CyberSecurity Startups UK 2021 #1 BEST CYBER SECURITY STARTUPS London

Cyber Security Startups London #1 BEST CYBERSECURITY COMPANIES UK Guide

When you hear about the massive increase in cyber crime now estimated to be $3.5billion you know someone is making a fistful of fiat somewhere.

And when’s there is money involved the UK capital is never far behind and although it’s not fraud this time, it’s cyber security has very much caught up so we thought we’d bring you a guide to the best cyber security firms London has to offer.

Cyber Security Companies UK

Dark Trace

Dark Trace helps stop advanced spear-phishing and business email compromise with AI that understands your organization – and detects the most advanced email threats, from targeted impersonation attacks and social engineering, to supply-chain threat and human-factor vulnerabilities.

Founded in 2013 by mathematicians from the University of Cambridge, Darktrace was the first company to develop an AI system for cyber security.

The company was seed-funded by Invoke Capital, a specialist technology investment fund headed by Dr Mike Lynch OBE, and the Invoke team was instrumental in working with the founders in the early days. Later investors include KKR, Samsung Ventures, TenEleven Ventures, Insight Venture Partners and Vitruvian.

Darktrace founders also include cyber security experts from government intelligence backgrounds, united in their mission to fundamentally transform the ability of organizations to defend their most critical assets in the face of rising cyber-threat.

Darktrace’s pioneering technology, the Enterprise Immune System, applies AI to the cyber defense challenge for the first time, detecting cyber-threats that existing, legacy systems cannot.

Ravelin

Ravelin’s mission is to provide their clients with the world’s most accurate fraud
detection service to make online commerce a safe place to do business.

Ravelin do this by predicting risk with unmatched accuracy and speed, to enable their clients to prevent fraud and accept payments with confidence.

PQ Shield

PQ Shield originated out of University of Oxford, PQShield are specialists in Post-Quantum Cryptography. PQ Shield provide quantum-secure cryptographic solutions for software, software/hardware co-design and data in transit. This is particularly important where long lifecycle, performance and lasting confidentiality are a priority, now and for years to come.

PQ Shield believe we need to be prepared for the threat landscape of the future. Consider the proliferation and lifecycle of connected systems across telecoms, automotive, smart environments and financial institutions – the need for advanced post-quantum protection is evident.

During the transition from older cryptographic standards to new post-quantum cryptography, interoperability with legacy systems is important and PQ Shield’s solutions provide fast time to market and compliance with both existing and upcoming cryptography standards.

CyberSmart

Cyber Smart was born out of a GCHQ accelerator in 2017, CyberSmart was created by a group of forward-thinking security experts, who noticed that many companies needed to secure themselves and achieve information security standards, but ultimately found the process too complicated or were limited by financial or human resources.

The team believes that every organisation should be able to easily comply with recognised standards and protect their data and infrastructure.

Through making security accessible, they have achieved tremendous growth and protect tens of thousands of users and, as a result, have smashed right into our Cyber Security Startups London guide.

Netsparker

Netsparker helps you combat the cybersecurity skills gap and fully automate your web security processes.

You can perform automatic vulnerability assessment, which helps you prioritize your work on fixing the issues. You can also automatically discover and protect your current web assets so you can avoid resource-intensive manual procedures.

Tessian

To prevent today’s advanced email security threats, your security controls must have the ability to continually analyse, adapt and evolve based on an understanding of normal and anomalous human behaviour. 

This is Tessian’s approach.

Callsign

Callsign are an identity fraud, authorization & authentication company, solving the challenges that organizations face in getting their users on to & interacting with their digital platforms.

To do this Callsign hire the brightest, most inquisitive minds who want to change the rules of identity and make this mission a reality. Callsign products use deep learning techniques to combine event, threat, and behavioural analytics with multi-factor authentication, securing access to services whilst uniquely ensuring the most frictionless and transparent user experience.

Callsign provide risk intelligence in real time, enabling organizations to intelligently adjust authentication journeys, also in real time by pinpointing suspicious access attempts, Callsign can step up and step down the authentication requirement, catching fraudulent activity more effectively while simultaneously removing friction for legitimate users.

Yoti

Yoti app are a need addition to our cyber security startups london guide as Yoti gives you a safe and convenient way to prove your identity and credentials, online and in person.

Garrison

Garrison‘s tech isolates your endpoint from risky websites, remotely transforming all web content to a verifiably safe format.

