Brain On Security #1 April 2023 Edition

Dear Subscriber,

Welcome to the Brain On Security #1 April 2023 edition.

Our mission is to keep you informed and up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of cybersecurity and provide you with valuable insights, tips, and best practices to help you protect your organizations.

In this month's edition, we will cover the following topics:

📚 Collective Wisdom
🤯 Cyber (Mis)adventures.
🌱 Cyber, Seeded.

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Now onto the important stuff!

Here’s how Brain on Security will keep you in the know about the cybersecurity market

This newsletter is the culmination of 3 projects:

1. 📚 Collective Wisdom. Collective Wisdom is a monthly newsletter where I collect/distill the best books I read into simple summaries for myself and others. Read more about this project here.
2. 🤯 Cyber, (Mis)adventures. Read more about this project here.
3. 🌱 Cyber, Seeded. Read more about this project here.

Project 1: 📚 Collective Wisdom

Read more about this project here.

After a very long time, I have come to see some updates from the Cybersecurity Canon Project.

I was so excited when I saw the following announcements on the CyberSecurity Canon Twitter account.

🎉 Winner 1: The Hacker State and The State by Ben Buchanan

🎉 Winner 2: This Is How They Tell Me the World's End by Nicole Perloth

🎉 Winner 3: Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock & Dan Gardner

Project 2: 🤯 Cyber, (Mis)adventures.

Read more about this project here.

If there is one thing you need to remember about April 2023, then it's

3CX Double Supply Chain Compromise

It's important because this double supply chain is the first ever to be seen.

The double supply chain compromise led to malware being pushed out to some 3CX customers.

• The telephony company 3CX was recently compromised by North Korean state-sponsored hackers after a 3CX employee downloaded infected software from the website of Trading Technologies, a trading software company.
• Trading Technologies was previously compromised by the same group, which embedded malware in one of its programs before posting it to its website, where it remained for nearly a year.
• The daisy-chain nature of the breach makes it possible for attackers to conduct threaded supply-chain hacks that lead to a compromise of another software maker and their customers. Although Trading Technologies had discontinued the product in April 2020, the X_Trader software remained available for download when the 3CX employee downloaded and installed it on his personal computer, leading to the breach.
  
  Read this great article written by Zero Day Newsletter by Kim Zetter

Project 3: 🌱 Cyber, Seeded.

Read more about this project here.

Summary

1. 12 Acquisitions in April 2023
2. 50 Companies raised funds in April 2023

🏦 Acquisitions (in April 2023)

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

1. Utimaco acquired conpal GmbH for an undisclosed amount conpal, a Germany-based professional services firm focused on cybersecurity, was acquired by Utimaco for an undisclosed amount. (more)
2. Iliad acquired ITrust for an undisclosed amount ITrust, a France-based managed security services provider (MSSP), was acquired by Iliad for an undisclosed amount. (more)
3. Cradlepoint acquired Ericom Software for an undisclosed amount Ericom Software, a United States-based secure access service edge (SASE) platform, was acquired by Cradlepoint for an undisclosed amount. (more)
4. Trace3 acquired Set Solutions for an undisclosed amount Set Solutions, a United States-based professional services company focused on cybersecurity consulting, was acquired by Trace3 for an undisclosed amount. (more)

April 5, 2023

1. CWL Systems, a United Kingdom-based managed security services provider (MSSP), was acquired by Atech Cloud for an undisclosed amount. (more)

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

1. Columbus A/S a Denmark-based professional services firm focused on identity and access management (IAM) services was acquired ICY Security for an undisclosed amount ICY Security.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

1. Cinven acquired Archer for an undisclosed amount

Friday, April 14, 2023

1. ZeroFox acquired LookingGlass Cyber Solutions for $26,000,000

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

1. NightDragon acquired vArmour for an undisclosed amount
2. Parkstone Growth Partners acquired SECUDE International for an undisclosed amount

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

1. Akamai Technologies acquired Neosec for an undisclosed amount

Thursday, April 27, 2023

1. Cinven acquired Amara NZero for an undisclosed amount

💸 Investments (in April 2023)

Monday, April 3, 2023

1. Cybereason raised $100,000,000 / Series G from SoftBank
2. Fourthline raised €50,000,000 / Series B from Finch Capital
3. Quantexa raised $129,000,000 / Series E from ABN AMRO Ventures and 8 other investors

