Dutch startup iSecurity has raised €36 million to guard European companies from cybercriminals.
Founded in 2020 by a bunch of Dutch intelligence and safety consultants, the Hague-based group gives cyber safety, incident response and cyber insurance coverage companies to small and medium-sized companies.
The funding spherical, which brings Eye Security’s complete raised up to now to €57.5 million, was led by JPMorgan, the personal funding arm of American monetary big JPMorgan Chase.
Eye Security plans to make use of the money to strengthen its presence within the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. It additionally goals to increase to different European nations.
Eye Security founders: Piet Kerkhofs (left), Job Kuijpers (centre), Vincent van de Ven. Credit: Eye Security
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Key to the corporate’s technique is a concentrate on defending small and medium-sized companies, which account for about 50% of all cybersecurity assaults however are most weak to them. Most firms do not have the finances for an in-house cybersecurity crew.
“We have developed a scalable platform that not solely strengthens firms’ defenses in opposition to cyber threats, but in addition shortly gives insurance coverage protection,” stated the startup’s CEO and former nationwide director of the Dutch intelligence company. stated Job Kuypers, former director of the Communications Security Bureau. .
The scourge of cybercrime
According to knowledge from the European Digital SME Alliance, ransomware assaults – assaults through which cybercriminals maintain somebody’s knowledge hostage till the sufferer pays again – elevated considerably final yr. For instance, final May there have been 575 assaults in Europe. This is greater than double his 223 instances recorded the earlier yr.
The most prolific of those actors was LockBit, the infamous Russian ransomware gang that was disrupted final month. According to iSecurity, about 60% of small companies hacked by such teams exit of enterprise inside six months.
A surge in cybercrime is prompting EU regulators to take motion. Europe’s Network and Information Security Directive (NISD) was up to date final yr to incorporate stricter reporting necessities for firms. From October 17, 2024, firms that don’t report hacking will be fined as much as 10 million euros or 2% of their annual income.
The rule adjustments have firms scrambling to arrange their operations. Naturally, that is excellent news for Eye Security.