More Signal. Less Noise.

V4 | Issue 36 | 9.7.22

NortonLifeLock and Avast cleared by UK for merger. Air Force awards contract to CACI. Bitwarden secures $100 million in funding.

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

At a glance.

NortonLifeLock and Avast cleared by UK for merger.
Air Force awards contract to CACI.
Bitwarden secures $100 million in funding.

Mergers and acquisitions.

The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially cleared the $8.1 billion merger between NortonLifeLock and Avast. The CMA launched an investigation in March, citing the combination of two similar market leaders as raising competition concerns. Last month, the tone changed, and the CMA said that there were no competition issues raised, noting Microsoft’s cybersecurity products, as well as McAfee.

Software company ConnectWise, based in Tampa, Florida, has announced its acquisition of Australia-based integrated payment automation platform Wise-Sync. Chris Timms, EVP of growth at ConnectWise said, “Wise-Sync provides payment and accounting software integration for MSPs and has a track record for receiving excellent partner feedback. The long-time relationship with Wise-Sync as a trusted integration to ConnectWise APIs makes them a natural choice for onboarding more formally into the ConnectWise family. We are eager to take our first step into the payments processing space – ConnectWise products to date have not had this functionality. Expanding this part of our portfolio is an exciting move for us and our partners.”

Healthcare-focused cyber risk management company Clearwater Compliance, based in Nashville, has announced its merger with CynergisTek, headquartered in Austin. Clearwater bought CynergisTek’s common stock for $1.25 a share, coming out to $17.7 million total. CynergisTek will become a private company, and will be delisted from the NYSE American Stock Market.

Investments and exits.

The Department of the Air Force has made a contract award for the first phase of its Enterprise IT as a Service (EITaaS) initiative, awarding $5.7 billion to a team of 10 vendors led by CACI, based in Chantilly, Virginia. With this first wave, the focus is on devices and manpower, providing IT service management, end user devices, and support, including a helpdesk for both the Air and Space Forces.

Santa Barbara, California-based open source password manager Bitwarden has secured a $100 million minority growth investment, led by PSG, with participation from Battery Ventures. The funding will be used to support the user community and scale their solution to offer stronger online security options, the company says.

Tel Aviv and New York-based Extended Security Posture Management (XSPM) provider Cymulate has raised $70 million in Series D funding, led by One Peak, with participation from Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE), Vertex Ventures Israel, Vertex Growth and Dell Technologies Capital. The funding will be used for global expansion and investments in expansion of the company’s technology.

End user security device management software company Devicie, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, has raised $14 million in Series A funding, led by Insight Partners with contribution from CyberCX. The company says the funding will be used to support customer expansion for its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering in the UK, US, and EMEA, as well as expansion of the team.

Executive moves.

Incode has appointed Windsor Tanner as the company’s Global Vice President of Growth and Enablement.

Skyhigh Security has appointed John N. Stewart as an Executive Advisor.

Barracuda has appointed Chris Ross as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer.

Trellix has appointed Kim Anstett as the company’s Chief Information Officer.

GreyNoise Intelligence has hired Bob Rudis as Vice President of Data Science and Paul Murphy as Vice President of Sales.

OneSpan has appointed Jorge Martell as Chief Financial Officer.

Signal has hired Meredith Whittaker as President of the company.

Splunk has appointed Jason Lee as Chief Information Security Officer.

Cohesity has appointed Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, to the company’s Board of Directors.

Company news.

Dubai-based CyberKnight Technologies has announced a strategic partnership with cybersecurity company Owl Cyber Defense to address challenges in the Middle East, GlobeNewswire reports. “As we build out our operational technology (OT) and critical infrastructure portfolio, we are excited about this new partnership with Owl Cyber Defense, as no other vendor matches their cross domain and data diode capabilities. The technology is accredited by the U.S. Government and EAL Certified, offering enterprise ready solutions to regional customers, with a focus on solving today’s network security problems, in the most challenging environments,” said Vivek Gupta, CyberKnight Co-Founder and COO.

