SoftBank puts $200m into telecoms network security company Cybereason
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SoftBank puts $200m into telecoms network security company Cybereason

Lior Div Cybereason.jpg

SoftBank has invested $200 million in Cybereason, the US-Israeli company that in June said an unnamed nation has been mounting global attacks against mobile phone operators.

The Boston-based company said it will use the funds to ramp up operations, focusing on global growth and expanding and growing its partner programme.

“We are leading the wave, becoming the world’s most reliable and effective endpoint prevention and detection solution because of our technology, our people and our partners,” said Lior Div (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Cybereason. “We help all security teams prevent more attacks, sooner, in ways that enable understanding and taking decisive action faster.”

In June Cybereason said that the mobile phone attacker had been stealing customer data and call data records (CDRs) – a plot it called Operation Soft Cell.

It said the culprit, still unnamed, “was able to completely take over the IT network [of operators] and customise the IT infrastructure … complete with their own VPN [virtual private network] inside of the network”.

The investment from Japanese group SoftBank, which owns companies such as Sprint in the US and chip designer ARM in the UK, doubles the total invested and committed capital in Cybereason since it was founded in 2012. Cybereason has previously raised funds from venture capital companies CRV and Spark Capital as well as aerospace company Lockheed Martin.

Cybereason CTO Yonatan Striem-Amit said the company is increasingly focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) for cyber security. “Today, there is a shortage of more than three million cyber analysts. … This is a big data problem that all security operations centres run into and Cybereason will solve with machine learning and AI.”

SoftBank’s COO, Marcelo Claure, said: “Cybereason plays a leading role in helping companies manage cybersecurity risk and protect people’s information. AI-driven technology from Cybereason is helping secure our increasingly connected world.”

The company said Operation Soft Cell “targeted multiple telcos across the world and illustrated the risk faced by all critical infrastructure industries”.

Capacity contacted a number of leading telecoms operators after the June report but was unable to find any mobile operator around the world that could confirm the report.

 

 

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