Israeli cyber-company Salt Security closes deal with Carrefour, Equinix

Thanks to a unique algorithm and an innovative platform, it offers effective cyber-protection against possible attacks targeting Application Programming Interface (API).

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Salt Security co-founders Michael Nicosia [L] and Roey Eliyahu [R]. (photo credit: TALI BEN ARYEA)
Salt Security co-founders Michael Nicosia [L] and Roey Eliyahu [R].
(photo credit: TALI BEN ARYEA)
Israeli cyber-company Salt Security closed a deal with French retail giant Carrefour and US data center and colocation provider Equinix, the company reported in a press release on Tuesday.  
Salt Security offers to protect its clients from possible Application Programming Interface (API) attacks. Broadly speaking, API includes programs developers use when they create their own applications to ensure that things run simply and smoothly.
For example, an app which aims to offer users information on pizza parlors in their city of residence would either need to build and launch a satellite – and ensure it transmits data back to Earth so users would be able to locate pizza eateries on a map and see which are close to their homes – or the developers could use the API of an established digital mapping service such as Google Maps.
Due to the ever-increasing complexity of the various apps and services being introduced into the market, it is vital that users be kept safe from possible hacking attacks or spying attempts on their personal data. In the example above, to ensure that when a client locates a pizza place and uses a payment app to pay for a delivery, his details remain secure each step of the way.
What Salt Security offers is to “spread” its digital platform, a process that takes only a few moments, and then locate API attacks and respond to them as they take place – before the damage can be done. Unlike the simple example provided, many apps now need dozens or even hundreds of APIs, making each usage a possible security threat.  
Co-founded by Roey Eliyahu and Michael Nicosia four years ago, Salt Security reports an increased interest in its services since the COVID-19 pandemic began – and with it, a surge in online commerce. Various companies needed to speed up their digitalization processes since "they must offer products and value in a digital world," Eliyahu said.  
As this is only possible by using APIs, these companies are now aware that their old defenses "are simply not enough to protect such critical assets, which are now the source of their profits," he pointed out.  
During a time of financial uncertainty, Salt Security plans to expand its office space and hire more workers in Tel Aviv to reach a team of 50 workers. In a June interview with GeekTime, Eliyahu said that, at least from the point of view of their investors, "no doubts were expressed and everything went on as usual." The report was about Salt Security obtaining $20 million in a financing round led by Tenaya Capital.