AirEye Raises $8M Series A to Extend Network Security into the Unprotected Digital Airspace

TEL-AVIV, Israel, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AirEye, the Network Airspace Protection (NAP) leader, announced today that it raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). Steve Krausz, General Partner at USVP, joined the company's Board of Directors. Canaan Partners also participated in the round.

"AirEye addresses the largest unprotected and hence vulnerable network environment - the digital corporate airspace," said Shlomo Touboul, CEO and co-founder of AirEye. "The company has been doing extensive research into the vulnerabilities and attacks and has coined the term of Antenna for Hire^TM to describe devices that attackers can remotely take over to compromise the corporate network. The vulnerable wireless devices operate as Antenna for Hire^TM outside the network which therefore cannot be adequately protected by today's IoT security solutions. Attackers exploit the Antenna for Hire^TM to gain unauthorized corporate network access, hijack a corporate device or cause data leakage." Recent AirEye research discovered that on average 40,000 potential Antennas for Hire^TM are in proximity of a typical organization.

A 2019 survey revealed that 72% of business data breaches came via unsecured wireless devices. Modern malware such as Emotet already incorporates wireless capabilities to propagate across disparate networks. These digital airborne attacks bypass all network security solutions such as network firewalls, NAC or DLP solutions. The rise of such attacks is a consequence of the prevalence of wireless devices in the corporate airspace perimeter.

"Undoubtedly, the world is increasingly adopting wireless devices. Solving the rapidly growing airspace attack vulnerability is an extremely complex problem. It requires both cybersecurity and RF transmission expertise. These technical disciplines are rarely found in a single team. At AirEye, co-founders with decades of cybersecurity expertise joined forces with experienced wireless experts to build a unique company for one of today's rapidly growing security threat. USVP is excited to join the AirEye team as it pioneers the first comprehensive solution for Network Airspace Protection," said Steve Krausz, Partner at USVP.

The company already has installations amongst enterprise customers in Israel, Europe, and Japan. "As one of the largest medical facilities in the Middle East, the corporate network airspace is a big concern for us," said Zafrir Argov, CIO at Hadassah University Medical Center. "We have thousands of corporate and medical devices that operate wirelessly. On top of that, we have hundreds of thousands of visitors roaming our campuses. Ensuring that our devices do not mistakenly connect to open public networks or malicious wireless networks is a must. AirEye enables us to enforce our security wireless policy. The platform provides us the necessary security and compliance-mandated visibility. Furthermore, I feel safe knowing that the platform detects and prevents airborne network attacks in real-time. The implementation of the first stage," Zafrir added, "was an easy and quick process - we didn't even require any additional IT or cybersecurity resources. This was critical, especially in times like the COVID-19 pandemic."

Drawing the analogy to the eve of WWI, the Allies had not imagined the sky above them as a theater of war. Yet ever since then, the skies have dominated the modern battlefield. The same is true for cybersecurity with the explosion of uncontrolled wireless devices inside the airspace perimeter opening a new target-rich environment for attackers. Similarly, before AirEye, the corporate security teams were unprepared to repel attackers from the sky. "AirEye is the first and only comprehensive solution to this novel attack vector. Companies must prepare for the unknown and unexpected and that now includes digital airborne attacks. Security teams often get defeated when they suffer from a failure of imagination," remarked Jacques Benkoski, Partner at USVP.

With this investment, AirEye will increase its headcount across its R&D center, based in Tel-Aviv, launch its US operations and develop new marketing and sales initiatives to accelerate global growth.

About AirEye

AirEye Network Airspace Protection (NAP) is the only solution that provides full protection against any form of airborne attacks launched against the organizational network. Digital airborne attacks leverage wireless communications (including Wifi, cellular, 5G, and Bluetooth) in the corporate airspace in order to gain unauthorized network access, hijack the network or leak data through Antenna for Hire^TM. The platform monitors all wireless communications in real-time, detect violations of corporate security policies and blocks attacks automatically. The AirEye solution is a SaaS platform that seamlessly complements existing corporate network security infrastructure, without the need for architectural changes or messy integrations. The platform is deployed in various industries, including finance, banking, telecom, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and aerospace. The company was founded by veterans of the security and wireless industries, Shlomo Touboul, Ohad Plotnik, Amichai Shulman and Roi Keren, who combined their knowledge to combat these new attack vectors.

For more information, visit https://www.aireye.tech/.

About U.S. Venture Partners

U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, partnering with entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into world-changing companies. USVP has invested in over 500 companies spanning four decades, including: Box, Check Point Software, Guidewire, HeartFlow, HotelTonight, Imperva, Inari Medical, Inspire Medical Systems, Intersect ENT, Luminate, Omada Health, ON24, Pluto TV, Prevoty, Sequent, Silverback Therapeutics, ThreatMetrix, Trunk Club, Trusteer, Vontu, Yammer and Zerto. USVP focuses on early-stage start-ups that transform cybersecurity, enterprise software, consumer and healthcare. The USVP team consists of former entrepreneurs, technologists, corporate executives, and financial professionals who assist with strategy, scaling, team building, product development, and business development. USVP is based in Menlo Park, California. More information at https://www.usvp.com/.

SOURCE AirEye

Related Links

https://www.aireye.tech/