Sternum, a three-year-old IoT cybersecurity startup based in Tel Aviv, has secured $27 million in Series B funding, led by Spark Capital. Internet of Things devices are more popular than ever, yet cybersecurity remains a looming concern. The number of attacks on IoT devices more than doubled during the first six months of 2021, according to […]
Stairwell secures $20M Series A to help organizations outsmart attackers
Back when Stairwell emerged from stealth in 2020, the startup was shrouded in secrecy. Now with $20 million in Series A funding, its founder and CEO Mike Wiacek — who previously served as chief security officer at Chronicle, Google’s moonshot cybersecurity company — is ready to talk. As well as raising $20M, an investment round […]
F5 acquires cloud security startup Threat Stack for $68 million
Applications networking company F5 has announced it’s acquiring Threat Stack, a Boston-based cloud security and compliance startup, for $68 million. The deal, which comes months after F5 bought multi-cloud management startup Volterra for $500 million, sees the 25-year-old company looking to bolster its cloud security portfolio as applications become a growing focus for cybercriminals. Businesses […]
FTC says health apps must notify consumers about data breaches — or face fines
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned apps and devices that collect personal health information must notify consumers if their data is breached or shared with third parties without their permission. In a 3-2 vote on Wednesday, the FTC agreed on a new policy statement to clarify a decade-old 2009 Health Breach Notification Rule, […]
Microsoft now lets you sign in without a password
Microsoft is further nudging users away from passwords by rolling out passwordless sign-in options to all consumer Microsoft accounts. The tech giant, like many others in the industry, has waged a war against traditional password-based authentication for some time. This is because passwords are a prime target for cyberattacks, since weak or reused passwords can […]
BitSight raises $250M from Moody’s and acquires cyber risk startup VisibleRisk
BitSight, a startup that assesses the likelihood that an organization will be breached, has received a $250 million investment from credit rating giant Moody’s, and acquired Israeli cyber risk assessment startup VisibleRisk for an undisclosed sum. Boston-based BitSight says the investment from Moody’s, which has long warned that cyber risk can impact credit ratings, will […]
Thoma Bravo takes a stake in threat intelligence provider Intel 471
Private equity giant Thoma Bravo has taken a stake in Intel 471, a provider of cyber threat intelligence for enterprises and governments. The strategic growth investment, which comes as organizations double-down on cybersecurity amid a pandemic-fueled rise in cyber threats, will enable Intel 471 to evolve its product suite, broaden its go-to-market strategy and continue […]
Howard University cancels classes after ransomware attack
Washington, D.C’s Howard University has canceled classes after becoming the latest educational institution to be hit by a ransomware attack. The incident was discovered on September 3, just weeks after students returned to campus, when the University’s Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) detected “unusual activity” on the University’s network and intentionally shut it down in order […]
FBI says Chinese authorities are hacking US-based Uyghurs
The FBI has warned that the Chinese government is using both in-person and digital techniques to intimidate, silence and harass U.S.-based Uyghur Muslims. The Chinese government has long been accused of human rights abuses over its treatment of the Uyghur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in China’s Xinjiang region. More than a million […]
SEC fines brokerage firms over email hacks that exposed client data
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has fined several brokerage firms a total of $750,000 for exposing the sensitive personally identifiable information of thousands of customers and clients after hackers took over employee email accounts. A total of eight entities belonging to three companies have been sanctioned by the SEC, including Cetera (Advisor Networks, Investment […]