Garrison’s model is different and that’s why we have added them to our cybersecurity startups london guide as Garrison eliminate threats by transforming everything into a guaranteed safe format.

Built on hardsec security patterns, their threat elimination platforms deliver unparalleled security, performance and scale.

SNYK

SNYK empowers software-driven businesses to develop fast and stay secure

Snyk’s unique combination of developer-first tooling and best in class security depth enables businesses to easily build security into their continuous development process.

Privitar

Privatar is dedicated to helping organizations realize the promise of their most valuable asset – safe, usable data – to empower them to create better products, services and customer experiences.

As part of a modern data architecture, the Privitar Data Privacy Platform protects user data so that enterprises can minimize privacy risk – preserving customers’ hard-won trust and achieving regulatory compliance.

Feature Space

Feature Space is another new addition to our cyber security companies london guide as they claim to be the inventor of what they call Adaptive Behavioral Analytics and the award-winning ARIC Risk Hub and are globally recognised as the industry expert in combatting financial crime.

CyberSecurity Startups London

Featurespace is dedicated to making the world a safer place for their clients and their customers. Financial crime is an enormous issue for society and to combat it Feature Space have developed market-leading solutions to fight financial crime – using real-time machine learning software powered by their invention – Adaptive Behavioral Analytics. 

Digital Shadows

Digital Shadows positions itself as the market leader in Digital Risk Protection by identifying unwanted exposure, protect against external threats to minimise digital risk.

Digital Shadow’s SearchLight product is a managed service that enables you to minimize your digital risk by detecting data loss, securing your online brand, and reducing your attack surface. Unrivaled coverage, expertise and relevance make SearchLight the market leading Digital Risk Protection solution.

Glasswall

Glasswall claims to be is a unique technology that shifts the security paradigm of looking for the bad, to only allowing the ‘known good’ establishing an industry standard for electronic file and document integrity, security and assurance.

y analysing and regenerating files in real-time, Glasswall gives protection against even the most persistent and complex file based threats.

Immersive Labs

Immersive Labs is another one of the Cyber Security companies in this guide that covers everything from spelling the word cyber to technical tools, threat hunting, and reverse engineering malware. Immersive Labs delivers continuous challenges, scenarios, and crisis simulations.

Their challenge-based cybersecurity content is developed by experts and powered by the latest threat research. Use unique technology enabling your business to battle-test and evidence its preparedness to face emerging cyber threats.

Egress

Egress vision is for a connected world in which people communicate efficiently and securely. To achieve this, Egress wrap a protective layer around individual users to stop human-activated data breaches before they happen.

Their patented technologies are built using leading-edge contextual machine learning and powerful encryption that mitigate modern risks in ways that they claim other solutions simply can’t achieve and they provide intelligent email security to prevent accidental and intentional breaches, protect sensitive data, and equip CISOs and their teams with the detailed reporting required for compliance purposes.

Miracl

Miracl secures the people, apps and things needed to run a digital business by eliminating outdated security practices in your infrastructure, including passwords, root keys and stored credentials.

Miracl’s single security platform enables nearly every part of your digital business, from web and mobile applications, to the Internet of Things, the Enterprise Blockchain, and public/private cloud environments.

My Pinpad

Mypinpad is one of the global leaders in secure personal authentication for payment solutions residing on commercially available smartphones and tablets.

Their proprietary and patented technology secures and protects the input of sensitive information (such as cardholder PIN) on everyday smartphones and tablets.

MYPINPAD’s innovative solution suite removes the reliance on PCI certified payment hardware, reducing cost and complexity whilst promoting card acceptance adoption.

SafeToNet

SafeToNet  is a cyber-safety company. It keeps children safe online wherever they are around the world and is fast becoming the leading global authority in online safeguarding.

SafeToNet has developed pioneering, award winning and patented technology that includes artificial intelligence to tackle key online threats such as cyberbullying, sextortion, grooming, abuse, and aggression.

SafeToNet also provides real-time advice and guidance for children and parents about online issues as they arise and at the exact time when help is needed the most.

Isode

Isode has been developing and supporting Commercial off the shelf (COTS) client & server software for secure messaging and directory systems and their software is at the heart of mission-critical solutions for Government, Military, EDI and Civil Aviation customers in over 150 countries and that’s why we’ve added them to our best Cyber Security Companies London Guide.

Billon

Billon’s mission is to unleash the transformational capabilities of blockchain technologies in the regulated world.

