Blog

Founders of Hatching, Jurriaan Bremer | Image credit: LinkedIn

US-based Recorded Future, a real-time threat intelligence company powered by machine learning, announced on Friday, July 8, 2022, that it has acquired Dutch company Hatching, a cybersecurity specialist focused on malware sandboxing.

Any programme or file that purposefully hurts a computer, network, or server is known as malware, or malicious software. A malware sandbox is a method for malware detection that executes an untrustworthy object in a virtual machine (VM) with a fully functional OS and analyses the behaviour of the object to find any harmful activity. The sandbox recognises an object as malware if it does destructive acts within a virtual machine.

Salesforce’s report on Dutch workforce’s digital skills

Has the Dutch workforce mastered all digital skills? Find out

Has the Dutch workforce mastered all digital skills? Find out Show Less

Detecting the unknown

Founded in 2015 by Jurriaan Bremer, Hatching is dedicated to providing an automated malware sandboxing technology. The company works on the latest malware analysis technology available in the security community.

Hatching claims to have “extensive” experience in the field after originally working on setting up and running Cuckoo installations for enterprises, before moving to develop a new solution which is better suited to the needs of modern companies. The company has quickly established itself as a leading player in sandboxing with its scalable Triage SaaS platform.

What is Triage? New malware sandbox Triage is Hatching’s new malware sandboxing solution. It can scale up to 500,000 analyses per day, an unprecedented number for a sandboxing service, says the company. Triage offers users a modern, fast, and scalable sandbox with a comprehensive API and the solution is used by a wide variety of companies, ranging from large enterprises to niche security specialists.

With the Triage monitor, users have access to watch the detonation of their files in real-time and take direct control of the VM if required.

Aim of this acquisition

With the acquisition of Hatching, Recorded Future expands its intelligence coverage with high-performance malware analysis. This will provide customers with enhanced insight into live malware campaigns, improved attribution, and a vital advantage against enemies that use malicious software to disrupt operations.

The deal also delivers on Recorded Future’s goal of giving organisations access to the most thorough intelligence, enabling them to take fast, decisive action to deter and disrupt the enemy.

CEO of Hatching, Jurriaan Bremer, says, “Recorded Future’s unrelenting focus on intelligence has made it an industry leader. Hatching has been laser-focused on sandboxing, and we have a very competitive and scalable malware analysis solution. We’re excited to join forces to deliver high-performance, intelligence-enriched malware analysis that will help organisations stop malware in its tracks before the damage is done.”

With this acquisition, Hatching’s flagship product Triage will be integrated into the Recorded Future ecosystem. This will create a critical capability for clients, where malware is identified and receives a verdict based on multiple variables including Insikt Group signatures, and is further correlated and enriched in the Recorded Future Intelligence Cloud.

Besides, Recorded Future will be able to use the data produced by Hatching’s Triage as a useful data source, and all of its clients will get access to the information that includes a global perspective of malware trends, their targets, and their sources. The combination provides customers of Recorded Future with the comprehensive information available to identify, stop, and react to outside threats while minimising the harm to their enterprises.

About Recorded Future

Recorded Future is an intelligence company. It claims that its Intelligence Cloud provides the most complete coverage across adversaries, infrastructure, and targets. By combining automated data collection and analytics with human analysis, the company provides real-time visibility into the digital landscape and empowers clients to take proactive action to disrupt adversaries and keep their people, systems, and infrastructure safe.

Dr Christopher Ahlberg, CEO and co-founder of Recorded Future, says, “By combining Hatching’s automated malware analysis capabilities with Recorded Future intelligence, we are building the most important intelligence company of our time. Our clients will now have an intelligence advantage against malware exploits, one of the most pervasive threats facing every organisation.”

Recorded Future works with more than 1,400 businesses and government organisations across more than 60 countries.