Acreto Security Announces Investment Partnership With JLL Spark

NEW YORK, March 7, 2023 (Newswire.com) – Acreto Security, the leading provider of instant, enterprise-grade cybersecurity, is pleased to announce an investment partnership with JLL Spark Global Ventures, JLL’s corporate venture arm dedicated to transforming the real estate industry through technology-based innovation. JLL Spark has identified Acreto as the first provider of tech powerful enough to deliver superior levels of cybersecurity protection for buildings and PropTech.

Developers, owners, and building managers require the best technologies to enhance the tenant experience. In addition, the workplace continues to evolve, with people working onsite, offsite and moving between locations, while buildings are getting “smarter.” Acreto can secure technology intended to automate building operations while improving the experience for occupiers, tenants and visitors. This partnership will enable Acreto to support the commercial real estate industry with a platform that provides powerful security that’s faster to implement and easier to manage than previously available.

Joe Silva, Chief Information Security Officer at JLL Technologies:

“We believe Acreto is uniquely positioned to address the growing attack surface of smart buildings with their unique, easy-to-implement approach to network security. Our investment is aligned with our commitment to securely enabling our clients via property technology.”

John Weiss, Chief Executive Officer of Acreto:

“The Acreto platform was created to provide enterprise-grade security that’s fast to deploy and simple to use. Our approach ensures that customers always get the best protection without the delay, complexity and costs of traditional solutions. Our partnership with JLL Spark will help secure commercial real estate, new hybrid work models and combat rapidly evolving cyber threats much more efficiently.”

 

About Acreto

Acreto delivers full-stack cybersecurity without products, logistics or significant security expertise. It creates and consolidates the best of cybersecurity into a single plug-and-play platform with automated updates to stay ahead of threats. Acreto activates enterprise-grade security instantly, so organizations can run safely, easily, and without interruption.

Media Contact: Patricia Cucolo

patricia@acreto.io

https://spark.jllt.com/

 

Acreto Security Increases Mid-Market Leadership With New CEO John Weiss

NEW YORK, February 16, 2023 (Newswire.com)- Acreto Security, the leading provider of instant, enterprise-grade cybersecurity, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Weiss as CEO. As cyber attacks increase, Weiss will guide Acreto’s significant growth objectives and lead the charge to ensure comprehensive security is available to the mid-market.

Weiss has extensive experience in management consulting and IT/Security operations, leading businesses innovation to expand revenue and improve efficiency. Weiss led successful revenue expansion programs at both Netlink and o9, achieving significant valuation increases for both companies. He joins Acreto with the shared belief cybersecurity can be better executed without patchwork products or expensive resources. He recognizes what makes Acreto a leader: it can activate enterprise grade security within hours, and is certified by leading insurers to achieve and maintain cyber risk policies.

Weiss commented: “Acreto appeared on my radar several years ago when I heard about their ability to provide comprehensive security from the cloud, including very granular segmentation to fight ransomware. I am excited to join a talented team of executives and build on the significant growth that has taken place over the past several years. We live in a world where security vendors make marketing promises, but don’t deliver the goods. Acreto’s ability to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive platform within hours matches my personal objective of building trust by delivering what you promise.”

According to Babak Pasdar, co-founder of Acreto, “Our dramatic growth requires that we bring in an experienced leader to continue our rapid expansion into new markets and geographies. I am delighted to welcome John, while I continue to lead the product development effort.”

https://acreto.io

Media Contact: Patricia Cucolo

patricia@acreto.io

About Acreto:

Acreto delivers full-stack cybersecurity without products, logistics or significant security expertise. It creates and consolidates the best of cybersecurity into a single plug-and-play platform with automated updates to stay ahead of threats. Acreto activates enterprise-grade security instantly, so organizations can run safely, easily, and without interruption.

 

Robert Thomas – Former CEO Infoblox and NetScreen – Joins Acreto Board

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 20, 2021- Robert Thomas, Silicon Valley veteran CEO who led both NetScreen Technologies and Infoblox from startup to IPO, has joined Acreto’s Board of Directors.

