SquareX, powered by Sequoia Southeast Asia, protects web users with disposable browsers

Most of our pc time is spent in an online browser the place we test electronic mail, create paperwork, switch recordsdata, financial institution on-line, store or stream leisure. This leaves us susceptible to safety threats reminiscent of phishing, identification theft, and session hijacking, however many cybersecurity instruments have been created when the principle threats have been file viruses, worms, and community assaults. Vivek Ramachandrancybersecurity entrepreneur and researcher who found Cafe Latte attack.

To fight browser-based vulnerabilities, Ramachandran, SquareX. Singapore-based cybersecurity startup introduced at the moment that it has raised $6 million in seed funding from Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia, which it would use in its R&D engineering and go-to-market plans.

SquareX desires to function a substitute for present cybersecurity merchandise by being particularly designed for browser-based cloud SaaS instruments. It integrates with browsers as an extension and permits customers to open hyperlinks and recordsdata in disposable browsers that function non permanent container sandboxes. Headless scanners run in SquareX’s knowledge facilities in order that threats do not attain their computer systems and customers haven’t got to fret about their private data being uncovered.

Earlier than launching SquareX, Ramachandran was the founding father of Pentester Academy, a cloud-based cybersecurity training initiative that enables customers and organizations to check how hackers have infiltrated their firms. Pentester Academy Acquired by INE in 2021.

Ramachandran advised TechCrunch that whereas operating Pentester Academy, his clients complained about how usually their safety merchandise have been disabled by customers as a result of it was getting in the way in which of their productiveness. For instance, somebody within the means of acquiring an vital Phrase doc from somebody marks that file as malware and ultimately disables the safety software program to view it. In consequence, Ramachandran realized that many safety merchandise have been really counterproductive, as they made folks much less possible to make use of them.

In consequence, he created SquareX, which doesn’t block entry to recordsdata or assets, even when they’re categorized as doubtlessly malicious. As an alternative, it makes use of disposable browsers. Ramachandran mentioned SquareX was designed as a substitute for VPN, antivirus, anti-malware and different endpoint safety options.

SquareX’s disposable browsers permit nameless looking from any location. Customers can “dispose” of it at any time, which means that no knowledge is retained and the browser session is immediately destroyed and faraway from SquareX’s servers. Ramachandran mentioned it’s safer and extra non-public than incognito mode because the web sites the person visits or the recordsdata they obtain will not be saved on their pc.

“SquareX creates disposable environments, permitting a person’s identification and knowledge to be separated when accessing the web,” he added. “This makes even probably the most refined web site screens fail to observe and log person exercise and hyperlink it to their identification.”

SquareX’s go-to-market technique will primarily deal with the USA, United Kingdom and Asia.

Anandamoy Roychowdhary, Surge companion of Sequoia Southeast Asia, mentioned in a press release concerning the funding, “The web world is about to get lots worse because the AI ​​revolution is channeled into producing malicious code. Each cybersecurity resolution out there may be solely probabilisticly profitable in defending web customers, and meaning assault “It is not a lot of a aid in the event that they crash and lose cash. SquareX is the primary resolution we have seen that takes a 100% safety strategy, with no probability of influencing customers, regardless of how new and complicated the assault is. That is the long run we predict all web customers deserve.”