Cybersecurity leaders from AlienVault, AT&T and Fortify reunite to take on cybersecurity's core challenge: human behavior

AUSTIN, Texas, April 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nudge Security announced today $7 million in seed funding led by Ballistic Ventures, reuniting a team that has transformed the cybersecurity industry for over three decades. The investment marks the first to be announced by Ballistic, the new VC firm solely dedicated to advising and funding early-stage cybersecurity startups.

Nudge Security co-founders Russell Spitler, CEO, and Jaime Blasco, CTO, are addressing the segment of cybersecurity that has perplexed the industry for decades: people. Spitler and Blasco believe that modern cybersecurity is a battle over human behavior – and defenders are losing ground.

"While the industry treats people as liabilities, adversaries have been wildly successful in exploiting human behavior to launch attacks," said Spitler. "Nudge Security will reclaim human behavior for the defenders."

Nudge Security's technology nudges employees towards secure decision-making anywhere they work without disrupting workflows. It also gives cybersecurity teams the insights they need to protect employees and the organization. 

"We are harnessing human intelligence at scale to help strengthen organizations' cybersecurity postures," said Blasco.

Leading the seed round is Ballistic Ventures, a VC firm dedicated to early-stage cybersecurity and cyber-related companies. Ballistic co-founders and general partners include Ted Schlein (Kleiner Perkins, Fortify), Barmak Meftah (AlienVault, AT&T Cybersecurity), Jake Seid (Lightspeed Venture Partners), Derek Smith (Oakley Networks, Shape Security) and Roger Thornton, (AlienVault, AT&T Cybersecurity, Fortify). Kevin Mandia (Mandiant) serves as strategic partner.

"Nudge Security has a unique approach that will transform the human element of cybersecurity," said Roger Thornton of Ballistic. "Nudge Security defines an entirely new category of cybersecurity, one that has gone ignored for far too long."

Also joining Nudge Security as advisors are Kunal Anand (Imperva, Prevoty) and Nicole Perlroth, the cybersecurity journalist, author, and advisor to CISA.

"I'm thrilled to work with Nudge Security to help address the undeniable role human behavior plays in our digital vulnerability," said Perlroth. "Russell and Jaime are taking on the biggest challenge to true cybersecurity—us—and I'm eager to apply my unique set of experiences to help Nudge Security address this problem once and for all."

Nudge Security founders and Ballistic partners have previously:

• Established the $12.9 billion application security market, founding Fortify Software in 2003. Spitler led products through acquisition by Hewlett Packard.
  
  
• Unlocked mass market adoption of threat detection at AlienVault, helping drive 10-fold expansion of the SIEM market. As Chief Scientist, Blasco led the company's threat intelligence and research teams.
  
  
• Democratized threat intelligence with the AT&T Alien Labs Open Threat Exchange – the world's largest crowd-sourced threat intelligence community of over 180,000 cybersecurity professionals.

With investment from Ballistic, Nudge Security is expanding its team and engaging early access development partners. For more, visit www.nudgesecurity.com.

About Nudge Security

Nudge Security is a cybersecurity startup securing modern organizations through the power of the modern workforce. Learn more at www.nudgesecurity.com and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Ballistic Ventures

Ballistic Ventures is solely dedicated to early-stage cybersecurity and cyber-related companies. Our partners have spent their entire careers defending against every cyber threat conceivable. Combined, we have founded, operated, or funded over 90 successful cybersecurity firms, led over ten thousand security professionals globally and have 40+ years of experience in venture capital. Our experience provides entrepreneurs impactful support from people focused on the same mission. Our networks and relationships open doors for our founders.

Learn more at ballisticventures.com.

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SOURCE Nudge Security