UPDATED 15:03 EDT / DECEMBER 23 2019

SECURITY

Security intelligence startup RiskRecon acquired by Mastercard

Mastercard Inc. today said that it has acquired RiskRecon Inc., the startup behind an artificial intelligence service for identifying indirect cybersecurity threats in a company’s business ecosystem.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded four years ago in Salt Lake City, Utah, RiskRecon has raised $40 million from investors that included Accel.

The company’s namesake AI service enables companies to see whether the organizations they work with, such as suppliers, have proper security mechanisms in place or if their systems are vulnerable. A payment processor like Mastercard can use RiskRecon to check that partner banks are taking appropriate steps to protect customer information. 

The startup’s service assesses companies’ security posture by gathering data about their publicly facing systems. RiskRecon looks at factors such as whether a firm has configured its site in accordance with security best practices and if there are any internal applications accessible via the open web that shouldn’t be. Overall, the algorithms under the hood looks at some 40 different parameters to determine how well a company protects its data.

It’s not hard to see why the technology drew Mastercard’s interest. Systems that process credit cards are a favorite target for hackers, and RiskRecon’s risk detection features can potentially enable the payments giant to take a more active role in tackling the threat. Mastercard could offer RiskRecon to banks, online retailers and other merchants as a way of reducing their threat exposure, as well as use it internally.

The company already provides a number of security solutions for businesses. Mastercard’s Early Detection System alerts banks when customer accounts are compromised in data breaches, while the Cybersecurity Toolkit it launched earlier this year enables merchants to insulate themselves better against cyberattacks.

Mastercard expects the RiskRecon acquisition to wrap up in the first quarter of 2020. The company said the startup’s service will continue to be available for organizations in industries outside finance such as healthcare and manufacturing. 

RiskRecon Chief Executive Officer Kelly White added that “by becoming part of their team, we have an opportunity to scale our solution and help companies in new industries and geographies take steps to better manage their cybersecurity risk.”

Photo: Pixabay

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