DATA SECURITY

Blu Ventures Expands Cybersecurity Strategy

Blu Venture Investors | May 24, 2021

Blu Venture Investors, a primary source risk capital firm, today announced the launch of the BVI Cyber Fund, a $25M fund targeted at Series A growth companies in cybersecurity. This fund builds on the success and momentum Blu Ventures has established in supporting the cybersecurity ecosystem within the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

"With over 800 cybersecurity firms within the Washington, D.C. region, Blu Ventures is seated at the middle of the cyber/intelligence ecosystem," said Michael Sutton, Investment member and former CSO of Zscaler. "We are excited to continue helping fast-growing cyber companies scale and tackle the foremost difficult cybersecurity challenges facing commercial and government organizations today."

The timing of the BVI Cyber Fund comes at a pivotal time given the record-breaking increase in sophisticated breaches and cyberattacks and President Biden's May 12, 2021 Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity. Blu Ventures has and can still invest in forward-looking cybersecurity technologies within core areas that include Endpoint Detection & Response, Data Storage; Web & Cloud; Messaging; Network; Industrial & Internet of Things (IoT); Threat Intel; Mobile; Fraud Protection & Transaction; Risk, Compliance & Training; Specialized Threat Analysis & Protection and Security Ops & Incident Response.

About Blu Venture Investors

Founded in 2010, Blu Ventures has deployed $85MM in capital so far in early-stage cyber and enterprise software firms. Currently, the firm is invested in 35 cyber companies to incorporate ID.me, Cybrary, Huntress Labs, Ostendio and Threat Quotient. As a primary source risk capital firm, Blu's principals bring expertise across a spread of industries and an investment perspective closely aligned with entrepreneurs.

Spotlight

Now more than ever, organizations are turning to a zero trust strategy to secure their data and systems. Regardless of size or sector, zero trust is essential to any business in the wake of COVID-19. And high-profile breaches (see: SolarWinds), cloud migration and an ever-expanding attack surface mean that a shift in approach is

Spotlight

Now more than ever, organizations are turning to a zero trust strategy to secure their data and systems. Regardless of size or sector, zero trust is essential to any business in the wake of COVID-19. And high-profile breaches (see: SolarWinds), cloud migration and an ever-expanding attack surface mean that a shift in approach is

Related News

NETWORK THREAT DETECTION, PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY

Deepwatch Enhances SecOps Platform to Detect and Contain Identity Threats

Deepwatch | February 08, 2023

On February 08, 2023, Deepwatch, the industry leader in advanced managed detection and response (MDR) security, announced new service offerings and enhancements to the Deepwatch SecOps Platform to enhance threat detection and containment across the organization. The introduction of Deepwatch MXDR for Identity enables enhanced detection and response to rising identity-based threats; Deepwatch MXDR for Endpoint now supports Microsoft Windows Defender, which allows automatic response capabilities on Windows endpoints; and Deepwatch SecOps Platform, user interface upgrades, provide customers with greater visibility into the efficacy of their security operations program – from practitioner dashboards to self-service, board-level metrics and reporting. Deepwatch offers comprehensive detection and automated reaction to cyber threats, as well as customized security recommendations from experienced professionals. The 24/7/365 protection provided by the Deepwatch SecOps Platform eliminates the risk and significantly enhances security posture. Based on advanced threat analytics, integrations with top security tools, and dynamic content libraries, Deepwatch's managed detection and response services (MXDR, MDR, and others) provide customers with an "always on" modern SOC that continuously adapts to the combat ever-changing threat landscape. Wesley Mullins, CTO at Deepwatch, said, "Deepwatch provides security teams the expertise, flexibility, user experience and support to rapidly accelerate their extended detection and response strategies to defend against threats targeting enterprises." He also added, "With the addition of Deepwatch MXDR for Identity, we can do more than shut down the endpoint or make a firewall rule on the fly. We can respond to a threat at every level across the customer's attack surface whether its network, cloud or identity." (Source – Business Wire) About Deepwatch Based in Florida, Deepwatch is the industry leader in managed security services, guarding businesses 24/7/365 from evolving cyber threats. Deepwatch, which is powered by Deepwatch's cloud security platform, provides the industry's quickest, most exhaustive detection and automatic response to cyber threats, along with customized advice from dedicated experts to mitigate risks and significantly improve security posture. Deepwatch is trusted by the world's biggest corporations, from the Fortune 100 to mid-sized businesses, to defend their businesses.