Their system is designed to deliver tangible business results by unifying payments and regulated data, with the management of identity, in real-world implementations.

Exonar

Exonar are building what they claim to be world’s leading data discovery software designed to index your structured and unstructured information at huge scale, allowing you to use what’s valuable and govern what’s sensitive and find unprotected sensitive information across all your structured and unstructured data instantly.

FloLive

FloLive are building the world’s first Software-Defined Connectivity (SDC) solution – a converged cloud-native, global connectivity service with inherent billing, fully designed and built for IoT.

Quantexa

Quantexa‘s Contextual Decision Intelligence is a new approach to data that gives organizations the ability to connect internal and external data sets to provide a single view, enriched with intelligence about the relationships between people, places and organizations.

Quantexa’s platform dynamically generates the context needed to automate millions of operational decisions, at scale, across multiple business units, including Anti-Money Laundering, Know-Your-Customer, Fraud, Credit Risk and Customer Intelligence.

OneFireWall

OneFireWall has been founded to address and prevent malicious cyber activity through data sharing, analysis and distribution. Hackers from around the world are grouping in associations to be more effective on their malicious intents, while every organization defends itself alone,

OneFirewall Alliance changes everything as their solution, through its Threats Info Sharing Platform and IP Reputation Score Engine will increase security while decreasing its cost.

Censornet

Censornet has been added to our Cyber Security Startups London Guide as they are one of the leading force sin innovative and automated cloud security that offers robust, consolidated solutions for businesses​ and organisations.

Their unique security platform and approach has led to over 1,500 customers globally selecting us to protect their millions of users from a range of security threats.

From the point of user access to deep granular transparency and control, their security suite helps organisations embrace the potential of the cloud without compromising security or limiting users.

OneTrust

OneTrust technology powers privacy, security and data governance programs. More than 6,000 customers use OneTrust to build integrated programs that comply with the CCPA, GDPR, LGPD, PDPA, ISO27001 and hundreds of the world’s privacy and security laws.

Keyless

Keyless s a deeptech, cybersecurity company building the world’s first privacy-preserving biometric authentication and personal identity management platform.

The Keyless Cloud Platform empowers businesses to embrace passwordless, protect their remote workforce and enable strong customer authentication with just a look. Keyless Zero-Knowledge Biometric (ZKB™) solutions provide passwordless multi-factor authentication that eliminates fraud, phishing and credential reuse – all while enhancing customer and employee experiences and protecting their privacy.

With Keyless, businesses are finally able to adopt zero-trust security, eliminate passwords, ensure privacy compliance and deliver unified authentication experiences across every touchpoint.

CyberOwl

CyberOwl helps asset operators in the maritime and critical national infrastructure sectors gain visibility, cyber security and cyber compliance of systems on their distributed, remote assets. CyberOwl provide technologies, a managed service and specific cyber security advisory services to support the asset operator.

CyberOwl’s technologies provide near-real-time visibility of the behaviours of assets and their communication patterns. They are deployed to identify and inventory assets on the IT and OT networks of these operational platforms.

They detect and raise early warning of cyber attack tactics, techniques and procedures; identify anomalous and suspicious activity; and monitor for non-compliance with cyber security policies. These are delivered through a modular, distributed architecture that is optimised for environments facing the challenges of intermittent connectivity, bandwidth constraints and the need for remote management.

Brand Shield

BrandShield is an online threat hunting company, specialized in monitoring, detection and removal of online threats such as phishing attempts, executive impersonation, counterfeit products, trademark infringements and more.

BrandShield was established to revolutionize the way companies can protect their digital assets outside their security perimeter.

Ever since the launch BrandShield have introduced groundbreaking innovative features and services to provide the most automated and relevant solutions for the 21st century, such as the Patterns detection, built-in enforcement case management, cross-brand detection, The Matrix detection cross platform, mobile apps monitoring and more.

Cado

Cado claim to be provider of the world’s first cloud-native cyber forensics and response platform Cado Response, today announced the close of a $1.5 million seed round led by Ten Eleven Ventures, the original Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity venture capital firm. Cado Security will use the funding to expand its development team in the United Kingdom.

Traditional tools used to investigate cyber-attacks cannot assess potential impacts on cloud or container infrastructure. To accurately determine impact, companies have historically needed extensive time and a substantial budget to spend on third-party resources with cloud expertise.

Regulatory requirements now mandate that companies move even quicker and more thoroughly in the aftermath of an incident. Companies are hard-pressed to find a solution that can help them respond quickly, efficiently, and with confidence, especially in the cloud.

