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BitSight and VisibleRisk join forces to solidify the connection between cyber risk and financial risk

Nadav Zafrir September 13, 2021
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Today it was announced that VisibleRisk will join forces with BitSight. And Moody’s has made an additional $250 million investment in the extended company. At Team8 we are extremely pleased to remain active shareholders and continue to support this new entity, made up of BitSight and VisibleRisk.

When we launched this joint venture with Moody’s in 2019, our goal was to create a global standard for cyber risk measurement and benchmarking. Huge progress has been made and we’re excited to continue this partnership as BitSight and VisibleRisk rapidly expand their combined offerings, confirming their cyber security ratings leadership position and delivering a more robust cyber risk quantification. VisibleRisk will enhance BitSight’s ability to offer a broader range of solutions and capabilities, and how it engages with executives throughout client organizations.

Two years ago, we anticipated a new reality in which managing cyber risk at the executive level becomes absolutely necessary. This was just months before the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, which then dramatically accelerated the world’s  dependence on digital infrastructure. It’s now absolutely clear that no organization will thrive without understanding and managing it’s cyber security posture. Managing a sophisticated technical risk in a complex environment in which attackers are becoming faster and better, can only be achieved by balancing security and productivity to achieve the organization’s goals, and must be led by the business leaders.

In May of this year, when we announced that VisibleRisk had achieved $25 million in a series A funding round, I pointed out that cybersecurity had now become a critical risk factor, with 70% of board directors viewing cybersecurity as a strategic enterprise risk. What we also know is that it’s more complex than just trying to build more protection around your cyber assets. Rather, it’s necessary to implement the right risk mitigation decisions for the business. Right now, building new products, business models, markets and partnerships all introduce cyber risk, which absolutely must be managed with the same attention as you’d manage other risks.

It is this challenge that we set out to tackle with Moody’s. Creating an actionable risk management simple framework  to enable business and tech leaders within organizations to work together and manage the risk requires a broad range of disciplines, so partnering with Moody’s made perfect sense.  Through a joint venture, we were able to leverage Team8’s unique company-building process and cyber security expertise, as well as Moody’s global leadership in risk assessment and ratings. Cyber Security at its best is a team sport and this joint venture coupled with Our global CISO Village enabled us to move fast with a formidable team.

Following the integration, BitSight will create a risk division, led by VisibleRisk CEO, Derek Vadala, focused on cyber risk quantification and executive reporting.

Derek has been a long-standing member of the Team8 advisory board and has made a fantastic contribution not only to VisibleRisk but to many of our portfolio companies. His vision has driven the development of VisibleRisk and the creation of the platform that meets the needs of organizations to understand and manage their cyber security risk.

We will continue to support BitSight and VisibleRisk in many ways. Our deep ties to Israel and the talent pool that exists there, as well as our ability to provide R&D and technology support, will both continue for the new entity. In parallel, the Team8 Village community will continue to create opportunities for collaboration and partnerships that will further contribute to the entity’s success.

We are thrilled to be part of what BitSight and VisibleRisk will be achieving, about the role we can play to support their vision.

Originally appeared on Medium

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