·      New data commissioned by Darktrace shows almost two-thirds of organizations do not have high confidence in identifying their greatest vulnerabilities

·      81% believe AI technology would help them to automate their security posture

Darktrace, a global leader in cyber security artificial intelligence (AI), today announced strong demand for its new Darktrace PREVENT™ product family as organizations seek to prevent cyber-attacks, rather than waiting for breaches to happen. In the three months since PREVENT became generally available in August 2022, Darktrace has seen the longest list of customer opt-ins than for any product launch in its history.

New data commissioned by Darktrace from International Data Corporation (IDC), a global market intelligence firm, shows that almost two-thirds of organizations do not have high confidence in identifying their greatest vulnerabilities or weaknesses, leaving them exposed to attack.[1] 81%of organizations surveyed stated that AI insights would help them to automate their security posture. This comes as global economic losses due to cyber-crime per year are estimated at $6 trillion and are forecast to rise to$10.5 trillion by 2025.[2] Darktrace PREVENT offers a predictive and preventative approach for tackling cyber-threats and business risk by using AI to ‘think like an attacker,’ finding pathways to an organization’s most critical assets from inside and outside. It is the third product area in Darktrace’s delivery of its Cyber AI Loop^TM, the industry-first set of always-on AI capabilities that work together to optimize an organization’s state of security through a continuous feedback loop.  

In the three months since August, customers across all major industries have purchased PREVENT, including, but not limited to:

·       ProPhase Diagnostics, a NASDAQ-listed BioTech company based in the U.S.

·       Sellen Construction, a leading construction company in the U.S.

·       Rudin Management, one of the largest privately owned real estate companies in New York City

·       Direct Federal Credit Union, a U.S. credit union serving tens of thousands of members

Other new PREVENT customers include a UK-based housing provider with over 50,000 customers, an international manufacturing and distribution company operating across 100+ countries and a U.S. hospital facility with 700+ employees, among others. All of the PREVENT customers announced today already use Darktrace DETECT™ or RESPOND™, or both of these capabilities, creating a technology ecosystem which continuously learns from the threat landscape as it enhances protections, pre-empts threats and hardens security.

Commenting on his company’s use of Darktrace PREVENT, Sergio Miralles, EVP, Chief Information Officer at ProPhase Diagnostics, said: “As a BioTech business with many divisions providing vital healthcare testing services to tens of thousands of customers every day, ensuring that our IT environment is secure is absolutely critical. Darktrace is a staple product for us. One of the first questions we ask ourselves when deploying or developing any new IT programmes is how we can make sure that Darktrace can monitor the stack and ensure they have full visibility of our activities. Historically, that meant they had all the information to defend us against attacks when they happened, but now through the addition of PREVENT, they are also able to proactively shore up our defences before we encounter any breaches. Darktrace’s technology is something we can’t live without and the ROI has been more than we ever expected.”

Commenting on the customer announcements made today, Poppy Gustafsson OBE, CEO at Darktrace, said: “The potential of PREVENT is clear as we see it reflected in the longest list of customer opt-ins for any product launched in Darktrace’s history. This technology is making the job of the attacker much harder as it arms security teams with unprecedented, AI-powered tools, which can pre-empt even the most complex cyber-attacks. It represents a fundamental shift in cyber-security, putting security teams on the front foot as they seek to protect their organizations and build cyber resilience.”

Commenting on the research, Chris Kissel, Research Director at the International Data Corporation (IDC), the premier global provider of market intelligence for theIT, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets, said: “As organizations contend with an increasingly complex set of cyber security challenges, a reactive approach does not go far enough. CISOs are starting to look at cyber security just like any other operational risk and are turning to a more proactive approach that pre-empts cyber-attacks before they happen, rather than waiting to be breached. It is clear that organizations must adopt a preventative approach and will be increasingly reliant on AI to do so.”

Commenting on the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, Amber Rudd, Former UK Home Secretary and member of Darktrace’s Advisory Board, said: “Cyber security risks are one of the most pressing but least well understood risks organizations face today. As the geopolitical landscape becomes more fractious and the world continues on a path of rapid digital transformation, businesses are facing a greater, more complex set of cybersecurity challenges than ever before – and these are constantly evolving. The predicted global economic losses resulting from cyber disruption are significant. Being proactive requires organizations to understand what their weaknesses are and proactively address these before attackers take advantage. It's exciting to see how Darktrace PREVENT can help organizations to build their cyber resilience in the face of this evolving landscape and against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty.”

Commenting on the global cyber security landscape, Alan Wade, Former CIO, US Central Intelligence Agency. President, Wade Associates Inc, said: “There’s no question that the next stage of innovation in cyber security must improve the ability to predict and prevent threats from highly organized, and increasingly sophisticated, cyber criminals. The need for this capability is felt even more acutely at a time of escalating geopolitical conflict and when skilled cyber technologists are in short supply. Demand for Darktrace PREVENT clearly reflects a more determined focus among CISOs on solutions that empower them to be proactive and to take action before their systems are breached. It’s a game-changer.”

Notes to Editors

Read more about proactive security here from Max Heinemeyer, Darktrace’s Chief Product Officer: ‘What I Learned from My Life as an Ethical Hacker: Prevention is Everything’.

Please see below for additional quotes from Darktrace PREVENT customers:

“For us, it’s a huge game changer. We see a substantial ROI in having the tools and capabilities. For us, we’ve never really had this in a delivery mechanism that was this easy to use.” - Mike Sherwood, Chief Innovation Officer at City of Las Vegas

“I like the fact that PREVENT is continuously looking for assets that live outside of our internal IT environment. With PREVENT constantly doing vulnerability testing on our behalf, I don’t need worry about missing something - that is very reassuring. It is well worth the cost.” - Jim Webber, Vice President of Information Technology at Direct Federal Credit Union, a U.S. credit union serving tens of thousands of members

“We know that the bad guys are gaining knowledge every day. We need to as well. And I think that this proactive approach we’re gaining with Darktrace’s PREVENT is a requirement now. I don’t think it is just an option.” – James Davies, Director of IT at Ongweoweh, a Native-American owned supply chain services company

“At Vixxo, the Darktrace ecosystem provides a true feedback loop between the different components of the Darktrace product set that we are using. By introducing PREVENT into our ecosystem, we’ve been able to identify assets that we previously thought business units had retired.” - Klint Price, Head of Technology & Cybersecurity at Vixxo, a facilities management company covering the U.S. and Canada

[1] Source: IDC InfoBrief, sponsored byDarktrace, Studying the Effects of a Virtuous Cycle in Cybersecurity,#EUR149649622 November 2022.

[2] CybersecurityVentures: https://cybersecurityventures.com/cybercrime-damages-6-trillion-by-2021/

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