NetContinuum Secures Strategic Investment From Siemens Venture Capital
July 1, 2003 Munich, Germany and Santa Clara, CA–Siemens Venture Capital and NetContinuum, a leading provider of Web and application security solutions, today announced that Siemens has made an additional strategic investment in NetContinuum. Siemens invested in NetContinuum during the company’s early stages and recently increased its investment in the company to solidify its stake in the emerging Web security market. As one of the largest “e-buyers” and “e-sellers” in the world, Siemens has selected NetContinuum as a strategic investment opportunity due to the company’s innovative approach to Web and application security – a market in which Siemens is also active and plans to grow. Including Siemens’ additional investment, NetContinuum has secured more than $55 million in funding to date.
Migrating business processes to the Web can substantially cut costs and shorten production times. “Siemens and many of its customers are moving processes onto the Web, and it is extremely important that this transition is conducted in a secure manner,” said Thomas Dollhopf, Partner with Siemens Venture Capital. “Advanced Web security technologies will be one of the core enablers of increased e-business adoption. We anticipate that the availability of next-generation products like NetContinuum’s will stimulate broader e-business adoption by allowing companies to safely maximize the cost benefits of the Web while also reducing risks associated with breaches in confidentiality and the transfer of data.”
With application vulnerabilities accounting for more than half of all attacks today, the Web application security problem is increasingly at the forefront of corporate budget criteria. According to a recent survey by Goldman Sachs, IT buyers named security as the number one area of expected spending increase and “migration to Web projects” as number three.
Siemens’ investment and involvement with NetContinuum will also enable NetContinuum to leverage the global power and resources of Siemens through access to worldwide sales and service channels, particularly in the European market. “Siemens maintains incredibly strong expertise in the e-business arena and will be an invaluable asset to us as we enable our customers to securely move mission critical applications and resources online,” said Wes Wasson, chief strategy officer at NetContinuum.
Because traditional network firewalls and intrusion detection systems do not operate at the application layer, up to 70 percent of all Web attacks today pass undetected through this first line of defense (CSI/FBI). NetContinuum addresses this problem with its line of high-performance security appliances that provide immediate “Day Zero” protection from Web-based threats without relying on after-the-fact patches or intrusion detection signatures. Powered by the largest security ASIC ever built, NetContinuum’s product line provides full website cloaking, Web attack prevention at all layers, a guaranteed audit trail of all Web transactions, SSL-based VPNs to precise Web resources, and instant SSL encryption of entire Web sites – all at full wire speed. This approach dramatically reduces the time and cost of securing Web applications.
About NetContinuum, Inc.
NetContinuum is a leading provider of enterprise-class web security gateways – next-generation web security appliances designed to secure applications and protect against web attacks. NetContinuum was recently listed in the “visionary” quadrant on Gartner’s Firewall Magic Quadrant 1H03 and named a “Top 10 Start-up to Watch” by Network World Magazine. Privately held, NetContinuum has secured more than $55 Million in funding from blue-chip venture capital firms and investors, including Palomar Ventures, Menlo Ventures, NIF Ventures/Daiwa Securities, Adams Street Partners, Invus Group, MKS Ventures, and Siemens. For more information, please visit www.netcontinuum.com or call 408-961-5600.
About Siemens Venture Capital
Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) is the corporate venture organization for all of Siemens’ businesses worldwide. SVC plays a key role in the Siemens global network of innovation. The goal is to identify and fund investments in emerging and innovative technologies that will enhance the core business scope of Siemens. To date, SVC has invested over 500 million euros in more than 70 start-up companies and 25 venture capital funds mainly in the U.S., Europe and Israel. SVC is located in Germany (Munich) and in the U.S. (San Jose, CA and Boston, MA). More: www.siemensventurecapital.com