Sophos

Sophos Group plc is a British security software and hardware company. Sophos does this by developing products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management and is primarily focused on providing security software to 100- to 5,000-seat organizations.

Push

Push Technology was founded to solve the real-time systems and application connectivity and data distribution challenges experienced by companies worldwide as they develop systems and new business models Push have assembled an international team of business and technology experts; and the team works closely with customers to analyze their needs and understand the imperatives of their businesses.

Cybersecurity startups UK guide

Push argue they are successful because they have pioneered technology solutions to solve real-world, business challenges and today they continue, as they began, to stay tuned with the market and cater to the evolving needs of their customers.

Push Technology solutions enable companies worldwide to produce new products and services and achieve their digital transformation objectives. These market leaders leverage Push Technology solutions to power their systems and applications, critical to business expansion, revenue growth, and optimal ongoing business operations.

One Trust

OneTrust products are backed by 75 patents and can be used standalone – or seamlessly integrate together – to give you the right-sized technology for your privacy, security and third-party risk programs. Powered by an intelligence database of hundreds of laws, OneTrust adapts to the jurisdictions and frameworks that matter most to you, generating the right dashboards, visuals and record keeping reports you need.

OneTrust is co-headquartered in Atlanta and in London, and has additional offices in Bangalore, San Francisco, Melbourne, New York, São Paulo, Munich, Hong Kong and Bangkok

Cyber security startups London guide

Backed and co-chaired by the founders of Manhattan Associates (NASDAQ: MANH) and AirWatch ($1.54B acq. by VMware), and supported by over $400 million funding from Insight Partners and Coatue, the OneTrust leadership team has significant experience building scalable, enterprise software platforms. OneTrust is also guided by an external advisory board of renowned privacy experts and an in-house global privacy and legal research team.

Red Sift

Red Sift is a data-driven cybersecurity business that uses machine learning to help organizations of all sizes and sectors address day-to-day security challenges.

It offers a dashboard of tools that analyze and synthesize data from core business processes – such as email – to help users to better manage their online security.

iProov

iProov creates digital trust with biometric authentication and ensure that online users are genuinely present in uncontrolled environments, combining face biometrics and anti-spoofing.

iProov argue their unique approach to spoof prevention (covered by 12 granted patents), world-class deep learning technologies and focus on sustainable security have given us an unrivalled global reputation and detect and prevent all known identity spoof attack vectors including masks, replay attacks, compromised devices, and – critically – the emerging threat of Deep Fake artificial video.

Customers in Financial services and Enterprise markets have adopted their systems for online logon, step-up authentication and for remote identity verification based on trusted ID documents.

iProov is running in production with a number of major global banks, including ING and Rabobank. iProov is also working with Government organisations including the US Department of Homeland Security and the UK Government.

Block APT

BlockAPT is a leading cybersecurity firm headquartered in London, UK, whose mission is to help people protect and defend their digital assets.

Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Marco Essomba’s passion, expertise and knowledge over 15 years of providing cybersecurity solutions has culminated in the design of their unique BlockAPT Central Management Platform.

Developed over time as a toolkit to help small and large enterprises business security issues, BlockAPT’s platform brings together threat intelligence, vulnerability management, device management and proactive incident response management to help fight the war against cyber attackers. BlockAPT is an industry game changer with a unique, preventative approach.

Angoka

Angoka provides patented IoT Security solutions for managing the cybersecurity risks inherent in machine-to-machine communications, such as those used Smart Cities and Homes, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Industry 4.0 and National Critical Infrastructure.

Dark Beam

Dark Beam are in the intelligence game to deliver their clients the most timely and relevant actionable digital risk insights so they can better protect their business.

This is underpinned by relentless innovation and a deep sense of duty and service. Founded by former military and intelligence professionals, Darkbeam specialises in the collection, processing and analysis of data to provide bespoke intelligence solutions for clients.

Avnos

Avnos AI powered engine to automate workloads discovery and mapping across all your environments – on and off premise, hybrid, and cloud data centers.

Trust your network with advanced visualization of your infrastructure and all its dependencies – Avnos anticipates what your workloads are about and automates mappings making your IT infrastructure understandable and manageable again.

Anzen

Anzen are in our Cyber Security Startups UK guide as Anzen powers Cloud data security Anzen means your data is safer in the Cloud than on premise Anzen means your company complies with data jurisdiction and Anzen have developed a new category data protection patented technology which complements existing data security measures, adding an additional and ‘last line’​ protection of sensitive data.

