Harmonic Security Raises $17.5M to Protect Sensitive Data from AI Leaks

Harmonic Security raises $17.5M to protect sensitive data from leaking during AI use - SiliconANGLE

Harmonic Security raises $17.5M to protect sensitive data from leaking during AI use Harmonic Security Inc., a San Francisco-based company that provides artificial intelligence capabilities for enterprise data protection, announced today it has raised $17.5 million in early-stage funding. The Series A round was led by Next47 and brought the company's total raised to more than $26 million, including $7 million during the company's seed round led by Ten Eleven Ventures in October 2023. The company built an approach to data protection for enterprise businesses using AI tools using pre-trained, specialized large language models. Instead of strict, rote rules for detecting sensitive data, Harmonic uses LLMs to help classify, label and identify sensitive data before it is potentially passed along outside of an organization to AI-enabled tools. "Over the past 20 years, complex data classification and labeling exercises and noisy rules have created headaches for security teams, not least a huge burden of meaningless false positives," said Alastair Paterson, chief executive and co-founder of Harmonic Security. "Now, with the rapid adoption of Generative AI, renewed data privacy risks mean that legacy data protection tools are not fit for purpose. Harmonic Security is redefining the entire data protection category which GenAI has brought into sharp focus." Harmonic sits between employees and AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft Corp.'s CoPilot for Microsoft 365 and others where it detects when a prompt will be used. It then catches potentially sensitive data that might go into the tool by understanding how the employee might use the AI tool and for what. It can even warn the end-users that they might be sending sensitive data to an untrusted AI tool and coach the user to provide safe alternatives to help reduce noisy alerts for the security team. The company said its pre-trained LLMs were built from the expertise and experience of dozens of chief information officers and chief information security officers across the world. To train the LLMs, Harmonic used datasets of highly realistic sensitive materials, allowing it to accurately detect all types of sensitive data in milliseconds. This accuracy and low latency mean that it remains virtually invisible to the users of AI tools. "Traditional Data Loss Prevention methods have proven ineffective, leading CISOs to shift focus towards user authentication, authorization, and visibility," said Mark Sutton, CISO of Bain Capital, who recently became a board member at Harmonic. "While specific types of data can be easily protected, the contextual nature of most sensitive information makes binary 'yes or no' controls inadequate, creating more operational friction than value." The platform is also capable of detecting over 6,000 different AI tools including software-as-a-service and AI-enabled web-based apps, helping reduce the hidden overhead of "shadow AI." This AI usage appears in a back-end for information technology and security teams to help identify generative AI risks from employee use. The company already employs 30 people between the United States and the United Kingdom and said the new funding will go to scaling up its marketing efforts and further its engineering vision.

Harmonic Security Raises $17.5 Million Series A to Accelerate Zero-Touch Data Protection to Market

Next47 leads new $17.5m Series A round with over $26m now secured since launch last October. SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON-(BUSINESS WIRE)-October 2, 2024- Harmonic Security today announces it has secured $17.5 Million in Series A funding to bring its unique "zero-touch data protection" capabilities to enterprises. Total funding has now reached more than $26 million since the company launched in October last year with enterprise customers already in double figures. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241002920021/en/ Harmonic Security has built a completely new approach to data protection using pre-trained, specialized language models. The Series A round is being led by Next47, a leading venture capital firm that has invested in many cybersecurity standouts, including Claroty and Sysdig. It joins Ten Eleven Ventures which led the $7 million seed round in October 2023. Alastair Paterson, CEO and co-founder of Harmonic Security comments: "Over the past 20 years, complex data classification and labeling exercises and noisy rules have created headaches for security teams, not least a huge burden of meaningless false positives. Now, with the rapid adoption of Generative AI, renewed data privacy risks mean that legacy data protection tools are not fit for purpose. Harmonic Security is redefining the entire data protection category which GenAI has brought into sharp focus, and we will use the Series A to accelerate the rapid progress we have already achieved." "Next47 is thrilled to join Harmonic Security on its mission to reimagine data protection for the modern age," said T.J. Rylander, General Partner at Next47, who will join the company's board. "As we move towards the concept of the AI-powered SOC, Harmonic will own data protection for the GenAI era." By working with dozens of innovative CIOs and CISOs across the world, Harmonic has built an entirely new approach to data protection. The company has trained its own language models for data protection that are based on unique datasets of highly realistic sensitive materials. This breakthrough allows Harmonic to accurately detect all types of sensitive data in milliseconds. The extreme accuracy and speed of this approach mean that it can nudge end users towards secure best practices without overwhelming security teams. One CISO leading the charge and getting behind Harmonic is Rinki Sethi, CISO of BILL: "Data security is long overdue disruption. What's even better is that Harmonic has the team to bring this to life." Mark Sutton, CISO of Bain Capital, recently became a board member at Harmonic to help drive this mission: "Traditional Data Loss Prevention (DLP) methods have proven ineffective, leading CISOs to shift focus towards user authentication, authorization, and visibility. While specific types of data can be easily protected, the contextual nature of most sensitive information makes binary 'yes or no' controls inadequate, creating more operational friction than value." Harmonic's close relationship with CISOs has enabled quick traction after launching its data protection product in July 2024 which is already in active use by thousands of employees. As a result, it has generated significant attention in 2024, including being named an RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist. Harmonic already employs 30 people across the United States and the United Kingdom, and will use this latest round of funding to scale up its engineering and go-to-market efforts. About Harmonic Harmonic Security gives security teams the tools to protect sensitive data without the headaches of labeling and complex rules. Our pre-trained data protection models enable secure innovation through user education and gentle nudges. Recognized as an RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist in 2024, Harmonic Security redefines data protection for the GenAI era. For more information, visit https://www.harmonic.security/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241002920021/en/