NYC emergency services use Israeli tech to protect computer systems

Based in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, Indeni is the developer of a security infrastructure automation platform.

NOVEMBER 28, 2019 19:14

Members of the New York City Police Department Counterterrorism Bureau secure a checkpoint during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS/DARREN ORNITZ) — Members of the New York City Police Department Counterterrorism Bureau secure a checkpoint during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019

(photo credit: REUTERS/DARREN ORNITZ)

Indeni, an Israeli security software start-up, has partnered with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) to protect their critical computer networks.

Based in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, Indeni is the developer of a security infrastructure automation platform, enabling organizations to proactively detect and prevent computer system malfunctions before they affect their vital operations.

Workers at Tel Aviv-based start-up Indeni (Photo Credit: Indeni)

The company currently names Mastercard, Bloomberg and medical device giant Boston Scientific among its customers. The platform will also be used by US space agency NASA to identify and fix computer malfunctions.

As part of the latest collaboration with New York’s emergency services, Indeni says it has been added to the US federal government’s list of official software suppliers.

“Today, emergency calls to the police, important government services, and water and electricity suppliers, are all dependent on advanced computer systems,” said Indeni founder and CEO Yoni Leitersdorf.

“These systems must be immune to hacking and available 100% of the time. This responsibility lies on the shoulders of information security professionals around the world. We are proud of the opportunity we have been given to help them, and to allow us all to rely on our emergency services.”

Indeni has raised $27 million in funding since it was founded in 2010, led by California-headquartered venture capital firm Sequoia Capital with the participation of investors including iAngels, CIRtech and State of Mind Ventures.

The potential danger of software glitches for emergency services was demonstrated in April 2004, when a 911 call-routing facility stopped directing emergency calls to 911 centers in seven states.

During an outage lasting six hours, more than 6,600 emergency calls never reached a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).

The fault was caused by a software coding error that could have been prevented, an October 2018 report by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau stated.