IAI snaps up two foreign firms in cyber-defense push
Israeli aerospace and defense firm announces investment of millions of dollars in Dutch and Hungarian companies
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the nation’s largest aerospace and defense firm, said Thursday it is investing millions of dollars in two cyber companies in Holland and Hungary to expand its research and development activities.
The company’s cyber division made the investments, IAI said at the Cyber Week conference in Tel-Aviv.
In Holland, IAI is investing in Inpedio BV, a provider of cybersecurity solutions to governments and enterprises. Inpedio has developed an anti-ransomware solution that detects and stops exploitation attempts, and technology that beefs up the defenses of iOS and Android cellphones against sophisticated cyberattacks by integrating the protection layers of the devices with those of network and communications providers.
In Hungary, IAI is investing in Cytrox, which provides governments with solutions for the design, management and implementation of cyber intelligence as well as new ways to gather intelligence from end devices and cloud services.
The new investments will add to IAI’s existing cyber operations in Israel, Switzerland and Singapore.
The company also said that Singapore’s Secura Group recently acquired a 20 percent stake in IAI’s R&D center in Singapore, Custodio Technologies, for $4.5 million, according to an emailed statement.
Cybersecurity has been earmarked by IAI as a strategic field and growth engine for the firm which provides customers a variety of ways to cope with cyber threats. These include technologies for monitoring, intelligence-gathering, verifying identities and enabling secure access.
Companies globally have been investing in cyber-technologies to keep themselves and their customers safe, as cyber-criminals and nations become increasingly daring in their hacking attacks.
“The investments in local software companies form the basis for expanding our R&D into fields that complement our Israeli operations while reinforcing our European representations in advancing joint business activities,” said Esti Peshin, general manager of IAI’s Cyber Division. “Secura Group’s investment in our R&D center in Singapore allows us to advance the development of early warning technologies and our positioning in Singapore’s business community.”
IAI operates R&D and innovation centers in Singapore, Switzerland and Israel. In addition, IAI leads the Israel Cyber Company Consortium (IC3) which offers end-to-end solutions for national cyber systems and comprise leading Israel cyber companies.
