Cybereason, Which Helps Prevent Massive Ransomware Attacks, Gets $100M Boost

Israeli cybersecurity startup Cybereason has raised $100 million from Japan’s telecommunications giant SoftBank, which previously invested $59 million in the company.

Cybereason’s solutions have helped individuals and businesses avoid massive ransomware attacks, including the most recent attack WannaCry, which last month wreaked havoc on over 300,000 computers. Ransomware is malicious software that blocks access to the victim’s data or threatens to publish or delete it until a ransom is paid.

SEE ALSO: Israeli Cyber-Security Experts Weigh In On WannaCry Ransomware, Offer Protection Tools

To protect against ransomware attacks, Cybereason offers a free tool (among others), which was also recently recommended by Israel’s National Cyber Event Readiness Team (at the Office of the Prime Minister). After downloading Cybereason RansomeFree software, the company says your computer will be protected against 99 percent of ransomware strains.

According to Lital Asher-Dotan, senior director of marketing at Israeli cyber-security firm Cybereason, “ransomware evolves, and new variants attack organizations and individuals every day.”

SoftBank is Cybereason’s biggest investor and one of its biggest customers and distribution partners. “This new financing solidifies Cybereason as the leading cybersecurity startup changing the status quo in the security industry, with 500 percent growth in revenue and nearly 200 percent growth in employees across the globe last year,” the Israeli startup said in a statement.

“Hackers still have a big advantage over the vast majority of corporations”

According to Lior Div, co-founder and CEO of Cybereason, “we’re thrilled with our incredible growth, but we are never satisfied because hackers still have a big advantage over the vast majority of corporations. This new funding allows us to increase our growth through new distribution channels and to develop new technologies.” He added that the startup’s partnership with SoftBank will also enable Cybereason to further expand its presence in the cybersecurity market.

Says Ken Miyauchi, President and CEO of SoftBank: “We strongly believe Cybereason will be one of the global leaders in cybersecurity.”

SEE ALSO: How Israeli Cyber-Security Startups Are Battling The World’s Riskiest Online Hacks

Cybereason’s automated SaaS technology and monitoring services have protected hundreds of companies from highly advanced attacks including, most recently, the global WannaCry Ransomware attack. The Cybereason platform is powered by an automated hunting engine that detects behavioral patterns across every endpoint and surfaces malicious operations in a user-friendly interface.

“Software is the most powerful force in today’s connected world,” Div said in a statement. “People can use its power for good or evil, and the mission of Cybereason is to stop the adversary from gaining an unfair advantage by giving our customers the upper hand,” Div said in a statement.

Cybereason founders (from left to right): Yonatan Amit, Lior Div and Yossi Naar. Photo by by Ryuji Suzuki

Founded in 2012 by Div, Yossi Naar, and Yonatan Amit, Cybereason has so far raised a total of $189 million from investors, including Lockheed Martin, Spark Capital, CRV and SoftBank. It employs some 200 people in Tel Aviv, with additional 50 employees in Boston, London and Tokyo.

Photos and video: Ryuji Suzuki, David Whelan, Cybereason