Security company Cloudflare has dropped its protection of Kiwi Farms, citing imminent threats that law enforcement could not keep up with. Kiwi Farms is a place known for stalkers organizing hacks, online campaigns, and in-person harassment. Visitors to the site got this message: “Due to an imminent and emergency threat to human life, the content of this site is blocked from being accessed through Cloudflare’s infrastructure.” This decision follows backlash against Cloudflare, pushing the company to drop Kiwi Farms.

Selected Reading

Marketplace

Lombard Odier Says ‘Shocking’ Cyber Risks Trigger ESG Rethink (Bloomberg) Lombard Odier Investment Managers said the “shocking” results of an analysis into cybersecurity risks lurking in portfolio companies have led it to apply ESG processes far more broadly to protect its funds from losses.

Special Series Part 4: Crypto And Compliance Help Some Cyber Firms Double Value (Crunchbase News) Cybersecurity firms are still locking in large rounds and valuations. This year cyber has minted 16 new unicorns, some with massive valuation increases.

Open source password manager Bitwarden raises $100M (TechCrunch) Bitwarden and its ilk make it easier for people to generate hard-to-guess passwords automatically, and store them all in a secure digital vault

Overly Honest Clearance Applicant Says He's Used Weed More than 1,000 Times and Has No Plans to Stop (ClearanceJobs) Submitting an SF-86 if you have no intention to stop using drugs or even take a cleared job is never a good move.

Why Are Cyber Forensics Professionals in Demand in 2022? (Cybersecurity Exchange) Cyber Forensics professionals help businesses and law enforcement tackle cybercrime. Learn how to build your career as a cyber forensics analyst.

Peter Eckersley, co-creator of Let’s Encrypt, dies at just 43 (Naked Security) This site, like millions of others, has a certificate from Let’s Encrypt. Farewell, Peter Eckersley, PhD, who helped make it all possible.

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou asserts continued investment, hard work amid struggles (South China Morning Post) The message from Huawei’s chief financial officer provided a sharp contrast to her father Ren Zhengfei’s recent leaked memo, which painted a gloomy picture of a world heading into economic recession.

No cyber insurance for state attacks is 'responsible' - Lloyd's of London (Computing) Lloyd's of London has said it will no longer pay out in the case of state-backed attacks.

Tech Companies Tilt Power in Their Favor With Performance Reviews (The Information) Nearly six months ago, Shopify promised staffers it would raise everyone’s salary, hoping to keep people from jumping ship as their share-based pay slumped along with the company’s stock price. Instead, after a hastily assembled performance review process, the e-commerce software giant decided ...

Tech Firms Race to Hire Policy Leaders, Triggering Ripple Effects Across Washington (The Information) Policy leaders are in short supply thanks to new hiring demand from big tech and crypto firms as both industries barrel toward regulatory showdowns. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is on the hunt for someone to lead policy and government affairs for its crypto practice, according to a ...

Group-IB Named Largest and Most Experienced Incident Response Retainer Provider (PR Newswire) Group-IB, one of the global leaders in cybersecurity, has been named the largest and most experienced Incident Response Retainer (IRR) provider...

Twitter account Libs of TikTok blamed for harassment of children’s hospitals (Washington Post) Employees are warning colleagues to take action against the anti-LGBTQ account, saying it’s ‘only a matter of time’ before its posts lead to violence

PlainID, The Authorization Company™, Announces thought leadership collaboration with The Cyber Hut (PR Newswire) PlainID, the Authorization Company™, announces today the release of "Build vs Buy: Guide to Evaluating Authorization" in collaboration with...

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan says VMware deal is 'making good progress’ (CRN Australia) In talks with business regulators globally.

BitSight set to snap up TPRM tool ThirdParty Trust (FinTech Global) BitSight, a security rating platform, is set to acquire ThirdPartyTrust, a company that has developed a third-party risk management tool.