So even when an organisation’s perimeter defences have been breached, data stolen and any applied encryption broken.

Anzen patented technology also provides the capability for companies and cloud vendors to locate and store customers’ personal data outside of their customers’​ home countries.

This whilst still complying with territorial data privacy laws such as the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) All organisations processing EU citizens’​ personal data have to comply with GDPR by May 2018. Otherwise they risk fines of up to 4% of their annual global turnover or €20m, whichever is the higher

VerifiedVisitors

VerifiedVisitors is a next generation, API based, subscription service for webmasters that continuously verifies the authenticity of your good bots and puts you in charge of your data. VerifiedVisitors is a simple, affordable and effective way to protect the security of your business online.

Redhunt Labs

RedHunt Labs is a premier Information Security Solutions provider, offering a wide variety of services, trainings and product related to InfoSec and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

Nanotego

Nanotego delivers self-aware, autonomous cyber security defence capabilities to billions of attackable devices. Nanotego’s patent pending solution offers a uniquely effective approach to cybersecurity by establishing situational self-awareness for each computing node. By monitoring deep layer data streams from device components, system and application processes, anomalous behaviour is identified and thereby giving each device has the ability to fend for itself by autonomously launching countermeasures – in near real time without relying on connectivity, virus signatures or human interaction.

The technology agnostic and fluid platform organically modulates it’s security posture in real-time, Nanotego is equally relevant for smartphones, IoT devices, sensors and laptops regardless of geographic location or number of nodes and that is why they are in our Cyber Security Startups UK guide.

Orpheus

Orpheus is a specialist cyber security company that provides predictive and actionable intelligence to their clients – enabling them to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the cyber threats they face.

Orpheus do so through subscriptions that provide bespoke intelligence for your organisation anchored on factors such as who you are, what you do and the technology you operate.

Powered by all-source intelligence collection and deploying sophisticated technology and analytical capabilities, their subscription is curated by highly qualified analysts who work closely with you to ensure that you receive what you need from your cyber threat intelligence partner.

Orpheus are proud to be one of only 7 companies accredited by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) to its Skilled Person Panel of experts able to provide cyber threat intelligence at the highest level to FCA regulated companies.

Furthermore, they are one of only a handful of companies accredited by the Bank of England for intelligence-led critical national infrastructure testing frameworks such as ‘CBEST’ for the UK financial sector and ‘TBEST’ for the UK Telecoms sector and are accredited by the international standards and accreditation body CREST as a specialist cyber threat intelligence company.

Variti

Variti are all about making the online world a safer place for its users by blocking bad bots and argue they are innovative, detail driven and extremely passionate about their work and mission.

Varitit specialise in proactive security technology that protects against all types of automated abuse: simple and broad bot activity, targeted and orchestrated attacks at Layer 7 as well as evolving fraud techniques that target the most critical user touchpoints.

OutThink

OutThink brings the world’s first human risk management platform.

An innovative, disruptive solution, OutThink is the revolution of traditional security awareness training. Used by FTSE100 organisations, the OutThink platform (cloud – SaaS) has been developed specifically to identify, measure human risk and affect behaviour change.

OutThink was purpose-built by a team of visionary CISOs, security experts and researchers, for security professionals who are looking to build more effective, usable security and make people their strongest defense mechanism.

Senseon

The Senseon platform is a unique and innovative AI-led approach to cyber threat detection. Senseon offers security teams unparalleled visibility across their organisations, allowing for the detection of even the most subtle and complex of cyber attacks. By alerting accurately on genuine threats, Senseon dramatically reduces false positive alerts. Senseon’s ability to think like a human analyst allows it not only to automate many of the repetitive investigative tasks, but to go beyond the capabilities of traditional tools by detecting advanced threats that bypass their systems. In this way, Senseon helps organisations retain their invaluable people, who find real purpose in the work they do.

The Senseon platform’s all-in-one cyber defence approach replaces the need for multiple tools, meaning companies can simplify their security stacks, saving them time and money. By replacing multiple tools with the Senseon platform, organisations expose malicious actors hiding in the gaps, and are better able to focus on delivering their business objectives. Recently named Rising Star by Oracle in the Deloitte ‘Fast 50’ awards 2019 Won the award for ‘The Best Cybersecurity Innovation of 2019’ by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)

Barac

Barac is in our Cyber Security Startups London and UK guide as they are a rapidly growing, forward thinking cyber security company that directly addresses organisations’​ concerns with compliancy, scalability, certificate management and heavy bandwidth latency associated with traditional encrypted traffic scanning solutions.

