Friday Tech News | Wiz.io

Good morning and Happy Friday!

It’s been a whirlwind of travel for me over the past month and a half, and there’s no signs of slowing down. Womp. But - this week’s edition is awesome.

Quickly though on a happy side note, I received a pretty sweet box addressed to “Friday Tech News” after returning from one of my trips, and it was filled with swag. This was epic. If you’re a vendor looking to drop me swag, feel free to reply and I’ll send you my address haha!

But for real - I’m SUPER STOKED about this edition of FTN and hope you enjoy the interview below.

Enjoy your weekend, be physically and digitally safe!

Phil

Founder Focus - Yinon Costica

Over the last month, I’ve been so fortunate to spend some time with my friends at Wiz.io. I truly believe they’re doing incredible things in the market to democratize security tooling and make new products that are relevant for practitioners in their day-to-day operations.

Of special note, I’ve gotten the opportunity to interview Yinon Costica, Co-Founder and VP of Product at Wiz on their success, his background, and a ton more. Our consolidated conversation is below, and I hope you enjoy a peek inside his mind!

Describe your typical week? How do you start your day?

I usually start my day with a run to clear my mind before heading into the office. Once I’m there, I spend half of my time with engineering and my product managers, and the other half with our field team, customers, and prospects. Understanding the technology and the opportunities it provides, alongside listening closely to our customers’ pain points, helps me identify how we can deliver more value through Wiz. Personally, I view this as my top priority and the best use of my time. While my team and I focus heavily on innovation, I see each of our product managers as the general managers of their domain, fully responsible for the product’s growth and innovation. My days primarily revolve around ensuring that our customers are well-supported and that their goals are consistently met.

Who are your mentors?
I believe in continuous learning from everyone. It’s amazing how many opportunities for mentorship arise when you listen carefully and open yourself to learning. Whether it’s a new philosophy, technology, best practice, or habit, applying it to my own world and carrying the lesson forward is what I focus on.

Do you have pets? If so, what are their names, feel free to add a pic.

I do! I have Omri, a 4-year-old dog, who has been with my partner and me for almost 3 years. He’s practically a Wiz employee, traveling with me to the office on my bike every morning and sitting in on far more business meetings than the average dog. Wiz is proud of its dog-friendly offices, making it Omri’s favorite place to spend the day. His “older sister” is Mika, Assaf Rappaport’s dog, who is also known as the company’s Chief Dog Officer.

What are your goals in the next 12 months (can answer / don’t have to).

Our goals at Wiz are straightforward: to maintain the same pace of growth we've achieved so far while delivering the best value to our customers. This year, we are multiplying our product offerings - expanding our AI and data security solutions. Runtime security, code and cloud detection and response are all key opportunities to bring even more value to our customers. I believe these are the most critical components of our journey to building the world’s best cloud security company.

Business Questions:

How did it feel to say no to $23B?

I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid the 23-ton elephant in the room... Naturally I can’t address it directly. I will say that we are confident in our decision to continue on our path to building Wiz. We have an exceptional product and an even more exceptional team, and I’m so excited for what lies ahead.

Wiz has had a meteoric rise in the market. What do you attribute your success to when it comes down to it?

There are many factors that contributed to the incredible growth we’ve experienced at Wiz, but one of them has definitely been being the right company at the right time. We started Wiz on March 1st, 2020, just as COVID-19 erupted, which initially felt like the worst possible timing. Yet, counterintuitively, it turned out to be the exact opposite; the massive migration to the cloud spurred by global shutdowns only underscored the need for the platform we were building, and the ability to work remotely made it much easier to "reach" anywhere in the world without leaving the office. This agility allowed us to move extremely fast and achieve immediate results.

In addition, I think that our experience at Microsoft played a crucial role. After selling our first company, Adallom, to Microsoft, we had the opportunity to witness first-hand the cloud journey of some of the world’s largest brands and learned to think on an Azure scale. These learnings proved invaluable when we embarked on a journey of our own with Wiz.

What’s next for Wiz’s product line up? What problems are you going to solve?

