Breach Security raises round for web app firewall appliances
Breach Security has raised $6 million in a second round of funding to expand its business of making web application firewalls that stop hackers.
The Carlsbad, Calif.-based company creates a security appliance, dubbed WebDefend, that can check incoming traffic for malicious software at a high speed without slowing down a web site, said Mike Pierce, chief executive of the company. The company licenses the appliance for a $75,000 one-time fee. WebDefend protects more than 15,000 commercial sites such as Overstock.com, Audiotel, and Sovereign Bank. Sites like these can’t be slow, but the risk of a security appliance is that it could slow down the site for Internet visitors as the appliance scans for possible attacks.
The investment shows that the security sector is hot enough to see frequent new fundings. Identity theft and regulations requiring companies to protect consumer data are driving corporations to improve security.
As identity theft or embarrassing web hacks grow, everything in the security technology chain is getting a makeover. IBM bought Watchfire for an undisclosed sum last year to improve security for applications. Chip makers such as Pixim, which are selling chips for security cameras being installed in places such as China, have raised money. Cisco has started a security camera business. Accertify received money from Intel Capital to protect merchants against credit card fraud. And Webalo is protecting company data from being stolen via mobile browsers on purloined cell phones.
“At the time we started, the bad guys weren’t as sophisticated and were preoccupied with defacing web pages,” Pierce said. “Now it has escalated to the point where they do it for profit. We have had to take our products to the next level.”
Enterprise Partners of San Diego, SRBA No. 5 of Los Angeles, and Evergreen Venture Partners of Israel participated in the round. To date, the company has raised $32.5 million since its founding in 2004. The company has 65 employees.
The company’s most direct competitor is Imperva, which raised a $20 million fourth round in April. Others include Citrix Systems and F5, both of which provide load-balancing servers but also have features such as a web application firewall.
Breach Security is trying to stand out because it inspects Internet packets more deeply than other products do without slowing down a site. It does so in real-time, protecting against attacks where speed is of the essence. Pierce said the company can install the appliances within a day.
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About the Author, Dean Takahashi
Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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