Rubrik passes subscription milestone, launches research unit (iTWire) Security specialist Rubrik has reported more than doubling its annual recurring revenue from software subscriptions, passing $400 million. The company claims more than 4,500 customers including some big names including Citigroup, Estee Lauder, and The Home Depot. Rubrik also announced the launch of...

KAZAKHSTAN : Kazakh intelligence generates local cyber industry with Kazdream (Intelligence Online) After years of off-the-shelf purchases of cyberoffensive tools from abroad, Nur-Sultan's interception sector is producing local private providers. Local company Kazdream is at the forefront of these

How threat intelligence became key to Microsoft's computer security (Globes) Microsoft global head of threat intel and security research John Lambert charts the tech giant's transformation into a cybersecurity superpower.

Why cybersecurity stocks are beating the market (CNBC) Security spending remains robust as the war in Ukraine and emergence of hybrid workplaces keeps companies on edge.

Telstra to tear out Digicel’s Huawei equipment in ‘next refresh’ (Australian Financial Review) Oliver Camplin-Warner, Telstra International chief executive, said the Papau New Guinea-based telco would remove equipment from the Chinese state-owned infrastructure company due to national security concerns.

CrowdStrike Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Results (CrowdStrike) Ending ARR grows 59% year-over-year to reach $2.14 billion. Achieves record net new ARR of $218 million with accelerating year-over-year growth. Adds record 1,741 net new subscription customers. Cash flow from operations of $210 million grows 94% year-over-year, free cash flow of $136 million grows 84% year-over-year

CRN Fast50 firm Wise-Sync acquired by ConnectWise (CRN Australia) Melbourne firm enables MSP giant to take first step into payment processing.

Products, Services, and Solutions

Dashlane is ready to replace all your passwords with passkeys (The Verge) The end of the password is coming, one app at a time

Kyndryl Achieves Coveted Cisco Global Gold Integrator Certification: Exclusive | CRN (CRN) Kyndryl, one of the largest global solution providers that spun out of IBM, has achieved Cisco Global Gold Integrator status, the company told CRN.

Intel Selects Check Point Quantum IoT Protect for RISC-V Platform (Infosecurity Magazine) IoT device manufacturers can now incorporate security at the start of the product life-cycle

Intel and Check Point form new partnership for IoT security (CEN) The move will see Check Point's Quantum IoT Protect Nano agent embedded within Intel’s new platform

Avertium announces new Detection-as-Code Content Packs in Fusion MXDR by leveraging SnapAttack (Avertium) By bringing offensive tradecraft into the defensive process, Avertium is taking one of many steps forward on the journey towards enabling proactive cybersecurity for each and every one of the clients we serve.

Avertium protects Fusion MXDR clients with Detection-as-Code Content Packs through utilization of SnapAttack (SnapAttack) Sept. 1, 2022 – Avertium, a cyber fusion company that offers solutions for mid-to-enterprise organizations to protect assets and manage risk, today, announced a partnership with SnapAttack to better protect its Fusion MXDR customers. Avertium will utilize SnapAttack’s detection-as-code platform to offer its clients an innovative solution that enables commercial and nation-state-level cyber operations the […]

New CyberRes Voltage File Analysis Suite Enables Proactive Data Protection with SmartScan (PR Newswire) CyberRes, a Micro Focus (LSE: MCRO; NYSE: MFGP) line of business, today announced a new version of Voltage File Analysis Suite (FAS), a cloud...

NormCyber awarded a place on CCS Cyber Security Services 3 dynamic purchasing system (Norm) NormCyber has announced its services are now available on the CCS Cyber Security Services 3 dynamic purchasing system

Tenacity platform enhancements provide visibility into entire AWS and Azure cloud infrastructure (Help Net Security) Tenacity Cloud launched agentless, automated and self-directed activation capability with immediate deployment within its platform.

IHSE USA Debuts Draco tera KVM-over-IP Gateway (InGear) The Draco tera IP Gateway Combines the Security and Performance of the Draco tera KVM System to Create the Ultimate Bridge to KVM Matrices over IP Networks

Traceable AI Announces API Security Testing (PR Newswire) Traceable AI, the industry's leading API security and observability company, today announced the general availability of its API Security...

