Menlo Security
What they do: Provide cloud-based security.
Problem they solve: Corporate networks and enterprise security policies rely heavily on threat detection tools to alert administrators to attacks, but the continuing onslaught of successful attacks makes it clear that it isn’t possible to reliably distinguish good or safe content from malware.
Conventional threat prevention products attempt to distinguish between “good” and “bad” content, and then implement policies intended to allow the good content through, while blocking the bad stuff. This approach always lags behind threats, though, since attackers are always searching for new ways to avoid detection.
How they solve it: Rather than trying to sort good content from bad, Menlo’s security platform executes all risky content on an “isolation platform in the cloud, instead of on the user device.”
The Menlo Security Isolation Platform (MSIP) specifically focuses on the threat of malware from the Web and email, the two most prevalent threat vectors.
Big50 two-time winner, Menlo Security, uncovers massive spear phishing attack, expands global footprint. http://wp.me/p330ZZ-iK Click To TweetThe MSIP is deployed between a user’s device (e.g. desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) and the Internet. User Web requests are proxied via the MSIP, which accesses the Web on the user’s behalf and executes the user’s session. Only safe, malware-free rendering information is sent to the user’s endpoint.
The Platform, which provides isolation for both clear-text (HTTP) and SSL-encrypted (HTTPS) Web content, is available as a public cloud service and can also be delivered as a virtual appliance for deployment in an organization’s data center.
In late 2016, Menlo Security launched a new phishing prevention solution, expanding the MSIP to stop email threats, including malicious links, credential theft, and weaponized attachments.
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
CEO: Amir BenEfraim, who previously served as VP of cloud security at Juniper Networks.
Year Founded: 2013
Funding: $45.5 million to date. Their most recent round was a $20M Series B that closed in June 2015. Investors include General Catalyst, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Osage University Partners.
Competitors include: Bromium, Spikes Security, and Invincea, as well as a slew of other endpoint and email protection vendors.
Customers Include: First Community Bank, Tribune Media, and JPMorgan Chase.
Why they’re in the Big 50-2017: Menlo Security is a two-time winner! Last year, Menlo did well in Big 50 online voting for the security and storage group.
This year, they rolled out their new phishing prevention solution, and they landed a big-name customer in JPMorgan Chase. In February, Menlo announced that it had “uncovered a sophisticated spear phishing attack at a well-known enterprise that went undetected by existing security solutions. ” The startup followed up this news by inking distribution deals in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