Read More

DATA SECURITY, PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY

Launch of Virtru Private Keystore Enables Heightened Privacy and Secure Collaboration in the Cloud

Globenewswire | March 24, 2023

Virtru, the global leader in data-centric security and privacy, today announced the immediate availability of the Virtru Private Keystore, allowing organizations to leverage the power of industry-leading cloud collaboration platforms with the confidence that their data is completely private and shielded from their cloud provider. The Virtru Private Keystore gives businesses a simple way to encrypt their cloud data and store the keys in an environment separate from their cloud provider. It is available for Google Workspace, Google Cloud, and all of Virtru’s products. Privacy-preserving technology has become a top priority for businesses and individuals alike, as evidenced by Google’s rapid expansion of Client-Side Encryption for Google Workspace and customer-managed encryption keys for Google Cloud. Google has undertaken these efforts to win and retain privacy- and compliance-sensitive customers. Virtru is one of a select number of Google-recommended private encryption key management partners to support these initiatives. Paris-based HR tech firm, Maki People, uses Virtru as its key management solution provider for Google Cloud, and views the Virtru Private Keystore as a way to build trust with its customers. “The Virtru Private Keystore is super seamless,” said Benjamin Chino, CPO and Co-Founder, Maki People. “Everything is running smoothly. From a customer standpoint, it really makes a difference – they now feel that they're much more in control, and that Google will not be able to access their data.” “Safeguarding data privacy and control is our top priority, and the Virtru Private Keystore plays a crucial role in helping us achieve this objective,” said Ali Umana, Network Administrator, Kulite Semiconductor Products, Inc. Around the world, regulatory requirements continue to tighten. The Virtru Private Keystore helps organizations meet compliance and data sovereignty obligations such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). “Our customers choose Virtru because our products are easy to use, and they integrate seamlessly with the apps they work in every day,” said Bill Bauman, Product Marketing, Virtru. “The Virtru Private Keystore does that, too. It simplifies key management for our customers and runs seamlessly in the background. It does more than just key exchanges, though: It adds policies to the keys and has audit capabilities. So, everyone can collaborate more confidently in the cloud and have final decision over who can access their data.” The Virtru Private Keystore supports the full suite of Virtru products, including Virtru for Microsoft Outlook 365, Virtru for Gmail, Virtru Secure Share, and Virtru Data Protection Gateway, and is a trusted solution for Google Workspace Client-Side Encryption (or CSE, including CSE for Gmail) and Google Cloud External Key Manager (EKM). It can be deployed in a public or private cloud, or a private or co-hosted data center, and supports hardware security modules (HSM), with additional support for HSM Proxy Connector. About Virtru Virtru is a global leader in data privacy and protection. At Virtru, we equip our customers to take control of their data—everywhere it’s shared—through end-to-end encryption for Google, Microsoft, and other data sharing platforms. Our team is creative, collaborative, and passionate about creating a brighter future for data privacy. Above all, we support our colleagues and empower each other to do our best work.

Read More

DATA SECURITY, PLATFORM SECURITY, SOFTWARE SECURITY

Contrast Security Announces Serverless Support Expansion

Contrast Security | February 24, 2023

On February 23, 2023, Contrast Security, a leading code security platform, announced the expansion of its contrast serverless application security tool, Contrast Serverless, to support Microsoft Azure Functions and allow customers to quickly scan for security vulnerabilities across multi-cloud environments. While serverless and cloud-native development gains popularity, organizations struggle to determine which applications are fully secured due to the 'shared responsibility security model' of public cloud providers, particularly in the case of multi-cloud IT strategies. Contrast Serverless addresses the needs of such organizations by providing a new security tool that is specifically designed to evaluate serverless risks while identifying common vulnerabilities (CVEs), detecting misconfigurations, and revealing user privilege issues, all within a single interface. "Data shows 74% of infrastructure decision-makers at firms that are adopting public cloud use two or more public clouds and 17% are using five or more. Therefore, it's no surprise that 82% of cloud users have experienced security events due to confusion over shared responsibility security models." (Avoid the Security Inconsistency Pitfalls Transitioning to Serverless 2022 Report) The addition of Microsoft Azure Functions support to the Contrast Serverless platform allows organizations to evaluate the risk of their serverless applications across Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) from a single offering. The tool provides complete visibility of cloud-native serverless functions, allowing the AppSec team to continuously monitor the organization's serverless posture. It also allows organizations to scan open source dependencies for vulnerabilities in applications and custom code, detect misconfigurations, and identify the least privilege issues based on Microsoft Azure function policy roles and active directory configurations. Additionally, the tool can generate a contextual Microsoft Azure Functions risk score based on the abovementioned methods, enabling teams to address the most significant risk issues first. It also has the ability to apply remediation on function code in both AWS and Microsoft Azure environments. About Contrast Security Contrast Security is a renowned platform for code security, purposefully designed for developers to ensure swift and secure code movement while being trusted by security teams to safeguard business applications. It allows developers, security, and operations teams can quickly secure code across the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and protect against targeted Application Security (AppSec) attacks. The company was founded in 2014 by cybersecurity industry veterans with the aim of replacing legacy AppSec solutions that cannot protect modern enterprises. The company's clientele includes some of the most prominent brands, such as BMW, Sompo Japan, DocuSign, AXA, Zurich, American Red Cross, and numerous other Fortune 500 enterprises globally.

Read More