SparkCognition, the world’s first Cognitive Security Analytics company, announced its formal launch today. The company has raised an undisclosed amount from Michael Dell’s private investment firm, MSD Capital, L.P., T. B. Pickens III, Manoj Saxena, former GM for IBM Watson Solutions, and California-based venture firm, The Entrepreneurs’ Fund (TEF).
“The ‘Internet of Things’ and the rise of the Industrial Internet have led to computer security spilling over into the physical world. Security has moved from protecting consumers from fraudulent credit card charges to preventing industrial attacks that can have monumental physical implications,” said Amir Husain, Founder and CEO of SparkCognition. “As safety and security become more complex, the means to deliver protection must now account for volumes and velocities of security-related data that have overpowered traditional approaches and human analysis. Our mission at SparkCognition is to protect our clients’ assets by building and scaling the industry’s most intelligent security platform.”
In a recent report, Gartner Group identified security as the top challenge for the growing Internet of Things, projected to expand to 26 billion devices by 2020. Gartner also sees machine learning and “smart” systems as high-growth trends. The firm predicts that by 2017, ten percent of computers will be learning rather than merely processing, and by 2020, a majority of knowledge worker career paths will be impacted by smart machines.
SparkCognition’s approach to security and safety, powered by its MindSpark™, platform, draws upon a large number of patent-pending algorithms as well as a massive amount of curated safety and security data. MindSpark automatically models physical and virtual assets – creating “Cognitive Fingerprints” – to determine when systems might be at risk. For example, MindSpark delivers “out-of-band” security for physical infrastructure to detect and prevent damage from Stuxnet-style malware. In Cloud and Datacenter environments, MindSpark-powered Cognitive Security Insights can transform knowledge gained from a wide variety of sources to a constantly updated set of security policies for assets under protection. Unlike purely statistical systems, or machine learning approaches that rely on manually constructed models, MindSpark builds models automatically and adapts them continuously.
“Cognitive Computing represents a fundamental shift for the industry. We are entering a world where everything is metered and monitored, and enormous quantities of data are being produced every second. The only way to make sense of this massive flood of bits and bytes is to leverage truly intelligent, cognitive software that learns constantly. SparkCognition is doing that in spades for the safety and security space,” said Manoj Saxena, former General Manager for IBM Watson Solutions and Managing Director, TEF.
“As we grow more reliant on networked automation, we must also ensure that these systems are better protected and far more resilient. SparkCognition’s powerful technology and skilled team are well poised to deliver businesses the scale and security they require,” said Tom B. Pickens III, Chairman of Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC).
About SparkCognition, Inc.
SparkCognition, Inc. is the world’s first Cognitive Security Analytics company. Its groundbreaking MindSpark platform and Cognitive Fingerprinting technology model physical and virtual assets, continuously learn from data, and derive intelligent insights to secure and protect assets round the clock. SparkCognition, Inc. is based in Austin, Texas. For more information on the company, its technology and team, please visit http://www.sparkcognition.com.
