Advanced Computing in the Age of AI | Friday, March 29, 2024

Datacenter Security Attracts More Investors 

(Source: Duncan Andison)

Efforts to lock down security in datacenters continue to expand as operators seek to assure enterprise customers they can meet increasingly strict regulatory and other data governance rules even as operations are scaled. That requirement is generating interest among investors as security threats grow.

Among the growing number of internal datacenter security specialists is Guardicore, which announced a $20 million funding round on Tuesday (July 19) it will use to expand development of its datacenter security platform. Cisco System's (NASDAQ: CSCO) investment arm joined the funding round along with existing investors, Battery Investors and 83North.

Guardicore, which operates out of Tel Aviv, Israel, and San Francisco, said it has so far raised $33 million for product research and development on its datacenter security platform. Guardicore and others are pitching real-time threat detection capabilities in the datacenter, including bots and so-called advanced persistent threats launched by sophisticated hackers.

The company claims it is gaining traction in enterprise cloud and hybrid cloud datacenters with high traffic rates as security specialists look to incorporate application-layer visibility, "granular micro-segmentation," real-time threat detection and automated response, according to Pavel Gurvich, CEO and co-founder of Guardicore.

Security specialists are increasingly promising to deliver real-time threat detection capabilities along with automated mitigation tools designed to reduce exposure to risk and the growing costs associated with data breaches. Guardicore's management team includes veterans of the Israel Defense Forces who formed the company several years ago to plug widening gaps in enterprise security.

The startup touts its datacenter security platform as providing greater visibility at the application level along with threat detection and response in datacenter environments ranging from bare metal and virtualized servers to software-defined networks and application containers. Along with integrating core security controls across a variety of infrastructure platforms, the startup said it would specifically focus the latest cash infusion on expanding its partner network in order to achieve higher levels of security certifications.

Along with new tools, security specialist also must provide certified compliance solutions that allow them to meet strict data requirements for securely handling and storing medical records or meeting security standards for payment cards.

Security startups are attracting more investment capital by offering tailored solutions for software-defined and virtualized datacenters. Guardicore's platform combines threat detection and greater visibility at the "process" and application levels along with semantics-based data analytics and automated response to pinpoint attacks.

The startup emphasizes its ability to detect a range of threats to datacenters ranging from insider attacks and advanced persistent threats to malware and worms. Rather than casting a wide net, the company said its security approach focuses primarily on "suspicious traffic" as a way of providing security without incurring a performance penalty. The company also said its approach can monitor all traffic inside a datacenter, including traffic within the same hypervisor.

About the author: George Leopold

George Leopold has written about science and technology for more than 30 years, focusing on electronics and aerospace technology. He previously served as executive editor of Electronic Engineering Times. Leopold is the author of "Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom" (Purdue University Press, 2016).

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