What excites me most nowadays is how we are branching out beyond the cloud and expanding our product portfolio with the recent launch of Wiz Code - our newest product designed to secure the development lifecycle. This launch also marks our transition into a multi-product company.

In my view, Wiz Code is the next step in the democratization of cloud security. It empowers developers to take ownership of security from the start, ensuring that cloud risks are identified and addressed directly in the code before they can escalate into critical issues. This leads to an enhanced security posture, cost efficiency, and improved collaboration between teams, allowing organizations to ship secure code faster and with greater confidence.

What do you think the future of cyber security looks like in 5 years?

First, the trend of security democratization is key to scaling out security and making it part of our daily operations—we must continue simplifying security so that anyone can take part in it. Consolidation has also been a major topic in the industry, and for good reason—organizations are fed up with managing a patchwork of point solutions. They are actively seeking to consolidate vendors, recognizing that this approach provides better visibility, eliminates silos, and dramatically improves their teams' experience.

In both areas, Wiz is uniquely positioned in the cloud security space. We have always aimed to create a product that caters to a wide range of needs in an ever-changing environment. This is why teams turn to Wiz: to get a platform that scales with their security needs and continuously improves their security posture, even as the threat landscape becomes more complex by the day.

What advice do you have for those that are looking to start careers in cyber security?

Understanding the technology makes you a stronger security candidate and gives you the ability to turn strategy into practice, which is a powerful asset for making an impact. There is such a blurred line between security and engineering nowadays that great security talent comes directly from the engineering side, and it’s hands-on and pragmatic.

Cybersecurity is often about solving problems and balancing trade-offs, and as a product manager, you have to develop the empathy needed for your customers. This empathy is key to implementing security that works.

Fascinating convo, and Yinon and I both love to start our days with runs. Nothing better. Thank you Yinon for taking the time to speak with me and let me into your life just a bit!

OEM News & Updates 📰

Proofpoint | Proofpoint strengthens DLP capabilities through new framework and solution

• Proofpoint has created a new Information Protection Framework which helps implement DLP programs based on the NIST framework.

• Focuses on planning, visibility, and rule setting.

• Also announced a security platform expansion which now includes tools for compliance, threat detection, and adaptive response which aims to reduce risks related to attacks on people, data loss, and human error

Cequence | Cequence Security partners with Netskope to provide protection for business-critical APIs

• Cequence Security has partnered with Netskope to integrate API threat intelligence into Netskope's platform.

• Partnership aims to combat the increasing threats to APIs from cybercriminals including automated attacks and bots.

• Supports a good old fashioned ZTNA framework and pursuit

Vast Data | Next-gen data platform: Vast Data's role in AI and cloud tech

• Initially VAST was focused on storage, but they've expanded to offer a comprehensive platform integrating advanced processing capabilities, essential for AI and cloud computing.

• The platform supports complex, unstructured data types like videos and images, making it easier for enterprises to leverage AI without needing specialized expertise.

• The new partnership with NVIDIA helps bridge the gap between unstructured and structured data, which allows for more sophisticated queries and analyses at the enterprise layer.

Protect AI | Protect AI Democratizes AI Security Training with Free MLSecOps Foundations Online Learning Course 

• Protect AI has launched a free, four-part video training program called MLSecOps Foundations. It aims to teach organizations how to integrate security into AI/ML.

• Training led by Diana Kelley who's an expert in the field.

• Get certed upon completion.

Microsoft | Microsoft and Oracle reveal even more partnerships for cloud and AI businesses

• Microsoft and Oracle have expanded their Oracle Database Azure service introducing Microsoft Fabric and oracle Database Azure Integration.

• The new integration with OCI GoldenGate allows for enhanced data analytics and AI applications by unifying diverse and disparate datasets.

• Also integrates with Sentinel for improved threat detection and analytics.

Tenable | Tenable Introduces AI Aware: A Groundbreaking Proactive

• Tenable has launched AI Aware, a tool for detecting AI vulnerabilities and weaknesses in AI apps, libraries, and plugins.

• AI Aware uses multiple assessment methods to detect both approved and unapproved AI software and associated vulns.

• Coming out in early October.

