Return on Security

Save hours of market research with a weekly review of cybersecurity funding and industry news in 5 minutes, with blog posts too. Written by @mikepsecuritee

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

Wow, that new Google Maps update is 🔥🔥

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

📊 Just published my deep dive into the 2024 cybersecurity market

The numbers are wild:

- 892 deals
- $60B total value
- 96% growth in AI security funding
- 91% of M&A value in just 10 deals
- Plus tons more

A lot changed this year, and not in the ways most people think.

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

Me monitoring my $1000 angel investment the moment the wire clears (please make money this time 🥹)

[Merritt Group @MerrittGroup]

Want to explore #influencer marketing, but not sure where to start? You're in luck! MG partner @mschafer will join #cyber influencers @mikepsecuritee and @mattjay on a panel with @coderedcomms next Thursday to discuss trends and where to begin. Tune in! https://t.co/QWVmiWw6Yh

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

I accidentally discovered this when my security engineering team had to straddle multiple business units.

The result? We became the first team to reduce spending while increasing capabilities and coverage.

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

I wrote this piece last year and am still hard pressed to disagree with any of these observations

https://t.co/Y6WailzoEb

[Cyburger @Cyburgerim]

Unquestionably, the most thorough review of the RSA Innovation Sandbox finalists - covering funding, categories, countries, and more.

Amazing analysis by @mikepsecuritee & @ramimacisabird 👏

Read more👇

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

It’s the time of year again for the world-famous InfoSec Black Friday GitHub repo from @securitymeta_!

This has been a huge hit for over 6 years, and it has just about everything a cybersecurity person would want.

(Plus something from me as well 😎)
https://t.co/rochIGRaQs

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

no one will remember:
- how busy you were
- how big your salary was
- how many hours you worked

they will remember:
- how many security questionnaires you sent
- how many SOC 2 reports you looked at
- how many pen tests you skimmed

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

Very cool and thoughtful package from @beehiiv and handwritten note from @denk_tweets after hitting 10K subscribers for @ReturnOnSec!

The card even has a QR code on the back that links to my the sign up page!

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

💰 Security, Funded issue #156 from @ReturnOnSec is out, together with @material_sec !

Highlights include:
- 5 companies raised $290.6M
- 5 companies had an M&A event
- 100% of funding went to product companies
- @CyberArk, @Fortinet, @qualys, and @rapid7 earnings reports

[Matt Johansen @mattjay]

Can we interest you in a newsletter?

@DanielMiessler @mikepsecuritee @clintgibler

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

💰 Security, Funded issue #155 from @ReturnOnSec is out, together with @ThreatLocker

This week's data highlights include:
- 10 companies raised $166.1M across 8 unique product categories
- 4 companies were acquired or had a merger event
- 90% of funding went to product-based cybersecurity companies
- Varonis and Tenable had an earnings report

Notable deals:
- @ProtectAICorp hit us with a double whammy by raising $60M for securing AI/ML workloads and acquiring SydeLabs
- @CredoAI nabbed $21M for AI governance
- Clutch Security hopped out of stealth with $8.5M to secure non-human identities

Market trends:
- A quieter funding week than this time last year
- Q2 earnings season has begun for cyber companies
- Public markets are all hecked up while everyone waits to see if AI is real or not and what rates around the world are going to do

Catch the full issue here:
https://t.co/IxV0Qkx3cg

[Jon Sakoda @jonsakoda]

I am looking forward to kicking off Black Hat tomorrow with @mikepsecuritee (Return on Security), @rosshaleliuk (Venture in Security), and @KaitiDelaney (1011 Ventures) at the Innovators and Investors Summit

* Is the AI hype real?
* Is the cyber market overfunded or underfunded?
* What VC deals are getting done right now?

There is a lot of noise in our space - we hope to dispel some of the myths for founders who seek clarity

Thank you to our friends @jonoberheide, @csima, @michaelawsutton, @zanelackey and the Black Hat advisory board for organizing another great event this year 🚀

(h/t to @FanaHOVA for creating this AI + Cyber + Vegas image in Decibel colors!)

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

With great [AI] power comes great responsibility.

I'm thrilled to introduce the Shared Responsibility Model for AI Security—a framework designed to divide security responsibilities between AI service providers and businesses based on common deployment models.

This post covers:
* Different AI deployment models
* The need for a shared responsibility model in AI
* Building a robust AI security stack from application to infrastructure

This framework's goal is to give security teams a common language for discussing risks associated with various AI deployment models and foster informed risk discussions.

Check out the full post here on @ReturnOnSec:
https://t.co/nAHmWFjLOB

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

If your IT team dresses like this, you do not need to worry about the CrowdStrike outage

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

@ReturnOnSec @outpost24 Know your attack surface and effortlessly identify domains belonging to your organization.

See how AI Domain Discovery from @Outpost24 is improving the speed and accuracy of domain ownership and classification on @ReturnOnSec.

#EASM #AI #attacksurface
https://t.co/mRDTbehEa6

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

💰 Security, Funded issue #154 from @ReturnOnSec is out, together with @outpost24!

This week's data highlights include:
- 14 companies raised $507.0M across 12 unique product categories
- 2 companies were acquired or had a merger event
- 100% of funding went to product-based cybersecurity companies
- 1 public cyber company had an earnings report

Notable deals:
- @TrustVanta raised $150M for security and compliance automation
- @chainguard_dev secures $140M for securing software supply chains
- @CowbellCyber ensures they have $60M for more cyber insurance (see what I did there?)
- @Dazz_io locked in $50M for AppSec posture management

Market trends:
- A strong funding week for late-stage cyber companies
- Investors vote on the fundamentals still being the fundamentals with AppSec and IAM
- Everyone's head (and rumors) are spinning from the Wiz and Google separation

Great reads:
- @leifdreizler shares how to stay ready year-round for career advancement
- @chanjbs reminds us about our third-party risks in light of the CrowdStrike outage
- Chris Hughes discusses monocultures, systemic dependencies, and digital fragility.

Catch the full issue here:
https://t.co/8TW5opOzAz

[Mike Privette @mikepsecuritee]

💰 Security, Funded issue #153 from @ReturnOnSec is out, together with @nudge_security