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Kenna Security Turns HSBC From Client to Investor
[January 15, 2020]

Kenna Security Turns HSBC From Client to Investor


SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kenna Security, the enterprise leader in risk-based vulnerability management, announced that HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, has invested in the company after deploying the Kenna Security Platform across the bank. 

“As customers, we saw first-hand the strategic value of the Kenna Security platform, and we knew that this was a unique opportunity for a growing company that complements our existing portfolio,” said Grant Bourzikas, HSBC Group CISO. “Kenna’s technology enabled us to unify security and IT across multiple business units, improving efficiency. Our investment reflects the vast appeal we think Kenna’s model presents across organizations and industries.”

HSBC enlisted Kenna Security’s risk-based vulnerability management platform to help the company manage security practices across its numerous IT divisions. Following this deployment, the bank joined the previously announced $48 million Series D funding round.

“HSBC transitioned from a customer to investor in less than a year of working with us,” said Karim Toubba, CEO of Kenna Security. “The bank turned to us because we were able to fundamentally transform how they looked at and managed risk, evolving their security practices across the globe. HSBC’s security team immediately saw the value and has been an amazing partner, working with us to roll out the Kenna Security Platform across its IT business units and adopt modern risk-based vulnerabilitymanagement. Ultimately, HSBC’s investment arm saw the demonstrable business benefit in our approach.”



The Kenna Security Platform uses advanced algorithms and historical threat data to prioritize the riskiest vulnerabilities, and accurately predict the ones most likely to be exploited by hackers. The platform puts risks in context with an intuitive user interface that scores the vulnerabilities across the organization according to department, assets, and other granular groupings.

HSBC has invested in some of the most well-known companies in the cybersecurity industry. A 2017 deployment of CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform led to a significant investment in 2018, and a successful IPO in June 2019. Other examples include investments in internet isolation experts Menlo Security and DevOps automation specialists CloudBees. The investment was made by HSBC’s Strategic Innovation Investments team, a corporate venture capital unit taking minority holdings in early-stage technology companies with a strategic relevance to HSBC. The team has made over 20 investments since its inception in 2014.


Additional Resources

About Kenna Security
Kenna Security is the enterprise leader in risk-based vulnerability management. The Kenna Security Platform enables organizations to work cross-functionally to determine and remediate cyber risks. It leverages machine learning and data science to track and predict real-world exploitations, empowering security teams to focus on what matters most. Headquartered in San Francisco, Kenna serves nearly every major vertical and counts CVS, KPMG, and many Fortune 100 companies among its customers.

About HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 65 countries and territories in our geographical regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,751bn at 30 June 2019, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

Media & Analyst Contact: 
Matt McLoughlin
Gregory FCA for Kenna Security
Phone: 609-385-2058
Email: [email protected]

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