As a serial CEO, advisor and investor, Robert has been at the forefront of the network and security industry since the beginning of his career. Robert led both NetScreen Technologies and InfoBlox from startup to highly successful IPOs, with over $7 billion in total market valuation. Robert currently serves as an advisor to several VC funds, including Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

“I’m impressed with Acreto’s vision, management team and execution. As compute, storage, access and application delivery have all moved to the cloud, security has just not adapted. That is because it’s hard. Acreto is the only technology I know of that has solved this problem in a meaningful way. They consolidate security across the hybrid infrastructure, all the while dramatically simplifying it,” said Robert Thomas. “I’m very much looking forward to what the future holds for Acreto.”

Robert brings 30 years of experience creating, building and managing profitable technology businesses to Acreto. As a key member of the Acreto Board of Directors, Robert will help support the company’s strategic direction and growth as Acreto fundamentally changes how the world’s most vulnerable systems are secured.

Acreto provides comprehensive, end-to-end security that eliminates the need for products and complex security operations. Acreto delivers a cost effective, simple platform that protects today’s complex hybrid infrastructure from the cloud. Acreto SASE+ Plus introduces unique patent-pending innovations, such as Secure Application & Data Interconnect (SADI), Nano-Segmentation, Network Wormholing and Ecosystem Security — offering capabilities well beyond traditional products or SASE providers.

“Robert’s insight and experience in building success, along with his ability to strategically connect complex dots is unparalleled in the industry. I am honored and excited to have Robert join Acreto and consider him both a mentor and a friend,” said Babak Pasdar, Acreto’s CEO.

https://acreto.io

Media Contact: Patricia Cucolo

patricia@acreto.io

About Acreto:

Acreto is the first cloud-delivered, end-to-end connectivity and security platform that can connect and protect any technology, on any network, anywhere. Acreto SASE+ Plus delivers Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) functionalities for access technologies such as devices, networks, IoT / OT and third-parties; while Acreto Secure Application and Data Interconnect (SADI) connects and protects application delivery infrastructure such as clouds, SaaS, data centers and co-locations. Acreto SASE+ Plus is SASE plus SADI — one platform with one interface from one provider for all of your technologies around the world.

 

Acreto Security Selected for UK Government’s LORCA Program

Acreto Security Selected from Companies Worldwide to Participate in LORCA’s Cohort 4

January 28, 2020, Jersey City: Acreto Security has been selected as a member of the LORCA (London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement) program – a UK government-backed program aimed at addressing today’s most complex cybersecurity challenges by identifying and accelerating the best of the best cybersecurity technologies to the global market.

“Securing the Internet-of-Everything is a completely unaddressed and critical problem that both the UK Government and LORCA commercial sponsors are focused on,” said LORCA Executive Board Member, Louise Cushnahan, who serves as the Head of Innovation Programs for Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Security Information Technologies (CSIT). “We are working closely with other LORCA sponsors to identify and help scale companies with solutions to this challenge.”

LORCA was launched in 2018 with funding from the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to address critical cybersecurity needs. LORCA is delivered by Plexal, an innovation centre, along with delivery partners Deloitte and CSIT (the UK’s Innovation and Knowledge Centre for cybersecurity). It’s backed by corporate partners Lloyds Banking Group, Dell Technologies, the Global Cyber Alliance and Kudelski Security.

Businesses today utilize many technology platforms across multiple clouds, SaaS and data centers, with mobile and remote users utilizing myriad devices. Legacy security models are not designed to secure the new multi-party, multi-provider way we compute today. Acreto is the first platform that can protect any device, on any network, anywhere.

“We are delighted to have Acreto Security join LORCA’s group of select and highly-vetted companies. Our focus this year on Connected Everything led us to Acreto, which is tackling one of the most demanding challenges in cybersecurity today by securing distributed and mobile technologies,” said Saj Huq, LORCA’s Programme Director. “Our latest cohort is also a very international one, which demonstrates our aim of convening a diverse, collaborative and global cyber ecosystem.” LORCA member organizations are supported in numerous conventional and unconventional ways to accelerate their technologies to market including high-level introductions, access to industry notables in technology, strategy, marketing, legal and finance.

