Israel is a crucible for cloud security startups aiming to solve enterprise security issues for open source, serverless, container and virtual computing technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a blow to the global economy. But it has accelerated a years-long migration of organizations to the cloud to enhance their computing capacity. In turn, that ratcheted up demand for new cloud security technologies.

Evidence for that thirst can be found in Israel, where many cloud security start-ups have sprouted because of the country’s expertise in encryption and information security. In 2020, start-ups raised some $1.3 billion amid the pandemic crisis, several times more than 2019, according to StartUp Nation Central, which tracks venture funding in Israeli start-ups.

“2020 has accelerated platforms that enable people to work remotely,” said Chaim Meir, who heads the investment team at the Israeli venture investor OurCrowd.

The shift to cloud computing, virtual machines, and automated development has opened up a myriad of new security challenges that legacy firewall software can’t handle. The changed architecture has created a demand for new solutions that has driven the germination of a crop of cloud security start-ups in recent years.

Israeli cloud security start-ups have been bolstered by the country’s deep information security know how and an embrace of digital transformation and cloud migration.

Some examples of Israeli Clod Security companies:

  1. WIZ –

The start-up seeks to streamline decisions on cloud security by scanning an enterprise’s cloud environment for vulnerabilities, configuration, network and identity issues. Wiz allows users to assess vulnerabilities and misconfigurations based on severity, exposure, exploitability, and impact on business. https://www.wiz.io/

 

  1. Salt Security –

The start-up helps secure APIs. Salt uses machine learning technologies to analyse how APIs operate under normal conditions and detect abnormal activity that might be an attack.

https://salt.security/

 

  1. WhiteSource –

Open-source development platforms have become a cornerstone for building the tools used for cloud computing services, but the decentralized nature of these platforms makes them extremely vulnerable to security breaches. WhiteSource makes software that helps enterprises identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in code developed on open source projects. Among other features, WhiteSource offers trace analysis designed to pinpoint vulnerabilities in code, highlighting how vulnerable code is being used in applications. https://www.whitesourcesoftware.com/

 

  1. Orca Security

Allow companies to “see” inside of virtual computing systems sitting on public cloud platforms by using a scanning technique that analyses configuration and infrastructure data and reads virtual machine disks. Orca then identifies vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems. The Orca software also monitors applications developed on in-house legacy systems that were migrated to the cloud. https://orca.security/

 

  1. Cato Networks

Cato attempts to simplify and reduce the costs of cybersecurity for organizations whose activity has moved beyond on-site data centres to public clouds and mobile workforces. Cato provides a cloud-based network for enterprises designed to securely connect all of its locations, people and data. The company offers an alternative to the broadband networks for enterprises provided by telecom equipment providers like AT&T. https://www.catonetworks.com/

 

  1. Guardicore

The company enables enterprises to segment and secure large volumes of traffic across networks that span both public clouds, like AWS and Azure, and on-premise data centres. Guardicore helps organizations to restrict access between devices in corporate networks by defining and enforcing detailed security policies, reducing the risk of a breach.https://www.guardicore.com/

 

  1. Aqua Security –

Aqua software makes a platform that scans containers – code packaged as an entire runtime environment — for malware and insecurities. The platform is embedded into the container development process, enforcing security policies while they are being created. It also monitors applications that use cloud-based servers (serverless), and applications that sit in the cloud.

https://www.aquasec.com/

 

For further information on Cloud Security solutions from Israel, contact the Economic and Trade Department at the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai.

Siddhant Gupte; Trade Officer, Mumbai

Email: siddhant.gupte@israeltrade.gov.il