Seems it takes a massive cyber attack to get the average person's attention, BUT its a HUGE problem and now it has moved to "front burner" on the investment stove. So, striking while its hot, CrowdStrike has just raised another $100M bringing total fund raising to $250M and a valuation of $1 billion. Nice, since there is a lot of work to be had and employees to pay. Congratulations.
(Bill Taylor/CEO)
"Cybersecurity has been in the news seemingly nonstop, including the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the ransomware attack this weekend that took aim at computer systems worldwide.
In other words, it’s not a bad time for a security specialist to be raising money.
CrowdStrike, the provider of digital security that aided the D.N.C. in its response to what is believed to be interference by Russia, announced on Wednesday that it had raised $100 million in capital.
The new money values the company at close to $1 billion, not including the investment itself, and brings its total fund-raising to $256 million.
It is the latest indication that investors remain intensely interested in online security. Last year, there were more than 400 investments in the sector, up about 6 percent from 2015, totaling nearly $3.5 billion, according to data from CB Insights. Four start-ups in the field raised at least $100 million each in new rounds.
But businesses faced an increasing number of threats. The ransomware attack, in which data was held hostage by malicious software, has highlighted the changing and growing nature of digital crime. (Even big organizations like the Walt Disney Company are not immune; its chief executive reportedly said on Monday that hackers had threatened to release a coming movie online unless they received a ransom.)
That has meant more work for CrowdStrike. The company, founded by two former executives of the computer security provider McAfee, has argued that relying on systems that run on cloud computing rather than those installed on customers’ devices means smarter defenses and faster responses..."
Source: NYTimes