WhiteHawk partners with Salmon Ventures to target US utilities sector
The partnership is aimed at driving penetration of the US utility sector through the 360 Cyber Risk Framework offering.
Cybersecurity advisory firm WhiteHawk (ASX: WHK) has taken steps to raise its sales revenues after partnering with Salmon Ventures, a US-based utility sector leader supporting initiatives for the US federal, state, and local regulators, as well as, investor-owned and municipal utility enterprises.
Launched in 2016, WhiteHawk began as a cybersecurity advisory service with a vision to develop the first self-service cybersecurity exchange simplifying how businesses discover, decide, and purchase cybersecurity solutions.
WhiteHawk and Salmon Ventures have said that together, the companies have identified a number of US-based utility corporations, associations, and regulators whose businesses are inherently exposed to third-party cyber risk through supply-chain partners, sub-contractors and vendors.
In response to market demand, WhiteHawk’s in-house product – the 360 Cyber Risk Framework – is designed to small businesses and organisations to effectively identify and mitigate risk posed by third parties, offering real-time cyber risk ratings via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) portal, continuous risk monitoring, and tailored solution options designed to mitigate the identified risks.
Recent listing
At the start of the year, WhiteHawk debuted on the ASX and raised A$4.5 million by issuing 20 million shares at A$0.20 each. Since then, the company’s valuation has lagged the market as the share price has sunk to A$0.062.
Situated within the Dulles Tech Corridor in the US, WhiteHawk claims it is now the “first global online cybersecurity exchange” that assists small and medium businesses in managing cybersecurity threats.
The company’s services include assisting companies around the globe in identifying their cyber risks and providing customised packages including software, advice and regular news and industry updates.
Companies can visit the online platform and receive assistance in identifying individual cybersecurity threats and are matched to vendors whose products best-fit their risk profile.
Cybersecurity threat opportunity
The sector WhiteHawk is targeting is currently growing at an immense rate due to the expansive rate of computing combined with growing connectivity between electronic devices. The combination of growing technology and connectivity has birthed a tremendous security risk for all users ranging from average individual users all the way through to large multinationals operating sizeable IT infrastructure as part of their operations.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) have identified the utility vertical (electric, gas/oil, water, and telecommunication) critical infrastructure as continuously under cyber-attack.
WhiteHawk’s partnership with Salmon Ventures is accelerating the delivery of the 360 Cyber Risk Framework to this critical infrastructure sector and has already driven a number of discussions between WhiteHawk and target customers within the US utility sector.
“Based on our work with the US Department of Energy in 2016, where we implemented a comprehensive cyber risk management solution, we identified a critical need within the US utility sector for effective cyber risk identification and mitigation solutions that leverage global open data analytics, commercial risk ratings and continuous mitigation,” said Terry Roberts, executive chair of WhiteHawk.
“With the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) affirming that the US power grid systems are equally vulnerable to the cyber-attacks that took down the power grid in Ukraine for several days, it is imperative that major players across the US utility sector take pragmatic, impactful, and affordable action.
“Working with Salmon Ventures allows us to smartly engage with the utility leadership and leverage WhiteHawk’s artificial intelligence methodologies based upon the compliance frameworks from federal guidelines, providing measurable and affordable processes for all enterprises,” said Mr Roberts.
“Further, this partnership enables WhiteHawk to penetrate the US utility sector of over 3,200 companies and entities, driving additional 360 Cyber Risk Framework sales and increased online traffic to the WhiteHawk Exchange by third parties to large utility organisations,” he added.