Duncan Riley
Latest from Duncan Riley
President Trump signs executive order on cybersecurity and cloud services
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that launches sweeping reviews of the U.S. government’s digital vulnerabilities. The order directs agencies to adopt the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, a policy developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that is meant to bolster government defenses against malicious attacks. The order, which came 111 days into ...
Simulated worlds startup Improbable raises a whopping $502M in new funding
Simulated worlds startup Improbable Ltd. has raised a whopping $502 million in a Series B round of financing. According to reports, the round was raised on a $1 billion valuation. It was led by Softbank and also included previous investors Andreessen Horowitz and Horizon Ventures. Founded in 2012, Improbable offers SpatialOS, an operating system that facilitates large-scale simulations in ...
New variants of SLocker Android malware target corporate data
A form of ransomware that ran riot across Android apps in 2016 has returned, with more than 400 new versions found in the wild. SLocker is a form of ransomware that targets employee and corporate data. It was notable when it was discovered not only because it infected thousands of Android devices but also because it ...
OPAQ acquires Drawbridge Networks to expand its Security as a Service platform
Security as a service startup OPAQ Networks Inc. announced today that it has acquired security focused network micro-segmentation provider Drawbridge Networks Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2014, Drawbridge offers a service called PathProtect that allows organizations to learn, detect and automatically respond to internal attacks. The platform works on the assumption that attackers will ...
Blockchain-focused investment firm Cofound.it launches initial coin offering
Cofound.it, a startup that is aiming to facilitate investments and related services in blockchain-focused startups is offering investors a slice of the service through an initial coin offering. Backed by ICO investment firm ICONOMI, Cofound.it is looking to establish a service that will bypass the traditional venture capital model by connecting startups, experts and investors directly ...
Cockroach Labs raises $27M and launches enterprise version
The former Googlers at open-source cloud database startup Cockroach Labs Inc. have raised $27 million in a Series B round that included Redpoint Ventures, GV, Benchmark, Index Ventures and FirstMark Capital. Founded in 2015 by former Google Inc. engineers Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and Ben Darnell, Cockroach Labs’ main product is CockroachDB, a scalable SQL database ...
Google acquires Owlchemy Labs, maker of VR game Job Simulator
Google Inc. has acquired Owlchemy Labs Inc., the maker of the award-winning virtual reality games Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2011 originally as a standard gaming studio, Owlchemy shifted to VR development in 2013 with the release of the first Oculus Rift Software Development Kit. It followed ...
Zuora snaps up Leeyo for added next-gen cloud accounting support
Subscription commerce and billing startup Zuora Inc. has acquired Leeyo Software Inc., a Santa Clara, California-based enterprise revenue recognition automation and management startup, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2009, Leeyo offers next-generation revenue recognition software, a type of software that tracks company accounts to comply with generally accepted accounting principles in that it determines the specific conditions under which ...
New Persirai botnet uses exploit to infect 120,000+ connected cameras
Another day, another Internet of Things botnet. This time, a new botnet discovered in the wild is believed to have infected over 120,000 Internet-connected cameras. Dubbed Persirai by researchers at Trend Micro Inc., the botnet is targeting more 1,000 Internet Protocol camera models from various off-brand producers. Discovered using Shodan’s recently released command-and-control center search service, ...
On ‘Patch Tuesday,’ Microsoft plugs 81 critical security vulnerabilities
Microsoft Corp. has issued a range of patches in its monthly “Patch Tuesday,” covering products including web browsers Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, the .NET Framework and various Office suite apps. By the numbers, there were 243 Windows patches, of which 81 of were deemed critical. Topping the list were patches for three previously undiscovered issues, including one known ...
