Avanan started in 2015 with a simple premise, that securing email in the cloud required a new approach. We did that with our patented solution, securing Microsoft 365 and Gmail from the inside via API.
Back then, we were met with skepticism. We had conversations with leaders of the legacy Secure Email Gateways, and they kept asking us, “What’s wrong with changing MX Records?”
We weren’t deterred and kept on our path. And time after time, in customer deal after deal, we demonstrated why exposing your MX records with an SEG is dangerous, and how connecting via API provides richer protection to catch what the others miss.
Now, we’ve seen SEGs lose market share over the years and have begun to introduce their own API solutions–no MX record changes required. (So there is something wrong with changing MX records).
As we grew rapidly, our way of securing email got people’s attention. We saw VC after VC dump tremendous amounts of money into new startups. The money being dropped was extraordinary. This created quite the hype cycle for email security.
Yet, these startups, due to fundamental limitations in their technology, are unable to perform the same sort of security that we do. Post-delivery remediation does not protect users from malicious emails–it’s just a response.
As these vendors narrowed their focus, we expanded ours–continuing to improve our security stack, adding richer capabilities to our AI and more. We were the first to implement advanced Natural Language Processing over four years ago–some of these startups have just announced the same capabilities in recent months.
In short, we refused to buy into the hype, focusing instead on providing the best security to our customers. That’s our continued focus, not raising VC money or being the flashiest object in Silicon Valley.
Then in 2021, we changed the game again, after we were acquired by Check Point. It provided the first truly integrated email security solution, with integration into ThreatCloud, the world’s largest threat database, and AI data points from across the connected world. Additionally, we have the backing of one of the largest and most successful cybersecurity companies on the planet. We are a cybersecurity company, not a point solution.
People laughed at us when we were acquired by Check Point, thinking it was game over and we would be swallowed into a large beast of a company. Yet we continued on–and in 2022, we had our best year ever.
Times will always change; security conditions will always shift. Instead of focusing solely on the hot attack vector, only to be left flat-footed when the next one comes around, we focus simply on providing full-fledged security against all attack types.
We’re the leaders in the marketplace, with the truly disruptive technology that others dream of. And as leaders, we lead. It’s what we’ve done since 2015 and what we will continue to do today and going forward.
Every time the market chases the next shiny thing, we continue on our path. Every time we lead, we heard the chirps from the marketplace, and yet we continue on.
We have a vision for this market that’s more complete than anyone else, and we’re going to continue on our path, doing what’s right for our customers, not what sounds cool or flashy.
That's the Avanan/Check Point way.