“Traditional network and on-device security approaches are no longer viable, especially for distributed and mobile environments,” said Babak Pasdar, Acreto’s Chief Executive Officer. “Acreto addresses this challenge with a unique and new model called Ecosystem security. This partnership with LORCA significantly enhances our access to strategic experts and expands our globalization capabilities.”  

About Acreto: Acreto is the first Security-as-a-Utility platform that protects mobile and distributed IoT Ecosystems (devices, users, applications). The platform works for any device, on any network, anywhere. Acreto eliminates the need for multiple silo vendors by integrating all fundamental security functions in a single platform.

About LORCA: LORCA’s mission is to support the most promising cybersecurity innovators in scaling and growing solutions to meet the industry’s biggest challenges while building the UK’s international cybersecurity profile.  

Media Contact:

Patricia Cucolo

Manager, Marketing and Public Relations

patricia@acreto.io

Acreto Selected as AcceliCITY Finalist

Acreto Selected as One of the Fourteen Most Promising Technologies for Smart Cities

Jersey City, N.J. August 27, 2019- Acreto IoT Security has been named an AcceliCITY finalist by Leading Cities, the global nonprofit for Smart City growth and collaboration. The Leading Cities, AcceliCITY program is focused on identifying and supporting technology companies that can drive pivotal changes in global Smart City initiatives. The process to select 14 finalists from 500 global entrants involved in-depth examination by a global panel of public and private sector Smart City experts.

According to Michael Lake, CEO of Leading Cities: “In the few short months since we began this year’s AcceliCITY program, we have seen a dramatic increase in cyber-security incidents affecting critical infrastructure for many cities, both large and small. From ransomware to financial fraud and election theft, cities are under siege by sophisticated hackers. Acreto’s cloud-based platform that protects any technology, on any network, anywhere, is a game-changing offering that addresses this challenge head-on.”

Lake continued, “This is a fundamentally new approach to cyber-security, providing a security utility for all connected technologies. Not only does it provide comprehensive protection, but it does so with a simple and effective service that is long-lived. Acreto is guaranteed to be sustainable for 20 years, which means cities don’t have to scramble every few years to upgrade and update their security systems.”

Acreto IoT Security is the first cloud-based Security-as-a-Utility platform designed to protect entire mobile, distributed and even enterprise computing environments. Acreto delivers uniform and consistent security across the many different technology components that cities have come to depend upon. This includes purpose-built connected devices, applications, clouds, offices and users.

Acreto COO, Thad Eidman, added: “Many small cities have paid $500,000 or more in ransom for their hijacked systems. They are being attacked by nation-state bad actors, terrorist organizations and organized crime to fund nefarious activities. And cities remain vulnerable due to the lack of expertise and resources. The bad guys know this and have amplified their efforts. In addition to insecure IT systems, connected devices / IoTs used in day-to-day city operations have exacerbated the situation. Our team is dedicated to solving this problem with a robust security utility that is simply turned on and can be used for the entire lifetime of any technology platform.”

Acreto is already a global leader for secure mobile and distributed assets, including Internet of Things Ecosystems. Acreto’s platform significantly enhances a city’s ability for agile, simple and effective security to protect every kind of connected technology asset over the long term.

Leading Cities is a global non-profit organization that improves the quality of life in cities through the development of “Smart Ecosystems”. The organization is a pioneer in city diplomacy, sharing best practices and promoting Smart City innovations to cities worldwide.

 

Media Contact:

Patricia Cucolo

Manager, Marketing and Public Relations

patricia@acreto.io

Leading Cities Nominates Acreto for AcceliCITY Program

Jersey City, N.J. June 19, 2019 – Acreto IoT Security has been selected as a semi-finalist from over 500 companies worldwide by Leading Cities, a Boston-based global organization focused on improving the quality of life through Smart City solutions. The selection process involved in-depth reviews by a global panel of leading Smart City experts. Acreto is now part of an elite handful of companies that have an opportunity to participate in the AcceliCITY program.

