The cybersecurity industry is perhaps one of the most saturated sectors in business today, so very few companies actually stand out. That’s especially true among the startups, as they’ve yet to carve out a real reputation based on what they’ve actually done. Yet the launch of Obsidian Security in 2017 made waves among industry insiders. Very quickly, and after the latest funding round, the company has already been valued at $27 million (source). They’re also backed by Greylock Partners (source), which is known for its willingness to back disruptive software companies that can transform the market.

What makes Obsidian Security so notable despite its rookie status? The company may be new, but then their claim to instant fame is the Dream Team they’ve assembled to lead the company. Glen Chisholm is their CEO, and he was previously the chief technology officer at the antivirus software company Cylance. Matt Wolff is their Chief Scientist, and he also had a senior role in Cylance. Ben Johnson is their CTO and he was a co-founder of the cyber company Carbon Black.

Where do the streams of revenue generated by cybercrime eventually go? There has been a lot of focus on the cost of hacks and breaches, but there's limited understanding of how these criminal enterprises function https://t.co/A1LNlU5WuQ.
— Obsidian (@obsidiansec) April 22, 2018

Just in case those professional credentials aren’t enough, take note that both Wolff and Johnson spent time working at the National Security Agency.

The main focus of Obsidian Security is providing security for hybrid cloud environments, which can be a very complicated affair. Hybrid cloud systems have become more and more popular among enterprise companies. That’s because these companies use the hybrid systems to enable their in-house servers to interoperate with the public cloud systems as offered by Amazon.com and Google.

To provide the necessary defense against cyber threats to hybrid systems, Obsidian Security looks to use the most advanced tools in the industry. These include machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as data telemetry and threat detection.

Cybersecurity remains a threat to everyone, and the complicated nature of hybrid systems make them especially vulnerable. With Obsidian Security, such systems can be better defended from attacks.