Startup Advises New Approach To Security: Managing Vulnerabilities

But a Silicon Valley startup is evangelizing a different approach to security altogether. Instead of focusing on preventing attacks, the IT security world should think about managing vulnerabilities, said Nand Mulchandani, vice president of marketing and business development at Determina, Redwood City, Calif.

This week, the company is launching its Vulnerability Protection Suite, comprising its original product, Memory Firewall and its new LiveShield. Released last year, Memory Firewall provides zero-day protection for 70 percent of vulnerabilities on Windows servers by blocking any attempt to inject code. The new LiveShield provides protection from the remaining 30 percent, he said. LiveShield takes only the error-corrective code from Microsoft patches and injects it into the system, allowing for hot-patching of multiple servers simultaneously with no downtime and no reboot required, Mulchandani said.

With $19 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Mayfield and U.S. Venture Partners, the startup now is turning to the channel to take its product to market, Mulchandani said. Determina has some direct accounts established, but its goal is to transition to 100 percent channel distribution, he said.

Mike Panno, executive vice president of Itasca, Ill.-based Laurus Technologies, said Determina&s technology “fits very well with what we are trying to do.” Laurus is Determina&s first reseller, he said. With five current partners, Determina hopes to grow its roster to about 30 within a year, Mulchandani said. It is hoping to add partners with a strong presence in specific verticals, including financial services and the federal market, he added.