“Leading Cities is recognized for identifying innovative and game-changing organizations that can positively impact the lives of citizens worldwide,” said Michael Lake, Leading Cities CEO. “Cybersecurity is a common denominator that is imperative for all Smart Cities.  Acreto delivers a promising platform that addresses the need to secure distributed and mobile-connected devices – a critical element of Smart City environments,” Lake continued.

Acreto is the first cloud-based Security-as-a-Utility platform for the Internet of Things Ecosystems. Acreto secures any technology, on any network, anywhere. It delivers uniform and consistent security across the many different components of Smart City solutions. “Smart City environments consist of hundreds of different types of devices running on hostile networks. These devices are often physically accessible to anyone and everyone,” said Thad Eidman, Acreto’s COO. “Acreto delivers zero trust security for the entire 8-20 year lifespan of Smart City technology without burdening devices or requiring complex logistics. This is a game-changer for Cities whose only choice was to use mismatched legacy security tools with high overhead.”

Acreto is a recognized leader in providing security solutions to mobile and distributed IoT environments. Acreto’s Security-as-a-Utility usage-based pricing model enables cities to cost-effectively protect even the smallest IoTs, thus preventing hackers from traversing a network from one IoT to other assets. Leading Cities’ AcceliCITY program focuses on amplifying the impact smart technology start-ups have for cities and communities around the world. AcceliCITY helps innovative startups by connecting them with cities and leaders around the world through its robust member network.

 

Media Contact:

Patricia Cucolo

Manager, Marketing and Public Relations

patricia@acreto.io

Distributed via NJTC.org.

 

About Acreto

Acreto is the first cloud-delivered, end-to-end connectivity and security platform that can connect and protect any technology, on any network, anywhere. Acreto SASE +Plus delivers Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) functionalities for access technologies such as devices, networks, IoT / OT and third-parties; while Acreto Secure Application and Data Interconnect (SADI) connects and protects application delivery infrastructure such as clouds, SaaS, data centers and co-locations. Acreto SASE +Plus is SASE plus SADI — one platform with one interface from one provider for all of your technologies around the world. Learn more at https://acreto.io or @acretoio.

Why Today’s Security Is Not Secure

Interviewer: I’m here with Babak Pasdar of Acreto, and why don’t you tell me a little bit about what you guys do?

Babak Pasdar: Sure! Acreto delivers cybersecurity for distributed and mobile technologies. The challenge today is that everything is distributed or mobile, so when you’re looking at a network that supports a number of different technology types, IoT types- these networks have IoTs that are tied into cloud applications that are managed by another application. So it is not unreasonable to see the IoT, the network that the IoT runs on, the people who manage the IoT, the application, the infrastructure that supports the application and the people who manage the application, and finally the beneficiary of all of these to all be third parties from each other. So, when you put a security device at the edge of a network and you’re protecting communication between two points, it’s a very binary function- it’s on or off; and all of this creates a web of exposures where the application owners have privileged access into the network through the IoT, the IoT has the privileged access into the application, and quite often that application is tied to thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of other customers. So, this is a problem that you really need a quantum computer to analyze a risk on. We address that problem! So everything today, even if it is on a common network and it’s completely contained, it’s still distributed- and we deliver uniform and consistent security, not just for the IoT, but for the entire ecosystem of that IoT- the IoT, the application, the management platform, and the people, no matter where they are, anywhere in the world.

Interviewer: And it seems like, I mean almost every day we hear of some sort of big corporation getting hacked or some sort of security breach. I mean, what’s the reception been like from the real estate community about this?

Babak Pasdar: Yeah so, I think everybody realizes that the traditional cybersecurity model doesn’t work. We’ve had 30 years of failures, so it’s time to not just put a fresh coat of paint on what we used to do (by the way that dates back to the medieval times- the castle, moat, drawbridge approach to cybersecurity and putting on armor to go out), that dates all the way back to medieval times! So we have cybersecurity that is founded on concepts from medieval times. But IoTs, clouds, SaaS, have introduced a whole new compute dynamic and putting a fresh coat of paint on a traditional approach to cybersecurity just doesn’t cut it. And the reception has been incredible so we’re very, very excited! Because ultimately, people realize the problem; but so far there has not been a good way of addressing it and they are comforted by the fact that Acreto has come out with this whole new security model.

