products will grow from 10 percent in 2014, to 60 percent by 2020. However, most of the advanced threat detection solutions identify malware or anomalies, leaving it up to organizations to determine if a breach has actually occurred, incurring significant operational cost and limited efficiency.
