For Mobile Operators and MVNOs, Cyber Security Services Add New Revenues While Addressing Growing Browser-Based Threats

DefensX recently announced that lifecell, serving subscribers in Ukraine, based its new cyber security offering on the DefensX platform. Now, it has announced the closing of a new rounding of funding by Revo Capital, the largest VC fund in Turkey and the region, which invests in innovative, seed, and early-stage B2B and B2C technology ventures.

As sophisticated and relentless cybercriminal rings continue to veer towards personal mobile devices, mobile service providers are enriching their security offerings to protect both consumer subscribers and SMBs that are increasingly required to support their employees working from anywhere, often on their own devices. This leaves those businesses vulnerable to attacks, including malware, adware, and social engineering.

“Cybercrime has become sneakier and more sophisticated than ever before, affecting

businesses of all sizes,” said Cenk Bayrakdar, Founding Partner & Managing Director of Revo Capital. “Especially with remote working, it has become crucial that every employee remains hyper-vigilant about cyber security. With a distributed workforce, organizations must ensure the broadened organizational surface is aware. SMBs need a solution that is scalable,

affordable, and easily deployable. DefensX is this first line of defense, helping organizations stay ahead of threats. We are excited to join the DefensX founders on their journey to transform the nature of cyber security by liberating users with its context-aware approach.”

DefensX’s Zero Trust Secure Web Browser offers a number of capabilities to help protect these employers and their workforces, including:

  • Zero-Trust Web Protection,
  • Zero Trust Credentials,
  • Zero Trust File Protection,
  • Remote Browser Isolation,
  • DNS++, and
  • A cloud-first architecture that has been adopted by major distribution channels everywhere.

“We are so pleased and so honored that the team at Revo is placing their trust in us,” said Halis Osman Erkan, founder and CEO of DefensX. “As a highly strategic and focused team with a deep understanding of IT infrastructure and the evolution of cloud, the contributions they will make go well beyond financial capital. Their track record of investing in truly disruptive startups is outstanding, and partnering with them not only strengthens our foundation but will benefit the many distributors and direct SMB and enterprise customers we have in place today and will allow us to attract more distributors worldwide.”

With it’s solution and now new funding, DefensX is now poised to scale as the challenges it has been solving for continue to mount.

  • 80% of the breaches involve web browsers on mobile/desktop
  • 85% of the breaches involve a human element
  • 68% of the attacks target endpoints

With zero trust threat prevention technology, DefensX makes sure its users are safe working

Anywhere, on any network, and on any device. That includes desktops, laptops, and iOS and Android (News-Alert) devices.

“As early supporters of Osman and his outstanding team, we look forward to working closely

with Revo Capital to scale up the business dramatically and bring the benefits of the DefensX

platform to hundreds more distributors, MSPs, and their end customers,” said David Walsh (News-Alert), DefensX Chairman, innovator, entrepreneur, private investor, and former private equity investor. “In a cloud-first world, and in a completely transformed channel distribution ecosystem, DefensX has proven to be a true disrupter during the first phase of developing a cloud-native cyber security defense that will only grow in value as more applications and communications migrate to the cloud.”

According to SaaS Alerts, 2022 saw a 61% increase in the rate of phishing attacks, a number all industry analysts expect to grow even further this year. Equally troubling, the report found a 29% increase in the number of guest user accounts, which can have access to sensitive data and open access points for bad actors. Of the over 979,840 SaaS (News-Alert) accounts monitored by SaaS Alerts in 2022, 54% were from guest user accounts versus licensed users.

ADware alone accounts for 48% of all malware. When adware reaches smartphones, without proper protection, it can unlock access not only to a single end-user while potentially providing easy access to corporate information and systems.

DefensX announced recently a distribution agreement with SpikeIT, a major cybersecurity distributor in Israel, offering solutions for the Israeli market and DACH with a cyber security bundle.

DefensX also has several other global and regional distribution agreements with distributors, including Pax8, a US-based B2B platform used by over 27,000 Managed Service Providers serving hundreds of thousands of SMBs and SMEs.

Earlier this year, DefensX also announced a major distribution partnership with Exertis, MENA, the Dubai-based arm of global distributor DCC Technology (Exertis), and are offering DefensX cloud-based cybersecurity solutions to their regional base of consumer, business, and enterprise customers across the Middle East and Africa.

Juhi Fadia is an engineer, analyst, researcher and writer covering advanced and emerging technologies.



Edited by

Erik Linask

This article was originally published on TMC