Fortanix: Confidential computing can safe data-in-use

In a world crammed with on-demand connectivity, encryption at relaxation isn’t sufficient. With greater than 4,145 publicly disclosed data breaches occurring final yr alone — classical approaches to community safety are failing to maintain up, and confidential computing may supply a possible answer. 

Confidential computing allows organizations to separate and encrypt their knowledge in a hardware-based Trusted Execution Setting (TEE) in order that it’s not uncovered to the infrastructure processing it. This implies even when a risk actor manages to compromise the infrastructure, they received’t be capable to entry the underlying knowledge in use. 

It’s an strategy to safety that’s capturing a number of curiosity, significantly for multicloud safety firm Fortanix, which immediately introduced it has raised $90 million as a part of a sequence C funding spherical, bringing the group’s complete quantity raised to over $122 million. 

The necessity for confidential computing

With cloud adoption accelerating throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and rising 25% final yr alone, it has change into more and more clear that conventional perimeter-based approaches to community safety aren’t able to defending knowledge because it strikes all through fashionable enterprise environments. 

“Companies and authorities businesses are searching for a brand new strategy to maintain valuable knowledge secure no matter the place it’s, particularly within the cloud. They require safety of their delicate and controlled knowledge, all through its lifecycle — at relaxation, in movement and in use,” mentioned Ambuj Kumar, CEO and cofounder of Fortanix.

“Organizations are additionally having to deal with the worldwide proliferation of information and privateness laws resembling HIPAA, GDPR and Shrems II,” Kumar mentioned. 

Kumar explains that confidential computing, which Fortanix pioneered, protects purposes and delicate knowledge whereas “in use” from unauthorized entry. 

A chicken’s-eye view of the confidential computing house

Whereas the confidential computing house remains to be in its infancy, there are numerous world-renowned suppliers investing in these options. 

Microsoft Azure, IBM, Google Cloud, and AWS (AWS Nitro System) are simply among the many suppliers experimenting within the house to innovate new companies to assist organizations sustain with shortly evolving knowledge privateness requirements. 

Extra broadly, curiosity out there is critical sufficient that Everest Group has forecast that the confidential computing market will probably be value $54 billion by 2026, rising at a Compound Annual Progress Fee (CAGR) of 90-95%. 

As one of many key gamers within the confidential computing market, Fortanix isn’t simply competing with Azure, IBM, and AWS, it’s additionally competing in opposition to legacy knowledge safety distributors like Thales. 

Thales’ knowledge safety answer is known as the CipherTrust Knowledge Safety Platform. It provides knowledge discovery, classification, and safety for knowledge at relaxation, in on-premise, cloud, and hybrid IT environments. Thales lately introduced elevating $19.9 billion in order intake final yr. 

One other competitor is HashiCorp with an answer known as Vault, a safe vault designed to guard secrets and techniques, tokens, passwords, certificates, and encryption keys with an encryption-as-a-service providing. HashiCorp most lately raised $175 million as a part of a sequence E funding round in March 2020, bringing its valuation to $5.1 billion.

At this stage, the important thing differentiator between Fortanix and legacy opponents is its deal with encryption in use, and its data-centric strategy to defending cloud environments.