Synack

Synack is an American technology company based in Redwood City, California.[1][2][3] The company combines AI and machine learning enabled security software with a crowdsourced network of white-hat hackers to help keep its customers secure.[4] The software provides security testing through a SaaS platform to find exploitable vulnerabilities for reconnaissance.[5] The company offers its services to government agencies and businesses in retail, healthcare and manufacturing industry.[6][7]

For SYN-ACK, see Transmission Control Protocol.
Synack, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustrySecurity
Founded2013 in California
FoundersJay Kaplan, Mark Kuhr
Headquarters
Redwood City, California
,
United States
Key people
Jay Kaplan (CEO)
ProductsSecurity assessment
Number of employees
250 (2020)
Websitesynack.com

According to Bloomberg, Synack is "the most trusted crowdsourced penetration testing platform."[8] It is valued at US $500M as of May 2020, as per Fortune Magazine.[9]

Overview

Synack was founded in 2013 by former NSA agents Jay Kaplan and Mark Kuhr. Synack uses a network of freelance security analysts, or hackers, in over 80 countries to check vulnerability and security problems.[2][3][4][10][11]

In 2018, Synack worked with US Department of Defense to strengthen the Hack the Pentagon initiative, by vetting ethical hackers for continual assessment of defense websites, hardware and physical systems.[12] In June 2020, the company partnered with DARPA to check for data leakage and buffer errors in their new security prototype developed through the System Security Integration Through Hardware (SSITH) program.[13][14] In July 2020, the Colorado secretary of state’s office partnered with Synack to conduct penetration tests of its election systems ahead of the presidential vote.[15]

Funding

Synack is funded by 16 investors. In April 2014, the company announced it had secured Series A funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Google Ventures, Allegis Capital, and Derek Smith of Shape Security.[1][3][16] In February 2015, the company raised $25 million in Series B funding.[1][17]

In April 2017, it raised $21 million from Microsoft Ventures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Singtel and prior investors,[4][11][18] while in May 2020, it raised $52 million from C5 Capital and B Capital Group, bringing their total funding to $112.5M since its founding.[19]

Achievements

By April 11, 2017, Synack had 100 employees as well as a growing network of freelance hackers.[2][4]

CNBC named Synack a "CNBC Disruptor" company four times in a row, from 2015 to 2019.[20][21][22] In 2019, the company was again named among CNBC Disruptor 50 for Innovative Crowdsourced Security Platform.[8]

In 2020, the company was featured in America's Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies list by Forbes magazine and was also named in Gartner’s Top 25 Enterprise Software Startups.[23][24]

See also

References
  1. Vinton, Kate (February 19, 2015). "Synack Raises $25 Million In Series B Funding To Crowdsource Security Globally". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. Kirk, Jeremy (October 21, 2015). "Synack builds intel platform for its penetration testers". PCWorld. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  3. Lev-Ram, Michal (April 24, 2014). "For crowdsourced security startup, a carrot and a hack". Fortune. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  4. Miller, Ron (April 11, 2017). "Security startup Synack scores $21M investment from Microsoft, HPE and Singtel". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  5. Kuchler, Hannah (April 11, 2017). "Hacker-for-hire company Synack raises $21m". Financial Times. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  6. Staff (15 May 2019). "Synack 2019 Disruptor 50". CNBC.
  7. "Synack's $52 Million Investment Fuels Future of Remote Security Testing from World's Elite Hackers". Businesswire. 28 May 2020.
  8. "Synack Named to the 2019 CNBC Disruptor 50 for Innovative Crowdsourced Security Platform". Bloomberg.com. 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  9. Hackett, Robert (May 28, 2020). "Bug bounty startup Synack valued at $500 million to boost 'white hat' hacking from home". Fortune.
  10. Yadron, Danny (2015-02-19). "Startup Takes Aim at Computer-Security Holes". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  11. Larson, Selena. "Why the Pentagon wants people to hack it". CNNMoney. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  12. Cordell, Carten (October 24, 2018). "DOD expands Hack the Pentagon program to cover hardware, systems". www.fedscoop.com.
  13. Staff (June 8, 2020). "DARPA Announces First Bug Bounty Program to Hack SSITH Hardware Defenses". www.darpa.mil.
  14. Hatmaker, Taylor (June 6, 2018). "Synack is the latest cybersecurity company to offer state elections its services for free". TechCrunch.
  15. Freed, Benjamin (28 July 2020). "Colorado official details plans for penetration testing of election systems". StateScoop.
  16. "Security testing platform Synack raises $7.5M". VatorNews. 2014-04-24. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  17. "Why the hackers at Synack need $25M to hunt down major security flaws | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  18. Liam Tung. "Ex-NSA bug bounty startup Synack lands $21m, eyes Australia for growth". CSO Australia. IDG Australia. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  19. "Series D - Synack - Funding Round Profile". Crunchbase.
  20. "Meet the 2015 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies". CNBC. May 12, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  21. "Meet the 2016 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies". CNBC. May 7, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  22. "Meet the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies". CNBC. May 16, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  23. Ohnsman, Alan (July 3, 2020). "AI 50: America's Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies". Forbes magazine.
  24. Columbus, Louis (July 5, 2020). "Gartner's Top 25 Enterprise Software Startups To Watch In 2020". Forbes magazine.
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