SpiderOak

Last updated
SpiderOak Inc.
Industry Space Cyber Security
Founded2006
Headquarters Reston Town Center,
Fairfax County, Virginia
,
United States
Area served
 United States
Key people
ProductsOrbitSecure
Services

SpiderOak Inc. is a US-based software company focused on satellite cybersecurity.

Contents

The company began in 2006 as a producer of a collaboration tool, online backup and file hosting service that allows users to access and share data using a cloud-based server. [1] [2]

SpiderOak evolved into a space cybersecurity company and first tested its software in space in June 2023. [3] [4] It has partnered with Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and the Department of Defense. [5] [6]

History

SpiderOak was founded in 2007 by Ethan Oberman and Alan Fairless as an encrypted private backup program. [7] In 2013, SpiderOak began developing the Crypton framework, "a JavaScript framework for building applications where the server doesn't know the contents it's storing on behalf of users." [8] Crypton is an open-source project allowing developers to easily add encryption security to mobile applications. [9] By mid-2014, according to Oberman, SpiderOak had near 1 million users. [10]

Dave Pearah is the CEO of SpiderOak, serving in the role since 2020. Dave Pearah.jpg
Dave Pearah is the CEO of SpiderOak, serving in the role since 2020.

Its first offering, its online backup service later branded "SpiderOak ONE", launched in December 2007. SpiderOak is accessible through an app for Windows, Mac and Linux computer platforms, and Android, N900 Maemo and iOS mobile platforms. [11]

According to SpiderOak, the software used encrypted cloud storage and client-side encryption key creation, so SpiderOak employees could not access users' information. SpiderOak differentiated itself from its competition by this kind of encryption, [12] in provision for syncing files and folders across multiple devices, and in automatic de-duplication of data. [13]

Some components of SpiderOak ONE were open-source; in 2009, the company announced its intent for the SpiderOak ONE code to be fully open-source in the future. [14] As of 2016, the SpiderOak One client's source code is only available open-source for mobile platforms, with no current plans to make the desktop client's code open-source. [15] SpiderOak used to provide an open-source password manager named Encryptr, which was discontinued in March 2021. [16] [17] The source code for SpiderOak's group messaging application Semaphor is published to allow auditing. [18]

By 2014, SpiderOak was headquartered in Chicago and employed 42 staff, headed by CEO Alan Fairless. [10] Around the same time, the company had offices in Chicago and Kansas City, and was hiring remote employees inside and outside of the US. [19] [20] In 2015, SpiderOak raised $3.5 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to around $9 million. [21]

In February 2017, SpiderOak discontinued using the phrase "zero knowledge" to describe their SpiderOak ONE service following public criticism that the phrase conflicted with the mechanism behind cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs. SpiderOak adopted the phrase "no knowledge" for their marketing. [22]

Charles Beames became executive CEO of SpiderOak in 2022 as part of the company's increasing focus on space cybersecurity. Charles Beames.jpg
Charles Beames became executive CEO of SpiderOak in 2022 as part of the company’s increasing focus on space cybersecurity.

In November 2017, founder Alan Fairless was replaced as CEO by Christopher Skinner, who announced that the company would be expanding into enterprise software, partially funded by a $2 million Series B round. [23]

David Pearah became CEO in 2020. [24]

Charles Beames became executive chairman of the company in 2022. [25]

In January 2023, the company raised $16.4 million in a financing round "to make a full-tilt push into building its space business." [26] In May 2023, the company received investments from the venture capital arms of Accenture, Raytheon Technologies and Stellar Ventures to "speed up the deployment of zero-trust, cybersecurity platforms for government and commercial clients operating in the space sector." [27] [28]

In June 2023, the company first demonstrated its OrbitSecure cybersecurity software in space on a Ball Aerospace prototype payload. [29]

In July 2023, the company demonstrated its OrbitSecure software on the International Space Station. [30]

OrbitSecure Features

As part of a pivot to space cybersecurity, SpiderOak in 2021 increasingly focused on its OrbitSecure cybersecurity software. The suite of products uses encryption and distributed-ledger software to operate a decentralized key management system. [31] The company described OrbitSecure as providing "end-to-end cybersecurity for the Department of Defense’s future Hybrid Space Architecture." [32]

