Attacks that take down websites by flooding them with traffic have been popular among computer criminals for years. Traditionally, such assaults are launched using PCs infected with malware. But two security companies say they have seen the emergence of a worrying new tactic: home routers, Internet-connected printers, and even webcams being used to knock targeted sites offline.
In a report released last week, Chinese security company NSFocus said that it had seen a significant increase in the use of networked home and office devices in so-called denial-of-service attacks. NSFocus get its data from hardware it sells to companies to defend against denial-of-service attacks. Its customers include the giant Chinese social networking company Tencent.
A crucial bottleneck that prevents life-saving surgery being performed in many parts of the world is the lack of trained surgeons. One way to get around this is to make better use of the ones that are available.
Sending them over great distances to perform operations is clearly inefficient because of the time that has to be spent travelling. So an increasingly important alternative is the possibility of telesurgery with an expert in one place controlling a robot in another that physically performs the necessary cutting and dicing. Indeed, the sale of medical robots is increasing at a rate of 20 percent per year.
Cyber attacks are so bad for business, they have made at least one rising tech company apply its broader data-analysis software to security problems.
Recorded Future got started about five years ago—originally to develop technology for helping defense and financial analysts track global events and try to predict when and where problems like civil unrest may occur. The technology is pretty interesting, but it sounds like the startup is just hitting its stride, business-wise, thanks to increased demand for cybersecurity products.
As cybersecurity deal activity continues to grow, we used CB Insights data to find 10 cybersecurity companies to keep an eye on.
Cybersecurity financing is exploding and giving rise to a number of companies trying to tackle and thwart a myriad number of cyber threats. We used CB Insights data to highlight 10 Series B or earlier cybersecurity companies that have recently raised financing and which may be worth keeping an eye on.
enture capitalists poured a record $2.3 billion into cybersecurity companies in 2014, a year marked by frequent reports of hacks on high-profile companies. Yearly investment in cybersecurity startups been on the rise for several years now, and is up 156 percent since 2011, according to CB Insights. The trend will likely continue, as 75 percent of CIOs surveyed by Piper Jaffray said they would increase spending on security in 2015.
Tempered Networks, which aims to improve network security at manufacturing and industrial facilities, said it raised $15 million from Ignition Partners and IDG Ventures.
ScienceLogic, a company with software for tracking the health of companies’ applications and underlying IT infrastructure, is unveiling today a new $43 million funding round.
The Reston, Va.-based company has been around since 2003, so it’s not exactly the hottest new startup around. But ScienceLogic does have a major new investor to boast of: Goldman Sachs, which led the new round. Previous investors NEA and Intel Capital also participated.
The new money will give ScienceLogic the freedom to spend more on sales, marketing, geographical expansion, and further product development.
The global security market was little more than a cottage industry in 2002, when it was an insular $3.5 billion market dominated by just five vendors. Fast-forward to today and there is — I estimate — $87 billion being spent in 2014, while that number should increase to $120 billion by 2017, according to AGC Partners (.pdf).