JFrog | JFrog Unveils First Runtime Security Solution to Deliver Complete Software Integrity and Lineage from Code to Cloud

• JFrog has introduced Runtime, a security solution that integrates security throughout the software development process from code to cloud.

• The platform allows real-time monitoring of K8s clusters.

• Offers real-time vulnerability visibility, advanced prioritization, exposure management, and comprehensive analytics for K8s clusters.

Netskope | Netskope Advances Netskope One Platform With AI-Driven Proactive DEM Solution, Key Security Innovations

• Netskope announced several new features in their One Platform, including expanded Proactive Digital Experience Management and Cloud TAP for enhanced network and security operations.

• DEM provides comprehensive network performance insights and AI/ML driven diagnostics to reduce costs and improve UX.

• Cloud TAP enhances visibility by capturing packets in the Netskope private cloud for advanced analysis.

Articles I Liked This Week 💡

SME Street | Gartner Predicts 40% of AI Solutions to Be Multimodal by 2027

Tech Funding & M&A 💸

Recorded Future | Mastercard to Acquire Cyber Company Recorded Future in $2.65 Billion Deal

• Recorded Future is a Massachusetts-based cloud platform that offers solutions including dark web monitoring, threat analysis and vulnerability management for businesses.

Aembit | Aembit Raises $25 Million in Series A Funding for Non-Human Identity and Access Management

• Aembit is a Maryland-based workload IAM platform that enables DevOps and security teams to manage, enforce, and audit access between federated workloads.

Laravel | Laravel raises $57M to expand team and support open-source development

• Laravel is an open-source PHP web framework platform for the development of web applications.

ShareFile | Progress to Acquire ShareFile

• ShareFile is a North Carolina-based cloud-based company that allows users to store, share, and manage files for sectors including healthcare and financial institutions.

WarpStream | Confluent acquires streaming data startup WarpStream

• WarpStream is an Illinois-based cloud platform that enables developers to optimize data transmission and storage.

Zafran Security | Iranian-born Israeli cyber pioneer Sanaz Yashar nets $40M for Zafran Security

• Zafran is an Israel based risk and mitigation platform that provides solutions such as cybersecurity, runtime inspection and data normalization for enterprises.

Glean | Glean Announces Over $260 Million Series E and Next-Generation Prompting as it Brings Work AI to the Enterprise

• Glean is a California-based generative AI-driven workplace search platform that analyzes and summarizes query results from business apps, documents, conversations and tickets.

Datricks | Datricks raises $15M Series A for AI-powered compliance and risk management platform

• Datricks is an Israeli startup which has developed an AI-powered compliance and risk management platform.

Meme of the week 🤣

Reader Submission from last week:

Recommendations 👉🏻

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Thank you so much for making this a part of your Friday morning coffee time. I'm Phil Moroni, and I'm an Account Executive in the Information Technology industry here with another edition of Friday Tech News!

What is this? This is a newsletter that provides updates and insights on the latest trends and developments in the technology industry. I am a professional who specializes in supporting IT leaders in evaluating, investing, and managing people, processes, and technology tools that support their businesses.

Each week, I summarize relevant industry updates from popular Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's), software publishers, and managed providers. The goal of my research and newsletter is to keep you informed about current trends and events that may impact your business from a trusted and reputable source. It's just information I'm sharing, and I follow and work with hundreds of partners in the industry, keeping track of their growth, changes, and evolution so that you don't have to.

Bottom Line: As you focus on improving your business through digital initiatives, my commitment is to keep you informed of the fast-paced changes and trends taking place so that you can plan ahead and stay ahead of the game.

Key areas of focus for me are:

1. Cloud Computing, Security, Trends

2. Developer & Security Tools

3. Networking & Infrastructure Tools

4. End User Tools & Workspace Tech

5. Emerging Technologies and Future Concepts

If you have any questions, would like information about any specific vendors I follow, or would like to have a conversation about any topic that is challenging you, I invite you to engage with me! I value feedback immensely and would love to know what you find valuable about this newsletter so feel free to reach out!

Thank you for reading and stay digitally and physically safe!

Phil