AirEye Cybersecurity Startup Offers Network Airspace Protection (NAP)

AirEye Cybersecurity Startup Offers Network Airspace Protection (NAP)

Hackers get better so you need to get better too.

The AirEye Team (Photo AirEye)

Israeli cybersecurity startup AirEye Network Airspace Protection (NAP) offers what it says is the only solution that provides full protection against any form of airborne attacks launched against the organizational network. The company just raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). Steve Krausz, General Partner at USVP, joined the company’s Board of Directors. Canaan Partners also participated in the round.

Everybody uses Wi-Fi today. Wireless is the way to go. Whether in a coffee shop, in an office, or in the privacy of your own home, e all use wireless connections. Every time that we use an app on our cell phones, we are using a wireless connection provided through the cell phone company’s connection.

So protecting our communications and data when using a wireless connection is more important than ever. For example, you have probably heard countless news reports about the dangers involved in using a public Wi-Fi connection. There are hackers out there who can hack into poorly protected Wi-Fi hubs and steal any important information like passwords and credit card numbers from people using the service.

You even need to be careful in your own home. Even if you have a short range Wi-Fi setup that does not go beyond your home, there are special devices which can pick up Wi-Fi signals from far away. So this is why the services offered by AirEye is so important.

AirEye explains that digital airborne attacks leverage wireless communications (including Wifi, cellular, 5G, and Bluetooth) in the corporate airspace in order to gain unauthorized network access, hijack the network or leak data through Antenna for HireTM. Its platform monitors all wireless communications in real-time, detect violations of corporate security policies and blocks attacks automatically. The AirEye solution is a SaaS platform that seamlessly complements existing corporate network security infrastructure, without the need for architectural changes or messy integrations.

The platform is deployed in various industries, including finance, banking, telecom, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and aerospace. The company was founded by veterans of the security and wireless industries, Shlomo Touboul, Ohad Plotnik, Amichai Shulman and Roi Keren, who combined their knowledge to combat these new attack vectors.

“AirEye addresses the largest unprotected and hence vulnerable network environment – the digital corporate airspace,” said Shlomo Touboul, CEO and co-founder of AirEye. “The company has been doing extensive research into the vulnerabilities and attacks and has coined the term of Antenna for HireTM to describe devices that attackers can remotely take over to compromise the corporate network. The vulnerable wireless devices operate as Antenna for HireTM outside the network which therefore cannot be adequately protected by today’s IoT security solutions. Attackers exploit the Antenna for HireTM to gain unauthorized corporate network access, hijack a corporate device or cause data leakage.” Recent AirEye research discovered that on average 40,000 potential Antennas for HireTM are in proximity of a typical organization.

The company already has installations amongst enterprise customers in Israel, Europe, and Japan. “As one of the largest medical facilities in the Middle East, the corporate network airspace is a big concern for us,” said Zafrir Argov, CIO at Hadassah University Medical Center.

“We have thousands of corporate and medical devices that operate wirelessly. On top of that, we have hundreds of thousands of visitors roaming our campuses. Ensuring that our devices do not mistakenly connect to open public networks or malicious wireless networks is a must. AirEye enables us to enforce our security wireless policy. The platform provides us the necessary security and compliance-mandated visibility. Furthermore, I feel safe knowing that the platform detects and prevents airborne network attacks in real-time. The implementation of the first stage,” Zafrir added, “was an easy and quick process – we didn’t even require any additional IT or cybersecurity resources. This was critical, especially in times like the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Read more about: AirEye, CyberSecurity