20 Things You Didn’t Know About Dragos
Dragos is an industrial cybersecurity startup that provides essential system security for companies. With the rising threat of illegal hacking and thieves set to steal intellectual property from large companies, Dragos and other tech companies like it are necessary to help protect systems from becoming vulnerable to criminals. Dragos is an impressive provider we’re highlighting today. If you have not yet heard of it, here are 20 interesting facts about Dragos worth knowing.
1. Dragos is global
Crunchbase reports that Dragos serves industrial organizations by providing cybersecurity products and services to protect the infrastructure of their business. Furthermore, it serves companies around the globe. Dragos is not limited to serving clients in just one country of the world.
2. Dragos is an American tech company with an international presence
Dragos is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. Although it is American in origin, this enterprise has expanded its reach to include offices in various cities throughout the world. Dragos also has offices in the Middle East, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and several European countries.
3. Dragos gets into your business
Dragos operates from a platform that uses an integrative approach. It gets into the inner workings of your systems to give you a clear view of your networks to better identify and potential cyberthreats as they arise. The software is technologically advanced to cover all the bases to ensure that there are no gaps in protection. Hackers are experts at finding small chinks in the armor of a cybersecurity system. Dragos’ solutions aim to circumvent these events through proactive measures that catch potential threats of intrusion before they happen.
4. Dragos offers solutions across a broad range of industries
Drago’s cybersecurity solutions are customizable to work for companies across all kinds of industries. The platform serves energy, manufacturing, water utilities, power companies, and others. This helps us to understand why the services it provides are so critical. Just one major cyber security event could affect thousands if not millions of people if a power grid was taken down or held hostage by criminal hackers.
5. Dragos is forward-looking
The information we gathered from Crunchbase confirms that Dragos is a forward-looking provider that is ready to tackle new challenges as they arise. Things are changing so quickly in the digital world. It’s the system to which all things are connected. Most industries rely on interconnectedness to perform daily operations and delivery of services. Dragos has optimized its platform to support emerging applications, and it lists the “Industrial Internet of Things” as one of them. This proactive approach is necessary to provide fool-proof protection for new businesses and industries as they emerge. The current technology climate is one of rapid advancements and changes. Staying ahead of clever criminals who sadly misuse brilliant minds for nefarious activities is just one function that Dragos performs. From all appearances, their research and development team is doing an exceptional job of staying on top of potential threats, enough to keep them one step ahead of hackers.
6. Dragos operates on a high-tech platform
The Dragos platform relies on several different technologies to ensure that its website functions efficiently for visitors. There are 56 technologies actively employed at any time. These technologies are spread out over 28 tech services and products. Some of them include iPhone Mobile compatible, to ensure that mobile apps are integrated with the website, HTML5 for coding, and Google Analytics, which helps Dragos retrieve useful data reports about web traffic with demographics and usage data. Key decision-makers in the organization retrieve reports from the analytics for strategic planning. Each technology product used performs an essential function.
7. Dragos is led by a core executive team of 8
Crunchbase lists the 8 main leaders of Dragos as members of the core executive leadership team. The founder and chief data scientist are Justin Cavinee. Ben Miller is the vice president of services and research and development. Sergio Caltagirone is the vice president of threat intelligence. Jodi Schatz is the vice president of engineering. Chris Carlson is the vice president of product. Peter Vescuso is the vice president of marketing and business development. Kate Kaalek is the vice president of customer success. Casey Brooks is the senior adversary hunter.
8. Dragos has a board of directors
The board of directors for Dragos is made up of 13 members. Michael Janke joined the board in June 2016. He has founded five organizations and currently serves on 5 boards of directors in advisory roles. Bob Willimans joined the board as an advisor in 2018. He is an investor and advisor of Apisec.ai with one portfolio company. he currently serves on 7 boards of directors in advisory roles. Andre Turenne is a director at National Grid Partners. he currently serves on 6 boards in advisory roles. Jon Lavender joined the board in August 2019. He is the chief technology offer and founder of Dragos. he founded one organization and serves on one board as an advisor. Doug Donzelli joined the board in July 2017. He has founded 3 organizations and currently serves on 2 boards of directors in advisory roles. Dmitri Alperovitch joined the board in 2019. He currently serves on 4 boards of directors in advisory roles. Sameer Reddy is a partner at Energy Impact Partners. He currently serves on 2 boards of directors in advisory roles. Abishek Shukla joined the board in June 2020. he is a managing director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He currently serves on 10 boards of directors in advisory roles.
9. Dragos is a venture capital-supported enterprise
Dragos has participated in 8 rounds of venture capital funding so far. The most recent round of Series D fundraising concluded on October 28, 2021. The total amount of funds raised is $364.2 million. The company is considered a late-stage venture capital organization.
