Menlo Security raises $75M to expand global sales team

Menlo Security, a leader in cloud security, announced $75 million in Series D funding, led by clients advised by JP Morgan Asset Management.

Existing investors also participated in the round, including General Catalyst, Sutter Hill Ventures, Osage University Partners, American Express Ventures, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase and Engineering Capital. In addition, Jonathan Ross, portfolio manager and managing director at JP Morgan Asset Management, will join the company’s board.

“Menlo Security’s innovative security solution protects against threats and attacks that bypass many advanced security products used by companies today,” said Jonathan Ross, portfolio manager and managing director at JP Morgan Asset Management.

“Menlo Security’s solution delivers a Zero-Trust Internet by keeping all email and web content off of end user computers and devices, thereby seeking to eliminate malware attacks from these prominent threat vectors.”

Zero-Trust Internet is a default deny approach that is fundamentally different from the way cybersecurity products work. Today’s products categorize Internet content and websites as being malicious or safe, and this approach is known to fail.

Internet Isolation enables a Zero-Trust Internet and takes the guesswork out of security by assuming all Internet content and websites are malicious.

Menlo Security’s Internet Isolation technology separates an enterprise network from the public web, while still allowing employees to access the Internet seamlessly. The solution removes the viewing of email attachments and web browsing from the desktop and moves it to the cloud.

By isolating Internet content in the cloud with a Zero-Trust approach, users are protected from malware, ransomware and phishing attacks that bypass legacy defenses, thereby eliminating the most prolific sources of breaches.

“Menlo Security’s global cloud is protecting millions of end users, isolating over 500 million websites per day,” said Amir Ben-Efraim, CEO of Menlo Security.

“While our customers have deployed the most advanced security products, we see a constant stream of phishing and malware attacks evading their defenses. Menlo Security stops these attacks, validating Internet Isolation as being essential to modern security architectures.”

Internet Isolation eliminates threats from email and web attacks. For example, over a recent six-month period, Menlo Security Internet Isolation protected a Global 2000 enterprise against thousands of phishing and malware attacks that were not detected by the company’s other security defenses. Specifically, the customer had experienced these attacks:

• 1,089 emailed phishing links evaded other security defenses and were delivered and clicked by employees
• 8,541 known malicious websites were not blocked by other security defenses and were visited by employees

Although these attacks successfully bypassed the customer’s other defenses, Menlo Security’s Isolation Secure Web Gateway prevented malware installation, theft of end-user credentials and the exfiltration of corporate data.

The growth in cybersecurity budgets far outpaces overall IT budgets1, and according to a 2019 BCG report2, some leading banks and technology companies have annual cybersecurity budgets that exceed half-a-billion dollars. Despite the billions being spent, in 2018 Verizon reported 41,686 security incidents and 2,013 confirmed breaches.

A large percent of those data breaches involved phishing and were malware-enabled. Adding to the problem, C-suite executives were 12 times more likely to be the victim of an email attack (Verizon 2019 DBIR).

“Menlo Security has established themselves as a leading player in the threat Isolation space with a robust solution and a differentiated approach that is unique in the industry,” said Dana Eli-Lorch, Managing Director at American Express Ventures.

“We are delighted to continue and support Menlo Security as they grow, helping corporations eradicate malware and enhance their cybersecurity.”

Menlo Security’s customers include some of the largest enterprises and government agencies. The company currently isolates more than 500 million websites per day.

Among the company’s customers are seven of the 10 largest banks, four of the five largest credit-card issuers and some of the largest energy and transportation companies in the world. The US Department of Defense’s IT combat support agency, known as the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is also a customer.

The Series D funding will be used to expand Menlo Security’s global sales team to meet the growing industry demand for Internet Isolation.