Area 1 Security raises $25 million in growth funding

Head with binary code inside it made to look like artificial intelligence
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Area 1 Security announced on Sunday that it has secured $25 in growth funding led by new investor, GrowthPoint Capital.

The firm uses AI to find and eliminate phishing emails before they reach anyone’s inbox. This preemptive approach works with Google Suite and Microsoft 365 to add an extra layer of protection for cloud-based emails.

According to Venturebeat, an Area 1 Security spokesperson said that the company will use the money largely for research and development as well as expanding its go-to-market resources.

According to Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigation Report, 95% of all data breaches get their foothold through phishing emails. Area 1 Security’s approach aims to filter out phishing emails before they reach the user so companies don’t have to rely on their employees’ ability to identify phishing emails before it's too late.

Area 1 Security claims to have saved $233 million in “long con” BEC fraud in just a 12-week period earlier this year.

Phishing attacks have been on the rise in 2020 as criminals take advantage of coronavirus chaos to phish unsuspecting people. Earlier this month 15,000 Wells Fargo customers got phished as well.

The company also announced Patrick Sweeney as CEO. Sweeney has more than 25 years of executive and general management experience in high-tech, including successful runs with Dell and SonicWall. He was most recently the CEO of Talari Networks which Oracle purchased in 2019.