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The security company that Slack turned to after its breach just raised $30M

Cale Guthrie Weissman   

The security company that Slack turned to after its breach just raised $30M
Tech2 min read

Duo Security

Duo Security

Two-factor authentication is a hot new feature for companies, even if the technology has been around for ages. The well-known security practice has people logging in to networks verify their identity by sending a confirmation message to a personal device like a smartphone.

As companies are looking to adopt better security practices, two-step has become an easy implementation for companies to ensure that those logging on are really who they say they are.

One of the companies riding this security wave is Duo Security, which provides enterprise companies with easy and secure log-in processes for employees. Today the Ann Arbor-based company raised another $30 million, in a round led by Redpoint Ventures.

Duo has been around since 2010 and including this round has raised about $48 million. Its business has been providing an easy platform to give large companies two-step authentication access. This meant that companies are provided an extra layer of login security, making it so that whoever is on their network must not only type in a username and password, but also have a personal device confirm the identity.

Over 6,000 companies have signed on, explained Oberheide. These include the co-working chat app Slack, which chose Duo earlier this year following its highly publicized security breach.

Slack's breach is just one example of many. "The security industry, as it exists in current day, is broken," said Oberheide

That's why the company is raising so much money, and so fast. Just last September it raised a $12 million round. "We've seen a large gap in security that's continuing to grow," he added.

Duo is using these funds to launch a new platform as well as expand to new cities. The new service is meant to unify all potential security issues for network administrators. In essence, it creates a way for those in charge to understand what possible holes a company could have in its network. It monitors what people are doing on the network, analyzes how risky their practices are, and informs higher-ups of any potential security risks.

Oberheide told Business Insider that it "gives organizations and administrators visibility."

Beyond being in a popular industry. Oberheide thinks Duo's current success is because its primary business is based on one of the simplest and most well-known security conventions. Said the co-founder, "two-factor has simply become a known best practice for securing your organization."

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