Barac’s unique, first-to-market solution – Barac Encrypted Traffic Visibility (ETV) – can detect in real-time malicious malware hidden within encrypted inbound and outbound network traffic without decrypting it at all. Encryption is the foremost, and fundamental line of defence websites, applications and services use to securely protect data.

According to a recent study of Chief Information Officers:

✪ 87% believe their security defences are less effective since they cannot inspect encrypted network traffic for attacks

✪ 90% have suffered or expect to suffer an attack in which encrypted traffic is used to hide the attack.

✪ 79% agree their core strategy to accelerate IT and innovation is in jeopardy because these initiatives introduce vulnerabilities.

Barac solves this problem by using a combination of machine learning, behavioural analytics and traffic metadata to detect malware and attacks on encrypted traffic without decryption in real time and with high accuracy by enabling encrypted data to travel more quickly and more safely, improving the user experience while keeping organisations and customers safe.

What are Cybersecurity Threats?

Cyber Security Startups create defences for cybersecurity threats which refers to risk or danger to one’s information security. It is a malicious attack or infiltration by an individual, company, or organization in order to access confidential information from another’s network. These attacks and breaches can also destroy computer systems and disrupt digital functioning. Cyber threats include data breaches, viruses, trojans, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and much more. 

Sources of Cybersecurity Threats

Cyber threats come from a variety of sources or threat/malicious actors. It is important to locate them in order to take action against them or protect your data against them.

• Nation-states: While most cyberattacks are mere nuisances, most of the serious cybersecurity threats are posed by hostile nation-states. Cyberattacks have become the most common modern warfare technique. From basic espionage, propaganda, website defacement, to disruption, learning national secrets, and even loss of life are all a part of cyber warfare. These attacks threaten national security and have the potential to disrupt critical infrastructures like electricity grids and gas control valves.
• Organized crime groups: Organized crime groups or corporate spies pose a high risk to organizations by partaking in industrial espionage. Stealing trade secrets, money, disrupting profit-making mechanisms, and gaining access to blackmail material are some of the attacks by these threat actors.
• Terrorists: In addition to hostile nation-states, another threat to national security comes from terrorist groups mounting attacks in cyberspace. Terrorists might have less cyber resources to threaten cybersecurity, but they continue to pose an increasing risk as more competent people join the ranks of terrorists.
• Aggrieved insiders: A common source of cyberattacks is from inside the company or the organization. It’s easy for a  disgruntled insider to expose confidential data because they might already have access to them. Third-party vendors or employees who accidentally introduce malware are also examples of insider threat. This is more common in workplaces with the bring your own device (BYOD) policy. Organizations often fail to measure the corporate cybersecurity risks associated with it.
• Hackers and Hacktivists: Hackers are intruders who gain illegitimate access to information systems by exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities. They might do this on a whim, to fulfil a challenge, or to simply brag. Earlier, hacking was a complicated task but today with automated scripts and protocols, it is much more sophisticated and simple. Hacktivists are a breed of hackers who are concerned with spreading propaganda. They intend to support their own political agenda and ideals.

Types of Threats Cyber Security Startups deal with

There are many types of cyber threats prevalent today, which are only increasing and becoming more sophisticated with time. The serious lack of cybersecurity professionals makes these threats even more challenging and uncontrollable. The Information Security Forum has warned against increased potential for disruption, deterioration, and distortion. Here are some of the most common cybersecurity threat examples:

1. Phishing

A cyberattack via emails that tricks the recipient into clicking a link containing malware. This malware then gets downloaded into the recipient’s computer and exposes confidential information and sensitive data. With increased awareness about phishing attacks, as employees become more vigilant for unknown links, cybercriminals have also upgraded to automated messages. These convincing messages trick unwitting recipients into compromising their user logins, credit card information, financial information, and private databases.

2. Ransomware

This refers to encrypting an individual or organization’s data and demanding a ransom for allowing the user to access it again. These attacks range from mere nuisances to serious incidents. Ransomware damages are expected to cost billions this year. Cybercriminals deploy technologies that enable them to hijack an individual or organization’s databases and hold all of it for ransom. With the rise in cryptocurrencies, attackers’ ransom demands can now be met anonymously, thus making these attacks easier and more widespread.

