Cyber-Security Vendors Raise New Funding in October 2017

October 2017 was another month in which multiple cyber-security vendors raised new funding as demand for technologies that can help organizations mitigate the risk of network breaches continues to accelerate. The funding highlights the various security technology sectors that are growing, including threat deception, security management, multifactor authentication, cloud and security training technologies. The largest funding event of the month was recorded Oct. 25, with $150 million in funding raised by Skybox Security to support the development and marketing of the company’s security management technology. Duo Security also pulled in a large round, raising $70 million to advance the company’s multifactor authentication efforts. This slide show covers some of the security vendors that raised funding in the past month.

On Oct. 3, HYPR announced it raised $8 million in a Series A round of funding to help the company advance its next-generation authentication technologies, which include biometric capabilities.

Cyber-security deception technology vendor Attivo Networks announced Oct. 11 that it has raised $21 million in a Series C round of funding. “Organizations must know immediately when their perimeter security controls fail and be able to respond quickly,” Tushar Kothari, CEO of Attivo Networks, stated. “Attivo Networks’ deception-based detection efficiently closes this detection deficit.”

Also on Oct. 11, ShiftLeft exited its stealth mode with $9.3 million in Series A Funding for its security-as-a-service (SECaaS) platform. “There is a large and important opportunity in the industry today to insert highly accurate security in the continuous integration and delivery life cycle without impacting an organization’s pace of innovation,” Manish Gupta, ShiftLeft CEO and co-founder, stated.

On Oct. 17, Duo Security announced a $70 million round of funding to help the company’ build its go-to-market efforts for its multifactor authentication technology. “Cyber-security has become the biggest geopolitical problem of our time,” Dug Song, Chief Executive Officer, Duo Security, stated.

Contrast Security announced Oct. 18 it raised $30 million in a Series C round of funding. Contrast Security’s platform can help enable what the company calls “self-protecting software.” “Contrast Security has already proven that companies can … respond quickly and effectively to vulnerabilities before attacks even start,” Alan Naumann, CEO and chairman of Contrast Security, stated

On Oct 24, security awareness and training platform vendor KnowBe4 announced it raised $30 million in a Series B round of funding. KnowBe4 trains corporate employees how to recognize and deter potential phishing attacks and other security threats.

Also on Oct. 24, security startup Averon announced it raised $8.3 million in a Series A round of funding. Averon develops the Direct Autonomous Authentication (DAA) mobile identity verification standard.

The largest funding event in October 2017 occurred Oct. 27, when Skybox Security announced a $150 million round of investment. Skybox Security provides a management and analysis platform for cyber-security technologies. “We aim to help the chief information security officer and security teams understand what tools they have in place,” Gidi Cohen, Skybox’s co-founder and CEO, told eWEEK.