CIA Invests in Data Security Encryption Platform Called Enveil
Posted on 04/30/2022
Fulton, Maryland-based Enveil is a data security platform. Enveil raised US$ 25 million in Series B funding led by USAA and was joined by investors including Mastercard, Capital One Ventures, C5 Capital, DataTribe, In-Q-Tel, Cyber Mentor Fund, Bloomberg Beta, GC&H, and 1843 Capital. In-Q-Tel is the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to Enveil’s website, “Enveil is a pioneering Privacy Enhancing Technology company protecting Data in Use. Enveil’s business-enabling and privacy-preserving capabilities for secure usage, collaboration, and monetization protect data while it’s being used or processed – the ‘holy grail’ of data encryption.”
1843 Capital is an early stage venture capital firm investing in technology and tech-enabled CPG companies.
In October 2021, TripleBlind, a competitor of Enveil raised US$ 24 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding led by General Catalyst and Mayo Clinic. In addition to General Catalyst and Mayo Clinic, Series A round participants include AVG Basecamp Fund, Accenture Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Flyover Capital, KCRise Fund, NextGen Venture Partners, and Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health.
In April 2022, Data security company Veza came out of stealth mode after raising more than US$ 110 million in funding. The investment came from venture firms such as Accel, Ballistic Ventures, Bain Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, GV (Google Ventures), and True Ventures, as well as angel investments from notable industry leaders, including Kevin Mandia, Founder and CEO, Mandiant; Enrique Salem, former CEO, Symantec and Partner, Bain Capital; Lane Bess, former CEO, Palo Alto Networks; Manoj Apte, former CSO, ZScaler; Joe Montana, Liquid2 Ventures; and, security leaders Niels Provos, Karthik Rangarajan, and many more.
FBI Conducted 3.4 Million Warrantless Searches of American’s Data
On another note, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched emails, texts, and other electronic communications of as many as 3.4 million U.S. residents without a warrant over a year, according to an annual transparency report issued Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The warrant-less queries were made between December 2020 and November 2021 by FBI personnel as they looked for signs of threats and terrorists within electronic data legally collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is forming a “misinformation” board, akin to what could be like a future “Ministry of Truth”. The DHS had created a Disinformation Governance Board to combat online disinformation.