JASK emerges from stealth with $12 million and an automated threat detection service

JASK is emerging from stealth today with $12 million in the bank and a machine learning technology that automates network monitoring and management for overtaxed security teams.

The thesis behind JASK’s service is the somewhat depressing (and frightening) thought that these days there aren’t enough security experts to meet the demands of running a modern business. Simply put, people can’t respond to every breach that a company faces, because there aren’t enough professionals trained in cybersecurity.

To manage that staffing shortage, companies can turn to automated services like JASK that will monitor networks and prioritize threats to chief information security officers and their teams based on the severity of the threat, according to a statement from the company.

The company was founded by network security veteran Greg Martin, a co-founder of ThreatStream (now Anomali), which was also developing network monitoring technologies.

JASK’s latest round was led by Dell Technologies Capital and TenEleven Ventures, with additional commitments from previous investors Battery Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners.

As a result of the investment, Deepak Jeevankumar, a managing director at Dell Technologies Capital, and Mark Hatfield, a managing partner at TenEleven Ventures, will both take seats on the company’s board.

The company said it would use the money to hire more data scientists, speed up its product development and concentrate on specific avenues within machine learning research.

“Without AI and machine learning, cybersecurity will continue to be a difficult problem to solve,” said Jeevankumar.