The platform relies on containerized workloads, in which bits of code are bundled together with all the files they need to run independently of other blocks of information. This siloing of different applications makes for more efficient and secure data processing and transmission in orbit. [33]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "SpiderOak Service Agreement". SpiderOak. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Spideroak Service Description". SpiderOak. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  3. ↑ Werner, Debra (8 March 2023). "Beames becomes SpiderOak's chairman of the board". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Werner, Debra (8 March 2022). "Beames becomes SpiderOak's chairman of the board". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Jewett, Rachel (29 March 2022). "Lockheed Martin Partners with SpiderOak Missions Systems on Space Cybersecurity Platform". Via Satellite. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Jewett, Rachel (18 May 2023). "SpiderOak Snags Investments from Accenture, Raytheon Technologies & Stellar Ventures". Via Satellite. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "About SpiderOak". Archived from the original on 2014-10-09.
  8. ↑ "About Crypton".
  9. ↑ Klint Finley (March 1, 2013). "Open Source Project Prepackages Kim Dotcom's Security". Wired.
  10. 1 2 Yadron, Danny; MacMillan, Douglas (2014-07-14). "Snowden Says Drop Dropbox, Use SpiderOak". WSJ.com Digits. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "SpiderOak Review: Cloud Storage reviews at". Nextadvisor.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  12. ↑ "SpiderOak: Dropbox for the security obsessive". 4 April 2012. The chief difference between SpiderOak and its competitors for the security and privacy-conscious is in how the services treat user data.
  13. ↑ Carla Schroder (2009-01-22). "Spideroak: Secure Offsite Backups for Linux". LinuxPlanet. Archived from the original on 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  14. ↑ "Spideroak: Engineering Matters". SpiderOak. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  15. ↑ "Why isn't SpiderOak open source yet? When will it be?". Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  16. ↑ "SpiderOak/Encryptr". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  17. ↑ Tervort, Adam (April 14, 2021). "Encryptr End of Life". SpiderOak Support. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Semaphor Verifiable Source". spideroak.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  19. ↑ "SpiderOak Grows Enterprise Revenue 300%, Doubles Headcount". spideroak.com. SpiderOak. December 10, 2013. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Chris Cooley shares how SpiderOak's distributed team works". Silicon Prairie News. August 29, 2014.
  21. ↑ Elahi, Amina (2015-07-23). "SpiderOak raises $3.5 million to store data with 'zero knowledge'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  22. ↑ "Why we will no longer use the phrase Zero Knowledge to describe our software". spideroak.com. SpiderOak. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  23. ↑ Kaberline, Brian (2017-11-15). "SpiderOak introduces changes in top post, target customers". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  24. ↑ "Dave Pearah, Spideroak Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  25. ↑ Werner, Debra (8 March 2022). "Beames becomes SpiderOak's chairman of the board". SpaceNews.
  26. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (12 January 2023). "Investing in Space: Digital orbital danger". CNBC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  27. ↑ Edwards, Jane (19 May 2023). "Accenture, Raytheon, Stellar Ventures Invest in Space Cybersecurity Company SpiderOak". GovCon Wire. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  28. ↑ Jewett, Rachel (18 May 2023). "SpiderOak Snags Investments from Accenture, Raytheon Technologies & Stellar Ventures". Via Satellite. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  29. ↑ Jewett, Rachel (26 June 2023). "SpiderOak Demonstrates OrbitSecure Cyber Software on Ball Aerospace Satellite". Via Satellite.
  30. ↑ Zisk, Rachael (29 August 2023). "SpiderOak Demonstrates Cybersecurity on the ISS". Payload. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  31. ↑ Jewett, Rachel (26 June 2023). "SpiderOak Demonstrates OrbitSecure Cyber Software on Ball Aerospace Satellite". Via Satellite. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  32. ↑ Staff, Startland News (13 January 2023). "SpiderOak raises $16.4M for space cybersecurity tech to protect 'soft underbelly' of satellites". Startland News. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  33. ↑ Zisk, Rachael (29 August 2023). "SpiderOak Demonstrates Cybersecurity on the ISS". Payload. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
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