3. IoT Attacks  

The Internet of Things has become omnipresent. According to Statista.com, the number of IoT devices is expected to reach 75 billion by 2025. These devices include home security systems, webcams, routers, medical devices, smartwatches, household appliances, etc. More IoT devices imply increased vulnerability to cyber threats. Hackers take over the device to make it a part of DDoS attack and gain unauthorized access to the data. DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service attack refers to a type of cyber threat wherein the attacker takes over many devices and uses them to overload networks.

4. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs)

With the field of healthcare getting digitized, from smart medical equipment to online patient databases, it is also exposed to cyber threats. The Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University warns about the increasing vulnerabilities of hospital devices, clinic networks, and patient data. If a device directly connected to the patient gets compromised, it could easily mean the loss of life. With medical records being largely online, hackers have been exploiting the lack of proper security defences to gain access to sensitive data in these records.

5. Cryptojacking

This is a cybercrime trend in which hackers hijack third-party homes or work computers to fish for cryptocurrency. They secretly make money by linking themselves to someone else’s system. Cryptojacked systems lead to performance issues and expensive downtimes for companies since it costs a lot to track and fix these issues.

6. Semi-autonomous Vehicles

The invention of connected cars has increasingly enhanced passengers’ comfort. These cars use onboard sensors to optimize their operations. They are becoming more and more popular with the advancement of technology. However, this also exposes cars to cyber threats and makes them easy targets for hackers. They exploit the vulnerabilities in these cars and steal sensitive data or harm drivers. This leads to safety and privacy concerns in connected cars.

7. Man in the Middle Attack (MitM)

This refers to a form of cyberattack in which the attacker sets up a position between the sender and the receiver and intercepts the messages or changes them in transit. All the while, the sender and receiver believe that they are communicating directly. This might be used in the military to intercept enemy signals.

Cyber Security Courses UK

We have compiled a list of cybersecurity courses for you to take and learn the necessary skills and knowledge. There are also cybersecurity training and certification that will equip you to work professionally in the field.

CompTIA

If you’re an absolute beginner in the world of cybersecurity but wish to develop skills for the same, CompTIA is where you sign up. You must learn to walk before you run, and this cybersecurity course enables you to do just that. It gradually builds your knowledge from scratch up until you’re able to appear for the final certification exam.

This online cybersecurity course runs for 12 months. The course is available for £889. It is a self-paced course and offers four types of cybersecurity certification, with the CompTIA Security+ certification being the most prestigious. It is highly regarded by the IT security industry and has the potential to attract an average salary of £48,850 per annum. 

A total of seven separate courses are included in the cybersecurity course bundle. Four of these are skill-based, with no certification. Three are exam-based certification courses. The final being CompTIA Security+. The courses begin from the absolute basics and gradually allow you to gain an in-depth knowledge of various areas of cybersecurity. The completion of the course will allow you to earn globally respected certification and equip you with the skills needed for a wide range of cybersecurity jobs.

Open University

The Open University are an essential for our Cyber Security Courses UK Guide, regarded as the largest e-learning institution in the UK, offers a free online cybersecurity course. The Introduction to Cybersecurity course was developed with support from the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Programme. The course does not provide accreditation, but it offers you an Open University digital badge. This badge reflects your interest in the field of study for further professional development.

The course does not require any prior knowledge of cybersecurity. All you need is an interest and an inclination towards it. The completion of the course will equip you with the ability to protect your own and your loved ones’ digital lives. You will be able to recognize threats and take the necessary steps to reduce them. It will also help you understand malware, trojans, viruses, and recognize network security, cryptography, and identity theft.

NCSC Certified Training

The NCSC certified cybersecurity training sets a benchmark in terms of content quality and delivery. The courses are delivered by highly experienced training providers. The assessment criteria require knowledge provided in training to be mapped against knowledge areas in the Cyber Security Body of Knowledge. APMG is an independent certification body that has been approved by NCSC to provide cybersecurity certification and maintain supreme standards of assessment.

This cybersecurity training is ideal for a beginner as well as a professional looking to expand their skills. NCSC certified training offers two levels of skills training– awareness level and application level. The former builds a foundation in cybersecurity, while the latter offers in-depth courses for professional development. Finally, courseware courses are synchronized with a certified trainer and quality management system. 

