Ransomware has been a destructive and costly scourge for years, but it remains one of the most pervasive types of cybercrime, defying efforts to contain it. The FBI saw over 2,800 incidents reported in 2023, a 22% increase over the prior year, with reported losses up 74%. And data captures only a fraction of the actual damage: when the Hive ransomware group was infiltrated by the FBI, they discovered only 20% of victims notified the authorities. To that end, Chainalysis reported $460 million of crypto inflows to ransomware-related entities in the first half of 2024, with total ransom payments surpassing $1 billion in 2023. And earlier this summer Zscaler researchers discovered evidence of a Fortune 50 company paying a $75 million ransom, the largest ever reported.
Enter: Halcyon
This is where Halcyon steps in. Halcyon is the first dedicated anti-ransomware platform that combines multiple advanced prevention engines, key material interception, automated recovery, and enhanced 3rd party security controls protection.
The rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) has lowered the barrier to entry for cybercriminals, leading to an increase in the frequency and sophistication of attacks. While sophisticated, these attacks follow detectable behaviors and patterns, which means that enterprises can take advantage of Halcyon’s advanced anti-ransomware platform to reduce the risk and impact of ransomware. Next47 is excited to join forces with the Halcyon team through our investment in its $100M Series C financing. Much of Halcyon’s differentiated approach stems from its proprietary AI models, tuned to detect ransomware behavioral indicators and TTPs. These powerful models constantly examine each endpoint to stop ransomware in real-time. Halcyon is designed to be complementary to an enterprise’s existing security stack, leveraging a micro-agent that monitors traffic that has already passed an EDR. In addition to far better detection, this deployment architecture can also prevent an EDR from being disabled by an attacker.
Halcyon stops ransomware in the pre-execution stage. However, its impact on enterprise survivability doesn’t stop there: even if an attacker were to reach the point of encrypting files, Halcyon can intercept encryption keys and quickly decrypt any affected files in order to keep operations running. This is a critical difference; a strategy that relies solely on backups can take an organization weeks to restore. Halcyon uses multiple layers of defense to stop ransomware immediately and prevent downtime.
Proactive Defense: Disrupting the Ransomware Economy
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that waiting for the next attack is no longer an option, especially in industries where people’s lives are on the line. Healthcare, critical industries, manufacturing, government, and technology are among the most targeted. Halcyon’s promise lies in its ability to disrupt the ransomware economy, challenging attackers at each step and giving defenders a much-needed edge.
It’s always best to see a product in action: you can get a demo of Halcyon here. And if you’re interested in joining the mission, Halcyon is hiring for a variety of roles on their careers page.
