As we reach the close of 2022, the Nudge Security team has been reflecting on the milestones we’ve achieved over the last year. We’re feeling pretty grateful for all of our customers, partners, advisors, early access participants, and teammates who made our first official year so stellar. Here’s a recap of Nudge Security in 2022:

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Seed to startup

In April, we announced our our mission and $7M seed funding led by Ballistic Ventures. With it, we kicked off an early access period and spent the next few months talking to over 250 security and IT leaders who shared with us their real-world perspectives, test-drove our product, and helped to inform our product roadmap.

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The input we received from early adopters helped reinforce our unique human-centered approach to SaaS security and gave us insight on how to best help distributed organizations to govern SaaS adoption. Without exception, everyone we spoke to acknowledged the security risks related to shadow IT, SaaS sprawl, and the SaaS supply chain.

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Earned our SOC 2 compliance

With a founding team comprised of cybersecurity leaders from AT&T Cybersecurity (AlienVault) and HPE (Fortify), it’s no surprise that security has been our top priority since Day One. We were proud to complete our SOC 2 attestations (Types 1 and 2) immediately after launching the company in April. 

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Learn more about our security ethos and how we’ve continued to prioritize security throughout the company’s development on our Trust and Security page.

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Expanded our team

Throughout the last year, we’ve assembled an incredible team of employees, partners, early access participants, customers, investors, and board members who are dedicated to building human-centric security solutions that work with employees rather than against them. The diverse perspectives and skill sets we’ve brought on board will be instrumental in our company’s growth. 

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In particular, Nudge Security welcomed three outstanding advisors in 2022, including Kunal Anand, CTO at Imperva and co-founder of Prevoty; Dr. Aaron C. Kay, PhD, J Rex Fuqua Professor of Management and Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University; and Nicole Perlroth, New York Times cybersecurity journalist, best-selling author, and advisor to CISA.

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Published research on the behavioral psychology of cybersecurity

Historically, cybersecurity solutions have attempted to account for human fallibility by strong-arming users into compliance, blocking risky activities and punishing users for stepping out of line. But despite these interventions, human behavior still plays a role in 82 percent of data breaches. We knew we needed to take a different approach.

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To help us approach the human element in cybersecurity in ways that account for human behavior rather than trying (and failing) to control it, we drew on expertise from outside of the cybersecurity field. This year, we consulted psychologists from Duke University to research how users respond to cybersecurity interventions and published a research report: “Debunking the ‘stupid user’ myth in security.” Unsurprisingly, we found that 67 percent of users admitted they would try to get around a blocking intervention—whereas 78 percent said they would comply if they were nudged towards the right behavior instead.

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Launched our flagship product

In October, we officially launched our product to help enterprises manage SaaS sprawl and shadow IT. We’ve taken a unique approach to SaaS discovery designed for reliability in a modern work environment, where any user can spin up a new tool and start using it for business-critical purposes immediately. With a simple integration between Nudge Security and your Microsoft or Google email, we can deliver visibility of your entire SaaS ecosystem. 

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Using automated playbooks within the product, you can take actions to improve your SaaS security posture such as assessing your SSO adoption rate, identifying rogue AWS accounts, and nudging your users towards better security behaviors.

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We’d love for you to kick the tires yourself by signing up for a free trial.

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Nudge Security in the news

• Solutions Review: 8 Endpoint Security and Network Monitoring Vendors to Watch in 2023
• ESecurityPlanet: What VCs See Happening in Cybersecurity in 2023
• CSO Online: When blaming the user for a security breach is unfair – or just wrong
• CSO Online: Cybersecurity startups to watch for in 2023
• DarkReading: Security Awareness Urged to Grow Beyond Compliance
• DarkReading: Nudge Security Launches Platform With Humans in Mind
• Ballistic Ventures: Why Cybersecurity Needs a Big Nudge
• DarkReading: Uber: Lapsus$ Targeted External Contractor With MFA Bombing Attack
• Axios: Employee cellphone attacks pose new threat to companies
• Forbes: How Can CISOs Improve the Employee Experience?
• SC Magazine: Ballistic Ventures launches $300 million cybersecurity venture fund
• SC Magazine: What to do about the impending shadow supply chain? 
• DarkReading: 'Human Behavior' Security Startup Nets $7M in Seed
• SecurityWeek: Nudge Security Bags $7M Seed Round
• Washington Post: Belarus conducted widespread phishing campaigns against Ukraine, Poland, Google says

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Looking forward: 2023 and beyond

It’s been a heckuva Year One at Nudge Security, and we’re excited to kick off another year of growth and product innovation. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements as we move into the new year—and don’t be shy about booking a demo or starting a free trial if you’re curious about how we help your enterprise. In the meantime, we’re wishing you a happy holiday season and an even happier 2023!