IT Governance

IT Governance is a trusted and accredited cybersecurity training and certification platform. It offers more than 40 courses that enable you to earn new qualifications and gain skills. The cybersecurity courses and training are led by experts. There are both self-paced and instructor-led options for courses.

Cyber Security Training Courses

• Certified Cybersecurity Foundation Training Course
• Certified Cybersecurity Practitioner Training Course
• Managing Cybersecurity Risk Training Course
• Cybersecurity for IT Support Training Course
• Cyber Incident Response Management Foundation Training Course
• Cyber Security for Executive Management Training Course

Cyber Security Professional Certification

• CISM Training Course
• CISMP Training Course
• CISSP Training Course
• CISA Training Course

Cybersecurity Staff Awareness Training

• Cyber Security for Remote Workers Staff Awareness E-learning Course
• Information Security & ISO 27001 Staff Awareness E-learning Course
• Phishing Staff Awareness E-learning Course
• Information Security and Cyber Security Staff Awareness E-learning Course

EC-Council

EC-Council offers globally recognized cybersecurity education. Its training and certification programmes are accepted and used by all the major professionals and organizations in the UK. In addition to cybersecurity certification, they also provide staff training on phishing attempts, ransomware protection, and overall security awareness. If you’re someone looking to advance your career in cybersecurity, join EC-Council for highly-renowned online courses and industry certifications.

It offers self-directed or scheduled courses and training ranging from beginners to the master’s level. EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker and Security Analyst Training Programs are recognized by NCSC, Britain’s top intelligence agency.

The various training and certification programmes offered by EC-Council include:

Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT) Track

• Certified Network Defender (CND): It is the best way to learn network security.
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH): The most popular ethical hacking certification in the UK.
• EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA): Advanced penetration testing course
• Licensed Penetration Tester (Master): Fully online, remotely proctored practical exam

Incident Response and Handling Track

• Certified SOC Analyst (CSA): Helps you master skills for an L1 and L2 SOC analyst
• Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA): Teaches you effective threat intelligence
• EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH): Transforms your career

Forensics Track

• Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI): A certification course for digital forensics

EC-Council delivers cybersecurity training via four modalities:

iLearn: This enables you to study flexibly by streaming videos anytime, anywhere.

iWeek: It is a live, online, instructor-led modality. It allows you to engage with the certified instructors in real-time.

Masterclass: It has been designed for current practitioners and is given by Master’s level instructors. It provides extensive hands-on opportunities.

In-person training: Offered by Accredited Training Consulting (ATC) partners across the country.

International Cybersecurity Institute

The International Cybersecurity Institute offers 100% online courses for self-paced learning. You can study anytime, anywhere. It offers NCSC certified training that has been accredited by the University of Lancashire. The course duration is 40 hours, but you will have the course access for 2 years once purchased to learn at your own pace. 

It is an intermediate level course that accounts for 20 credits in MSc Cybersecurity. You can either pay in full for the course at £750 or opt for three monthly payments £275. There’s also an option for six monthly payments at £145.

The course includes high-quality videos. It has a modular structure for a student-directed path. Your knowledge is checked at the end of each module and the course. You’ll receive instructor support through email along with one exam voucher, and a digital certificate of completion. 

FutureLearn

FutureLearn’s Introduction to Cybersecurity helps you to explore the world of cybersecurity and helps you develop skills for your own safety. It enables you to recognize online threats and learn the steps needed to minimize risk. The cybersecurity course is supported by the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Program. It is GCHQ certified, and IISP accredited.

It is an eight weeks long course. Takeaways from the course include skills for keeping up to date with cybersecurity, identification of malware, understanding of firewalls, VPNs, and prevention technologies. You will also learn to apply basic risk analysis and management techniques. You will be able to use cryptography and understand legal and regulatory issues related to cybersecurity.

This course does not require you to have any prior knowledge as it begins from the basic and goes on to in-depth knowledge. It can be undertaken by anyone interested in pursuing cybersecurity whether for personal or professional reasons. However, there are paid-for and accredited courses on the platform. Accredited degrees in IT computer science on the platform include a masters degree in cybersecurity.

Cyber Security Startups UK

You can check out our full London Startups guides for 2021 by clicking the links

If you like our Guide do also checkout our categories guides for Ethical, Energy, FashTech, AI Companies, Blockchain Companies, FinTech UK, Edtech and GovTech

UPDATE; Are you interested in starting a Startup or looking for more investment? Check out our best the best Venture Capital Firms London specialising in seed and Series A here.