Intel Becomes A Strategic Partner In Team8

Intel, the semiconductor company, has become a strategic partner in Team8, an Israeli creator of cybersecurity startups.

According to a report in Reuters, Intel is joining the likes of Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm, AT&T, Citigroup, Accenture, Nokia, Bessemer Venture Partners and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors as strategic partners in the company that has already rolled out two cyber startups dubbed Claroty and Illusive Networks. Two more are gearing up to be launched, noted the report.

In an interview with Reuters releasing the news, Team8 Co-Founder and CEO Nadav Zafrir said one of the companies will be exiting stealth mode in the next few weeks while another will do the same in early 2018. The executive wouldn’t provide more details other than to say each of the syndicate members have a different view on cybersecurity and the internet.

“[Citigroup] enables us to see the world from a financial standpoint. With Intel joining, we will see the challenges going forward in cybersecurity like computing, automotive, cloud, mobile and IoT (Internet of Things),” Nadav Zafrir said in the interview. “Together we can address the (cyber) problems before they emerge.”

According to the report, Intel also plans to work with Illusive Networks, which is a cyber startup that catches the hackers once they infiltrate corporate networks via deception technologies. With the alliance between the two, Intel can extend deception-based cybersecurity from software to hardware, noted Reuters.

“Our collaboration with Illusive Networks provides users with more effective defenses against sophisticated APTs, in the early stage of the attack, that otherwise go undetected and pose a great threat to enterprises and individuals,” said Jacob Mendel, general manager of Intel’s platform security division, in the Reuters report.