Redacted Raises $60M to Revolutionize Cybercrime Defense

A New Approach to Cybersecurity: Redacted Launches with $35 Million

The cybersecurity landscape is replete with technologies designed to combat network intrusions, application corruption, email hacking, and other malicious activities. However, a new company, Redacted, is emerging with a distinct strategy. They focus on leveraging threat intelligence and proactively pursuing cybercriminals to recover lost data and disrupt their operations.

Series B Funding and Company Background

Redacted has announced $35 million in Series B funding to facilitate business expansion. This round is spearheaded by Ten Eleven Ventures, with contributions from Valor Equity Partners and SVB Capital.

This investment brings the total funding raised by Redacted – formally styled “[redacted]” – to $60 million, building upon a prior $25 million funding round.

Leadership and Expertise

The company’s strong foundation stems from its leadership team. Max Kelly, formerly the Chief Security Officer at Facebook, and with prior experience at the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, leads Redacted.

He is joined by co-founder John Hering, the founder and former CEO of cybersecurity firm Lookout.

The team boasts over 300 years of collective experience in cyber defense, drawing from backgrounds at organizations like Facebook, Amazon, NASA JPL, Symantec, Cisco, FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, various branches of the U.S. military, and the U.K.’s GCHQ.

Collaboration and Core Philosophy

Redacted collaborates with other cybersecurity firms, including Cado, which provides cyber forensics tools. The company maintains a degree of discretion regarding its client base.

The company’s core approach is rooted in Max Kelly’s experiences at Facebook, where he developed both internal threat response systems and collaborated with external vendors to enhance security measures.

Shifting the Focus from Prevention to Damage Control

“The industry’s emphasis over the last decade has been on preventing breaches,” Kelly stated. “However, complete prevention is unrealistic. The true objective is to minimize the damage caused by a breach – ensuring data exfiltration is prevented and, if it occurs, data is recovered.”

The sheer scale of Facebook also presented unique challenges.

“Existing security tools were inadequate for our company’s size,” he explained. “We determined that identifying and stopping the perpetrators directly was the most effective solution.”

A Human-Centric Approach to Cybercrime

In an era where cybercrime increasingly leverages artificial intelligence and automation, Redacted’s approach appears remarkably human. Kelly suggests that identifying and confronting cybercriminals can often deter further activity.

The operation is also highly technical, utilizing both proprietary tools and technologies developed by others to identify patterns in criminal activity and trace perpetrators.

Accountability and Deterrence

“If perpetrators are within reach of law enforcement, that can be leveraged to halt their activities,” Kelly said. “Even without legal intervention, simply knowing they have been identified often prompts them to cease their operations.”

Redacted’s services are targeted towards small, medium, and larger enterprises that lack the resources to develop similar capabilities in-house.

The Origin of the Name "Redacted"

The company’s name originated as a placeholder during its stealth phase. It gained traction as external parties began referring to the company as “Redacted.”

Upon discovering the availability of the domain redacted.com, Max Kelly viewed it as a sign to adopt the name.

Investor Perspective

Alex Doll, founder and managing general partner at Ten Eleven Ventures, commented, “Redacted possesses the most advanced pursuit capabilities in the industry, empowering them to hold attackers accountable. Their cloud-native security platform also safeguards companies operating within modern cloud environments. These features combine to offer a comprehensive and proactive security solution.” Doll will be joining the company’s board of directors.

Note: A previous version of this article included a mention of a company that was not a customer and has been removed.