PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salt Security, the leading API protection company , today announced that it has been named one of 10 finalists for the RSA® Conference 2019 Innovation Sandbox Contest for its API Protection Platform that secures the APIs that are at the core of every SaaS, web, mobile, microservices and IoT application, using behavioral protection. On Monday, March 4, Salt Security will present its cybersecurity technology to a panel of industry veteran judges and a live audience in a three-minute quick-pitch and Q&A, competing for the coveted title of “Most Innovative Startup” at RSA Conference 2019 in San Francisco. In the past five years alone, the contest’s top 10 finalists have collectively seen 14 acquisitions and have received over $2 billion in investments.

RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest is the leading platform for entrepreneurial cybersecurity companies to launch their ground-breaking research and innovation in front of venture capitalists, industry experts, senior level business practitioners and thought leaders. The event gives startups visibility and validation that turn into rapid growth and increased funding year after year.

“Every year our expectations are blown out of the water by the ideas presented at the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest, and this year was no exception,” said Sandra Toms, vice president and curator of RSA Conference. “The cybersecurity industry needs the bold, bright and innovative ideas being developed by these startups today more than ever. I applaud this year’s finalists on their amazing work and dedication to making our world more secure, and I’m looking forward to seeing the impact they’ll make at RSA Conference and beyond.”

API-focused attacks targeting SaaS, web, mobile, microservices, and IoT applications have become more frequent and more sophisticated as APIs have proliferated across these environments. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in API attacks, including high-profile breaches at Facebook, T-Mobile, Panera Bread, Verizon, and the latest vulnerability disclosures at the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Google+. Insecure APIs were ranked as the third most severe threat to cloud computing in 2018 by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) recognized API security as a primary concern, with nine of the top 10 vulnerabilities in their current OWASP Top 10 report including an API component.

Traditional solutions do nothing to detect or prevent the latest attacks that exploit unique vulnerabilities in each API’s logic allowing attackers to access sensitive applications and data. Salt Security provides the industry’s only real-time protection against these logic-based API attacks. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and granular knowledge of each unique API to determine normal behavior, Salt Security looks for malicious behavior that is an indicator of attacker activity. This empowers companies to identify attacks while they are still in the reconnaissance phase and stop them before they advance.

“As organizations increasingly rely on APIs to deliver core services and applications, they require an entirely new approach to protecting applications and data, and the recognition from RSA further validates the crucial importance of our API protection platform,” said Salt Security Co-Founder and CEO Roey Eliyahu. “By applying artificial intelligence and big data technology, Salt Security is able to uncover vulnerabilities that are unique to each API and identify and respond to attackers that no other solution can detect before an attack is successful.”

Doors will open to the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest at 1:30 p.m. PT on March 4 at the Marriott Marquis in the Yerba Buena Ballroom. The winner will be announced in front of a live audience later that day at 4:30 p.m. PT. Dr. Herbert (Hugh) Thompson returns to emcee the contest, and the panel of five judges includes Asheem Chandna, partner, Greylock Partners; Patrick Heim, operating partner and chief information security officer, ClearSky; Niloofar Razi Howe, cybersecurity entrepreneur and investor; Shlomo Kramer, CEO and co-founder, Cato Networks; and Richard Seiersen, CISO, author and advisor.

More information regarding RSA Conference 2019, taking place at the Moscone Center and the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco from March 4-8, can be found at: www.rsaconference.com .

About Salt Security Salt Security protects the APIs that are the core of every SaaS, web, mobile, microservices and IoT application. Its API Protection Platform is the industry’s first patented solution to prevent the next generation of API attacks, using behavioral protection. Deployed in minutes, the AI-powered solution automatically and continuously discovers and learns the granular behavior of a company’s APIs and requires no configuration or customization to help ensure API protection. Salt Security was founded in 2016 by alumni of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and serial executives in the cybersecurity field and is based in Silicon Valley and Israel. For more information, visit www.salt.security .

About RSA Conference RSA® Conference is the premier series of global events and onDemand programs where the world talks security and leadership gathers, advances and emerges. Whether attending in the U.S., the EMEA region, the Asia-Pacific region or online, RSA Conference events are where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and get access to the people, content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies to win, grow and do their best. It’s about bringing all people in the cybersecurity industry together and empowering the collective “we” of the cybersecurity industry to stand against cyberthreats around the world. RSA Conference is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in security today. For information on events, online programming and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the information security industry visit www.rsaconference.com .

Media Contact: Chris Westphal