NowSecure

Last updated
NowSecure
Type Private
IndustryMobile Security, Security software
PredecessorviaForensics
FoundedUnited States
Headquarters
Area served
International
Key people
Alan Snyder, Andrew Hoog, David Weinstein, Katie Bochnowski
ProductsNowSecure Forensics, NowSecure Lab, The NowSecure Mobile Apps
Number of employees
51-200
Website nowsecure.com

NowSecure (Formerly viaForensics) is a Chicago-based mobile security company that publishes mobile app and device security software.

Contents

2009: Beginnings

Former CEO and Co-founder Andrew Hoog was working as a CIO when one of his employees was dismissed. After this dismissal, Hoog was tasked with reviewing whether the employee had stolen any sensitive data from the company. Rather than hire a forensics firm to investigate, Hoog performed the investigation himself and continued to do forensic work on the side.[ citation needed ]

2009-2014: From Forensics to Security

Hoog and his wife Chee-Young Kim both contributed money to start the company, originally known as Chicago Electronic Discovery and then as viaForensics. [1] Hoog devoted himself full-time to mobile forensics, while Kim continued to work at her corporate job during the day and participated in the business development at night and on weekends. In March 2011, viaForensics was profitable to the extent that it could pay for employee benefits, so Kim left her job and went to work at viaForensics full-time. On June 5 of that year, viaExtract 1.0 was released at a conference in Myrtle Beach. [2] viaForensics introduced what was known as viaLab in March 2013. viaLab was a product that allowed automated testing for a variety of security flaws in apps, including man-in-the-middle attacks, SSL strip attacks, coding problems, and opportunities for reverse engineering.

viaForensics was the subject of INC 5000's "#13 fastest-growing tech company in the US" award in 2014. [3]

2014-Present: Rebrand to NowSecure

In 2014, viaForensics launched viaProtect, [4] an app to show users destinations and sources of data to and from their mobile devices, at RSA Conference. [5] The company then began to focus more on similar individual and enterprise device protection. As a result of this focus shift, viaForensics decided to rebrand as NowSecure. [6]

Products

NowSecure is the publisher of NowSecure Forensics (formerly viaExtract), NowSecure Lab (formerly viaLab), and the NowSecure Mobile Apps (formerly viaProtect). NowSecure Forensics is designed for law enforcement to extract artifacts from mobile devices by applying deleted data recovery and data search. NowSecure Lab is mobile app vulnerability scanning software. [7] NowSecure Mobile is a free end-user oriented vulnerability scanner for iOS, Android, and Blackphone.

In 2014 and 2015, PC Magazine awarded viaProtect its "Editor's Choice for Android Privacy Utilities". [8]

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References

  1. McLean, Tessa (January 12, 2015). "6 secrets to NowSecure's success". Built In Chicago. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  2. "Powerful Forensic Tool for Android Devices Released".
  3. "viaForensics - Oak Park, IL". www.inc.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-30.
  4. Smith, Chris (March 13, 2014). "Spy on the NSA as it spies on you with this new Android app". Boy Genius Report. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  5. "Spy on the NSA as it spies on you with this new Android app". 13 March 2014.
  6. Graham, Meg (December 2, 2014). "ViaForensics raises $12.5 million in funding, rebrands as NowSecure". Chicago Tribune Blue Sky. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  7. Pletz, John (September 11, 2014). "Is your app secure? viaForensics can tell". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  8. Eddy, Max (March 24, 2014). "viaProtect (for Android)". PC Mag. Retrieved February 20, 2015.