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

1. Trustle raised $6,000,000 / Seed from Capital Technology Ventures and 3 other investors
2. Strivacity raised $20,000,000 / Series A from Jack Huffard and 3 other investors
3. Cyber ​​Insight raised an undisclosed amount / Seed from TGFS - Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

1. Qihoo 360 Technology raised CN¥9,000,000,000 / Post Ipo Secondary from Hu Huan
2. EdgeBit raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator
3. Blyss raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator
4. DefensX raised an undisclosed amount / Series Unknown from Revo Capital
5. Infisical raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator
6. 0pass raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator
7. Cranium raised $7,000,000 / Seed from KPMG and SYN Ventures
8. Escape raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator
9. rift raised $500,000 / Pre Seed from Y Combinator

Thursday, April 6, 2023

1. Cybeats Technologies raised $8,000,000 / Post Ipo Equity

Friday, April 7, 2023

1. Patientory raised $1,500,000 / Series Unknown from American Heart Association and 8 other investors
2. Drip7 raised an undisclosed amount / Seed from Beta Boom
3. VU raised $4,200,000 / Series Unknown

Monday, April 10, 2023

1. BlackfishID raised an undisclosed amount / Pre Seed
2. Fire raised $3,500,000 / Series Unknown from Atomic
3. ForceField IO raised $200,000 / Pre Seed from Lightspeed Venture Partners

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

1. Fivecast raised A$30,000,000 / Series A from CSIRO and 3 other investors
2. ID.me raised $132,000,000 / Series D from Auctus Alternative and 7 other investors
3. CAT Labs raised $4,300,000 / Pre Seed from BH Digital and 8 other investors

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

1. StrikeOne raised an undisclosed amount / Seed
2. Inside-Out Defense raised an undisclosed amount / Seed from Bain & Company

Thursday, April 13, 2023

1. Qontrol raised €1,500,000 / Seed from AG2R La Mondiale and 3 other investors
2. Otterize raised $11,500,000 / Seed from Crew Capital and 4 other investors
3. CYFIRMA raised $6,000,000 / Series B from Larsen & Toubro and OurCrowd
4. Gretel raised €634,000 / Series Unknown from Didac Lee and 5 other investors
5. Qiara raised €14,000,000 / Series Unknown from Iliad and Xavier Niel

Monday, April 17, 2023

1. Wallet Guard raised an undisclosed amount / Pre Seed from Benedict Chan and 3 other investors
2. Oblivious raised €5,350,000 / Seed from Act Venture Capital and 5 other investors
3. Veridas raised €15,000,000 / Series A
4. Mobb raised $5,400,000 / Seed from Ariel Maislos and 2 other investors
5. ARC Systems raised an undisclosed amount / Private Equity from Beech Tree Private Equity

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

1. Avalor raised $25,000,000 / Series A from Salesforce Ventures and TCV
2. r2c raised $53,000,000 / Series C from Felicis and 3 other investors
3. SpecterOps raised $25,000,000 / Series A from Decibel Partners and 3 other investors
4. Safe Security raised $50,000,000 / Series B from Eight Roads Ventures and 4 other investors

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

1. Dasera raised $12,000,000 / Series A from Sierra Ventures and 2 other investors
2. Cequence Security raised an undisclosed amount / Series Unknown from Hewlett Packard Pathfinder and Prosperity7 Ventures
3. Coro raised $75,000,000 / Series C from Balderton Capital and 2 other investors

Thursday, April 20, 2023

1. Halcyon raised $44,000,000 / Series A from Corner Ventures and 4 other investors
2. FiVerity raised $4,000,000 / Seed from Fin Capital and 4 other investors
3. Halcyon raised $6,000,000 / Debt Financing

Friday, April 21, 2023

1. Playbux raised $2,000,000 / Seed from Ankr and 8 other investors

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

1. AaDya Security raised $5,000,000 / Series A from 645 Ventures and 4 other investors

Thursday, April 27, 2023

1. Coro raised NGN45,000,000 / Grant from Moniepoint
2. AaDya Security: FinTech Global — US-based CyberTech platform AaDya Security secures $5m

I hope you found this month's edition of our newsletter informative and valuable.

If you have any feedback, suggestions, or topics that you would like us to cover in our future newsletters, please don't hesitate to reach out to me using the contact page.

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Thank you for your continued support, and stay safe!

Amor Fati
Ishan Girdhar