Styra Further Shifts Security Left With New Policy-as-Code Repository Scanning (Business Wire) Styra introduces Repo Scan as the newest feature in the Styra Declarative Authorization Service (DAS).

(ISC)² Opens Global Enrollment for One Million Certified in Cybersecurity (PR Newswire) /PRNewswire/ -- (ISC)² – the world's largest nonprofit association of certified cybersecurity professionals – today announced that the (ISC)² One Million...

(ISC)² Candidates Make Cybersecurity Career Success Accessible to More People (PR Newswire) (ISC)² – the world's largest nonprofit association of certified cybersecurity professionals – today launched (ISC)² Candidates for individuals...

(ISC)² Launches Certified in Cybersecurity℠ Entry-Level Certification to Address Global Workforce Gap (PR Newswire) (ISC)² – the world's largest nonprofit association of certified cybersecurity professionals – today announced a landmark expansion of its...

Strider Technologies Partners with Mandiant to Protect Against Intellectual Property Theft from State-Sponsored Actors - Strider | Prevent intellectual property theft and supply chain vulnerabilities (Strider | Prevent intellectual property theft and supply chain vulnerabilities) Strider Technologies, Inc. (“Strider”) today announced a new strategic partnership with Mandiant to deliver joint customers access to the Strider Shield™ dataset as part of their suite of Mandiant Insider Threat Security Services. The partnership is designed to provide organizations with actionable and contextualized insights that will help […]

Palo Alto Networks Strengthens Its Protection for SaaS Applications and Reinforces ZTNA 2.0 With New Capabilities (Palo Alto Networks) The introduction of SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM), powered by the company's Next-Gen CASB technology, reduces data breaches related to SaaS misconfigurations SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug....

People

Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia Joins Cohesity Board of Directors and Newly Formed Cohesity Security Advisory Council (Business Wire) Cohesity, a leader in next-gen data management, today announced the appointment of Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, to its board of directors. Mandia, o

Splunk Appoints Jason Lee as Chief Information Security Officer (Splunk) Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK), the data platform leader for security and observability, today announced that Jason Lee has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), effective immediately. Lee will oversee all facets of global security to protect Splunk employees and

Encrypted app Signal just hired one of Big Tech’s sharpest critics (Washington Post) Meredith Whittaker, the former Google manager, is Signal’s first president. She is out to convince users to pay for the free app.

OneSpan Appoints New Chief Financial Officer Jorge Martell (OneSpan) Finance executive with 20 years of experience joins OneSpan to help drive growth

GreyNoise Intelligence Adds Proven Industry Leaders to its Executive M (PRWeb) GreyNoise Intelligence, the cybersecurity company analyzing internet scanning traffic to separate threats from background noise, today announced key addition

Barracuda names Chris Ross as Chief Revenue Officer (PR Newswire) Barracuda, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions today announced that security, storage and channel veteran...

Kim Anstett Appointed Trellix Chief Information Officer (Business Wire) Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response (XDR), today announced Kim Anstett has joined Trellix as C

Barracuda names Chris Ross as Chief Revenue Officer Posted date: 2022-09-01 3:00 AM (Barracuda) Barracuda, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions today announced that security, storage and channel veteran Chris Ross has been appointed Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), responsible for worldwide sales and partnerships. Ross joined Barracuda in 2015 as senior vice president of international sales and brings over 30 years of technology experience to the company.

Skyhigh Security Appoints John N. Stewart as Executive Advisor (Business Wire) Skyhigh Security today announced the appointment of John N. Stewart, angel investor and President at Talons Ventures, as Executive Advisor. Stewart wi

Incode Expands Executive Team, Appointing New Global Vice President of Growth and Enablement (PR Newswire) Incode, the next-generation identity verification and authentication platform for global enterprises, today announced the appointment of...