NEW YORK - Aug 3 2023 - New York-based cybersecurity startup, Jericho Security, secured $3 million in Pre-Seed Round led by Jasper Lau’s Era to combat the rising tide of generative AI-powered phishing attacks, with participation from Lux Capital, FoundersX Ventures, MetaLabs, Alcove, Textbook, Alumni Ventures, Thorntree, Daniel Liem, Henry Elkus and Contrary.
“Corporate cybersecurity solutions are antiquated and have become virtually obsolete overnight due to the magnitude, personalization and adaptive attacks from generative AI. Jericho Security is pioneering an emerging opportunity within the cybersecurity industry called “AI-Containment”, creating tools to combat these rising threats,” said Jericho Security Co-Founder and CEO Sage Wohns. “Too often companies only take proper cybersecurity action when it’s too late, following reputational harm and potential litigation. We believe in proactive cybersecurity, empowering organizations to prevent attacks rather than reacting to breaches. Jericho equips companies and their employees with the tools and skills to identify and halt generative attacks effectively.”
The recent explosion of generative AI technologies represents a unique and unprecedented threat vector in enterprise security: AI can be used to build hyper-personalized, social engineering phishing attacks at scale. Such attacks have more than tripled since the launch of ChatGPT, and their sophistication increases by the hour. Unfortunately, many companies have not adapted their cybersecurity posture to keep pace with generative AI making them more vulnerable than ever.
Jericho Security uses AI to fight AI, acting as a white hat for organizations. It uses advanced language processing, custom privately-hosted language models, and brokered data to train employees using realistic personalized simulations of threats from malicious actors. Personalized to individual users, Jericho provides organizations with team-wide metrics and individualized feedback and hopes to pioneer a new sector in cybersecurity focused on defending customers from AI-driven attack vectors.
The financing will allow Jericho Security to scale its NYC and LA-based team, accelerate growth, and further develop its suite of products and services devoted towards helping customers identify and contain AI-driven attacks to their organizations.
“At Era, we partner with visionary founders that have a path to building category-leading technology companies. Jericho’s founders are time-tested entrepreneurs with strong experience building and scaling AI and enterprise software companies, and we are thrilled to support Jericho as they build to reimagine enterprise security with AI,” said Jasper Lau of Era.
Phishing attacks are the root of more than 90% of data breaches, and 86% of companies have at least one employee that has fallen victim to one. Jericho helps clients defend against them by educating employees on how to spot and stop them, all at a fraction of the cost of traditional training.
“Our best clients are executives who audit their team's current practices and genuinely questions whether they have grown complacent in their posture,” added Wohns.
Founded by veteran cybersecurity and AI entrepreneurs, Jericho Security is a product of decades of collective observation of the evolution of cyber threats, and has brought on a world-class Advisory Board that includes individuals such as Alec Ross, Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Andrew Howard, former CEO of Kudelski Security.
Jericho Security is currently working with design partners across finance, healthcare, and government sectors, demonstrating its commitment to meeting the diverse security needs of enterprises. The solution will be available for enterprises at an affordable price of $3 per user per month, delivering superior value compared to traditional training options.
Jericho Security is headquartered in New York City with a team in Los Angeles as well. To learn more about the company, please visit www.jerichosecurity.com.
About Jericho Security
Founded in 2023, Jericho Security helps enterprises to defend against social engineering phishing attacks by leveraging artificial intelligence to create sophisticated simulations and educational content for employees.
About Era
Founded by Jasper Lau, Era is a global investment partnership of 30+ multi-generational family conglomerates across 19 countries and 25 industries. Era brings together the collective expertise, industry intel, and strategic capital of the firm’s families to invest in category-defining technology companies that are solving civilization’s biggest industrial challenges.