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Cybercrime became easier in 2024 with the rise of info - stealer malware , or package that collects login credentials . Instead of break into mark internet using vulnerabilities , hacker can just lumber in with those steal credentials . They do n’t even have to steal them themselves , but can bribe them on the dark web .
IBM’s2024 X - Force Intelligence reportdescribes the “ proportional ease of acquiring credentials . ” On the heels ofthe Snowflake incident earlier this year , one of the most publicized and biggest info - steal events , the report noted a 266 % increase in info - thief function over 2023 .
Montreal - basedFlare , a terror photo direction inauguration , thinks it has an answer with its new Account and Session Takeover Prevention feature . This help follow for signs on the moody web that its customers ’ logins are being circulated and then automatically resets the impacted passwords before the thieves can gain access . It also observe for steal session cookie that can trick computers into thinking the hacker is a previously authenticated user .
“ All these organizations had their access to their Snowflake environments basically compromise . There was no breach of the Snowflake weapons platform , ” Flare CEO Norman Menz told TechCrunch . Hackers were “ using credentials from info - slip malware , ” he sum up , andTC also reported at the clock time .
Flare was founded in 2017 as a modernized cyber threat intelligence ( CTI ) program geared for little to mid - sized companies . Its claim to fame is that , in addition to monitoring the usual dark web sources , it has eyes on the terror role player using content app Telegram .
“ They ’re using it not just to exchange info , but they ’re using it for command and control architecture , ” Menz said , adding that Flare has the “ largest repository of Telegram coverage ” compared to many of its competition .
Telegram ’s founder , Pavel Durov , wasarrestedin recent August and later released on a € 5 million bond in France , chargedwith running a troupe complicit in distributing child intimate abuse textile and facilitating drug trafficking and organize fraud . After his extremely publicized arrest , downloads of the message app spiked .
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On the strength of this new anti - info - steal tech , its exploiter base and increment , Flare has shoot down a fresh $ 30 million Series B conduct by Base10 Partners Jason Kong , with participation from Inovia Capital , White Star Capital , and Fonds de solidarité FTQ .
While Menz would not reveal Flare ’s revenue or rating , he did say that the Series B was a 5.6 - time gain in valuation over its 2022 Series A. ( Pitchbook estimated the post - money rating after that $ 9.3 million Series A was $ 13.33 million . ) Menz also said the company has about 100 employees , and about 250 customers in over 40 country .
“ Built for the SMB and mid market , Flare wait outside of the perimeter into enemy territorial dominion where these unionise cyber criminals are talking , engaging , transact business organisation , ” Kong told TechCrunch . “ They ’re the undercover agent , if you will . ”
Flare ’s ability to raise was also helped when one of the biggest players in the threat intelligence world , Recorded Future , sold toMastercard for $ 2.65 billionin September . That proves that this sphere of cybersecurity can produce large exits . But Flare faces plenty of other competitors , too , from startups to braggart name like like Mandiant , Palo Alto Networks , and Microsoft .
