An interesting week. Funding continues to flow to cybersecurity start-ups despite the focus on AI, and there were new product launches. IONIX is the latest company to announce funding, getting the final $15 million of its series A round completed.
Qualys released TotalCloud 2.0 and added TruRisk Insight and other features to extend its support for SaaS and externally exposed assets. BlueVoyant released its second “External Cyber Defence Trends” report. The report looks at the rise of risk from outside IT and highlights the role that generative-AI is having in increasing risk.
Europol
Europol issued a warning over vulnerabilities in the Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure Gateway products. It warned that exploitation of the vulnerabilities disclosed throughout January is already taking place. It recommends that organisations regularly check the guidance provided by the CSIRTs Network members and CERT-EU for the latest assessment and advice.
FBI
The FBI Atlanta office is warning that as Valentine’s Day approaches, it expects to see a surge in Romance/Confidence scams around Valentine’s Day. It says that last year, at least 425 Georgians reported falling victim to a romance scam, losing $10,516,818. It goes on to say that 2-3x that number never reported the crime. The warning comes with advice on how to avoid becoming a victim.
Sentencing has continued for a group of people charged with a RICO conspiracy. They bought server credentials on the dark web to gain access to the computer servers of Certified Public Accounting (CPA) and tax preparation firms. They then accessed those computers and submitted false tax returns in the names of thousands of people. Along with prison terms of 4-16 years, over US$20 million in restitution awards have been made.
Jumpcloud
Jumpcloud has announced a new appointment. Micha Hershman is now its chief marketing officer (CMO) to scale the company’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Hershman is also expected to create new programs for prospects, partners, and customers.
Computer Reseller News (CRN) has added Antoine Jebara, general manager of MSP products and co-founder at JumpCloud, to its 2024 CRN Channel Chiefs list. The list focuses on IT vendor and distribution executives responsible for driving strategy and setting the channel agenda for their companies. This is the second consecutive year Jebra has been named to the list.
NetSfere
NetSfere and Centerprise have announced a new partnership. It will see NetSfere hosted on Centerprise’s CiCloud infrastructure to deliver secure and compliant messaging services. One key feature is that data will be geofenced inside the UK. Additionally, NetSfere delivers end-to-end encryption to prevent messages from being intercepted.
Noname Security
Noname Security has announced two more appointments, following on from changes at the end of 2023. Michael Baker has been promoted to President after three years with the company. Yuval Barkan has been appointed as Chief Product Officer and has previously worked at Cylance, McAfee and Armis.
noyb
noyb has had some success in its complaint against the credit agency CRIF and address trader Acxiom in Germany. The case was first filed two years ago and centres on the purchase of address data that is used for creditworthiness. As the sales were conducted in secret, and people were given no opportunity to object, the Bavarian data protection authority has ruled the data was misused.
Qualys
Qualys has announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 financial results. 2023 saw fourth-quarter growth of 10% compared to the previous year, representing $144.8 million in revenue. Full-year revenue for 2023 saw growth of 13% year-over-year with revenues hitting $554.5 million. The company also announced a $200 million increase in its share repurchase program.
Sumedh Thakar, president and CEO of Qualys, said, “Our financial results, growing scale, and increased module adoption demonstrate customers are starting to leverage the breadth and depth of the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Platform to transform their security stack for transparent risk assessment, measurable business results, and lower TCO.
“Looking ahead, we believe we’re well positioned as the fundamental risk management platform for the future and remain committed to further advancing our position in the market with a balanced approach to growth and profitability.”
US Department of Justice
The US DoJ worked with federal authorities in Atlanta and Boston and international law enforcement partners to seize computers and Internet domains used to sell malware. The operation also saw individuals in Malta and Nigeria indicted for their involvement in selling malware.
Four Internet domains, including warzone.ws, were seized. They were being used to sell the Warzone Remote Access Trojan (RAT) malware. The two arrested me are Daniel Meli (arrested in Malta) and Prince Onyeoziri Odinakachi (arrested in Nigeria). Meli is a career cybercriminal who, it is alleged, has been selling malware since 2012, including the Pegagus RAT. Odinakachi offered technical support for the Warzone RAT.