10. Dragos has 15 investors
The total number of investors backing the growth and expansion of Dragos is 15. Dragos has been successful in attracting the attention of multiple wealthy investors. Some of them include National Grid Partners, Global Reserve Group, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, BlackRock, Emerson, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Koch Disruptive Technologies, DataTribe, Canaan Partners, AllegisCyber, and others.
11. Dragos acquired NexDefense
On March 18, 2019, Dragos acquired a company called NexDefense. The business is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a cyber security company that had a total funding amount of $8.1 million before the acquisition was completed. the cost of the acquisition was not disclosed. NexDefense will continue operating as usual as a subsidiary of its parent company Dragos.
12. Dragos is a unicorn company
Dragos’ LinkedIn page confirms that the cybersecurity provider has reached a high and elevated status. Dragos has a valuation of $1.78 billion. This goes over and above the required $1 billion necessary to be a member of the unicorn group of businesses throughout the world. The figure was confirmed after the latest round of investor capital Series D fundraising was completed, bringing in an additional $200 million. The high amount of funds raised suggests that investor confidence is high in Dragos.
13. Dragos gives credit where it is due
We were impressed with the way Dragos treats its staff of researchers, developers, engineers, and other members of the team. The company is vocal and publicly acknowledges the contributions that its workers make toward the overall success of the company. It is an organization that values its staff and makes sure to tell the world about the accomplishments made through public disclosures. Organizations that recognize hard work and excellence are more likely to retain the brighter and best talent. This is likely one of the reasons why Dragos has established a solid reputation as a cybersecurity provider.
14. Dragos was founded by a social science major
Robert M. Lee is the founder of Dragos. He is also the chief executive officer in charge of leading the company forward. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Lee earned his bachelor of science degree at the United States Air Force Academy, majoring in social science. He also received undergraduate cyber training through UTC, which is a technical school of the Air Force. He continued his education at Utica College, earning his Master of Science degree in Cybersecurity with an emphasis on Computer Forensics. He graduated with a GPA of 4.0.
15. Lee is a member of the world economic forum
Dragos is fortunate to have Robert M. Lee as its leader. He networks extensively with members o the global communities through his membership in the World Economic Forum. He was accepted as a member of the group in April of 2020 and is presently involved with the group. He serves on the oil and gas and electricity committees with a role as advisor for policies on cyber resilience. The position allows Lee access to leaders of these industries to point out the importance of cyber security, and to gather information about concerns of global clients about issues relating to cyber security.
16. Dragos is currently hiring
Dragos is a company that is highly desirable for skilled professionals in the cybersecurity industry. We saw on the company’s LinkedIn page that there are job openings. Many of the jobs are for the headquarters in Hanover, Maryland, but we saw multiple listings for remote workers who can live anywhere in the United States and still qualify to become members of the Dragos workforce. Forty-six is a significant number of job openings which suggests that Dragos is beefing up its infrastructure of workers for another growth spurt.
17. Dragos helps keep our railway systems safe
According to the Dragos official website, the North American rail system depends upon Dragos to help keep rail companies from experiencing cyber attacks. The rails provide transportation for freight and passengers. The services depend upon their networking systems to run safely and on schedule. A shutdown in the system would be expensive and could interfere with the current flow of commerce throughout the nation. The Positive Train Control technology implemented to help prevent catastrophic railway events is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Dragos provides cyber-security and protection against threats
18. Dragos will analyze your systems
Dragos does not just sell software solutions and let their clients hope for the best. Instead, they offer a series of assessments to help clients find the most appropriate solutions for their industry and situation. They evaluate any existing security systems that are currently in place. Dragos experts look for vulnerabilities and make recommendations for securing the areas that are vulnerable to attack. They identify all risks to the assets of the company, along with any existing gaps in the current defense system of networks. Dragos makes recommendations about how to close those gaps. They work with clients to ensure that all systems and assets are safe and secure.
19. Dragos helps companies maintain compliance
Due to the constant threat of cybercriminal activity, many governments impose strict regulations for operations. Companies in the utility sectors and other organizations must comply with the rules set forth for maintaining secure networks to prevent outages in service that could be detrimental to public and government welfare. Dragos offers solutions that help companies achieve and maintain compliance with these regulations.
20. Dragos meets their clients wherever they are
Dragos is a unique cybersecurity provider. The team of experts is happy to help their clients by first assessing where they are in securing their networking systems, then meeting them where they’re at, and helping to fill in the gaps. They offer expert advice to leaders who may not have any degree of expertise in cybersecurity. Dragos not only offers software and other solutions for their clients, but they also provide training sessions to bring everyone up to speed. Dragos is one of the most holistic cybersecurity providers in the industry. Dragos staff goes the extra mile to ensure that their customers are covered and understand how the security measures work, and how to implement them.
