Cybereason raises $200 million from SoftBank to expand global footprint

[August 06, 2019]  (Reuters) - Antivirus startup Cybereason said on Tuesday it raised $200 million in investment from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T>, doubling the total investments raised by the company so far to about $400 million.

The Boston-based company, which was founded in 2012, has previously raised capital from CRV, Spark Capital and Lockheed Martin.

SoftBank launched a second Vision Fund last month, in which it committed $38 billion and secured pledges from Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> and other investors of around $108 billion, as it looks to strengthen its position as one of the world's biggest tech investors. (https://reut.rs/2YnqvGK)

A string of cyber attacks and data breaches at major corporations has helped cyber security companies sell more of their products.

Cyber attacks can range from denial-of-service attacks that can cripple an entire organization to malware and phishing, which often target individuals via emails containing dangerous links and attachments.

Cybereason said it will use the capital to expand its global footprint and focus on developing its core offering, Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP).

EPP is a suite of endpoint protection technologies such as antivirus, data encryption, intrusion prevention and data loss prevention that detects and stops threats at the endpoint, according to antivirus maker McAfee.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru)

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