Artemis Raises $70 Million to Counter AI-Powered Cyberthreats With AI

Newly launched cybersecurity startup Artemis has reportedly raised $70 million in new funding.

That’s according to a Wednesday (April 15) report from Fortune, which described the company’s mission as using artificial intelligence (AI) to combat AI-powered cyberattacks.

According to the report, Artemis’ vision of fighting AI with AI involves constantly monitoring everything happening at a company, learning what “normal” looks like for the organization, and then identifying when something seems amiss.

Rather than issuing multiple alerts, it attempts to create a clear narrative of what’s happening and can automatically shut down an attack—by locking a hacked account, for example—before it can spread.

The six-month-old company was founded by CEO Shachar Hirshberg, a former AWS product leader, and technology chief Dan Shiebler, whose resume includes time as head of AI at Abnormal Security and a machine learning leader at Twitter.

“It was clear to us that the traditional architectures and products weren’t cut out to what companies need in the age of AI,” said Hirshberg, who pointed to a March report from CrowdStrike saying that time to attack had dropped dramatically.

“This isn’t just about the future getting worse,” he added. “The capabilities that exist today are already incredibly powerful, and attackers are leveraging them right now.”

And once attackers get inside, they can automate large parts of the attack chain, said Shiebler, who argued this “reduces the time defenders have to respond—and demands a completely different approach to security.”

He added that AI allows less sophisticated cyber criminals to nonetheless launch sophisticated attacks, which “just raises the bar on what defenders need to do in general.”

In other cybersecurity news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week about the growing need for effective negotiators to deal with the rise of ransomware.

“Ransomware has become a structured, global industry,” that report said. “Organized cybercriminal groups now operate with business-like efficiency.”

Attacks no longer involve just encrypting files; they now include attempts at “double extortion,” in which attackers threaten to leak stolen data if payment is not forthcoming.

Ransomware negotiation is more about human interaction than technical expertise, even though it takes place via encrypted chat portals and anonymous communication channels.

“Negotiators must quickly assess the attacker’s credibility, determine whether stolen data will actually be released and gauge how flexible the ransom demand might be,” the report added.