Interviewer: And you know, obviously, security- it’s not a one-time thing. It’s not a product you can just sell and be done, you know? Talk to me about how you partner with your clients to kind of have an ongoing security protocol.

Babak Pasdar: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, today customers spend 90% of their effort in keeping the lights on their security products, right? You have to select, acquire, implement, integrate, operationalize, troubleshoot, manage, and then every three years you got to refresh it. So that’s not sustainable, and they only allocate 10% of their effort to actually operating security. So we’ve turned that model on its head- we allowed a customer to only spend 10% of time on the security infrastructure because we eliminate all hardware, all software, or licensing. We are security that you can turn on rather than have to build out, and because of that you can only spend 10% of the time on the security infrastructure and 90% of time on managing your security. Along those lines we’ve also made it just super simple, so you don’t need to be a cyber subject-matter expert, you don’t even need to be a robust technologist to be able to roll-out and implement the cybersecurity. You can turn our platform on and get a global security infrastructure in a matter of minutes and you can manage it because it’s really, really simple. So if you understand your business needs, if you understand your requirements, and if you understand what’s important to you, you can manage this platform.

Interviewer: Yeah, I mean I think that’s a great point because a lot of people in real estate don’t have a technology background and you know, how do you reassure them? I’m sure every cybersecurity firm says “we’re the most secure, we have the best protocols,” how do you assure them that this is something that will be secure and they won’t get hacked?

Babak Pasdar: That’s another good question! So absolutely, one of the challenges customers have with a lot of the existing approaches to security is that these technologies talk about monitoring all the different IoTs, monitoring all the different platforms, and notifying the customer. So, this is a model that I call the “you’re screwed” approach to cybersecurity. The challenge is, that creates a scenario where a customer has to spend a lot of effort and energy on incident response, so when you’ve got 750,000 IoTs and you do some kind of a roll-out that creates an exposure and some percentage of those IoTs get compromised, even if it’s half a percent or 1%- that creates an incident response requirement that could last months and months and months, and that’s not really viable or sustainable. So what we do is we mitigate real-time, so the reason customers are comforted by it is because every day they see what could have been and what was avoided in real-time, and they understand what their exposure is, and they understand what the attack surface is, and they understand what could have happened, and we mitigate it.

Interviewer: Yeah, that’s great! I mean everybody wants to know what could have happened and why they can feel more secure with a product like yours.

Babak Pasdar: Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things we’ve done is we’ve taken our platform and made it sustainable, right? We always hear about sustainability- well, the average life of an IoT infrastructure is 8 to 20 years, right? Enterprise is only 3 to 5 years, and IoTs are distributed, they’re mobile, they barely have enough juice to do what they’re supposed to do, much less security, and one of the problems is that securing IoTs through traditional methods means having many, many, many different refresh cycles for the security- so how many new security infrastructures do you have to roll-out for the same IoT platform over a course of a 20-year lifetime? 3, 4, 5? So that’s not really viable, and a lot of customers choose to assume risk, much less go through that pain and effort, especially when you’re dealing with distributed IoTs. Acreto is guaranteeing a 20-year sustainability for security, so we guarantee that our platform is just as viable in year 20 as it was on day one! So this is reassuring to customers who now realize that they don’t have to go through all the gyrations or they don’t have to assume the risks in order to have a platform that is in line with the business longevity of the technologies they use.

Interviewer: Great! Well thank you so much for talking to me and stay safe out there!

Babak Pasdar: My pleasure, thank you! 

 

About Acreto

Acreto is the first cloud-delivered, end-to-end connectivity and security platform that can connect and protect any technology, on any network, anywhere. Acreto SASE +Plus delivers Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) functionalities for access technologies such as devices, networks, IoT / OT and third-parties; while Acreto Secure Application and Data Interconnect (SADI) connects and protects application delivery infrastructure such as clouds, SaaS, data centers and co-locations. Acreto SASE +Plus is SASE plus SADI — one platform with one interface from one provider for all of your technologies around the world. Learn more at https://acreto.io or @acretoio.