Darktrace

Darktrace was founded in 2013 in Cambridge, in a collaboration with the British intelligence agencies[5] and Invoke Capital, a company owned by Mike Lynch.[6][7] Lynch was co-founder of Autonomy, sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 in a transaction leading to accusations of fraud and to a legal fight over extraditing him to the United States.[8] In its stock market listing registration documents Darktrace rated the potential liability relating to the fallout of the action against Lynch as "low risk".[9]

Many of Draktrace's management personnel, including chief executive Poppy Gustafsson, chief technology officer Jack Stockdale, and chief strategy and artificial intelligence officer Nicole Eagan, were recruited from Autonomy. By the end of 2013, as well as being a wholly owned subsidiary of Invoke Capital, Invoke Capital additionally provided 15 of Darktrace's 40 staff members.[6]

In 2017, Darktrace caused an internet and media sensation with publication of a white paper detailing a hack of a casino's fish tank, which was caught by the company's Network Immune System.[10]

In April 2021, Darktrace listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market value of circa £2.5 billion.[11][12] The market value reached a peak of £7 billion within months, with a share value peak of £10, but later fluctuated. On 6 March 2022, Darktrace opened with a share value of £6.46, with a market cap of £3.43 billion.[13]

There has been criticism about the company's technology and its founding investor by short-seller Matthew Earl, head of the Shadowfall fund, and analysts Peel Hunt. In January 2022, Earl questioned Darktrace's model and culture, warning clients that the company's model was "watery-thin", based more on sales style than business substance.[9]

In March 2022, Darktrace acquired Cybersprint, an attack surface management company, in an effort to be the first company to provide total visibility of a network both internally and externally. The Cybersprint acquisition will underpin Darktrace's push to create an AI prevention suite to rival their response capabilities.[14]

Darktrace's Enterprise Immune System uses proprietary machine learning and AI algorithms to build a "pattern of life" for every network, device, and user within an organization. It then employs correlation techniques to classify and cross-reference these models, establishing a highly accurate understanding of 'normal activity' within that particular environment.[5] From this evolving understanding of 'normal', it can then detect potential threats as they emerge in real time.[15] It employs an autonomous response technology, Antigena, which allows networks to take action against in-progress cyber-attacks.[16] The product also visualizes network activity on a user interface, called the 'Threat Visualizer'.[17] Since the company's inception in 2013, its technology has been deployed some 9,000 times.[18] Currently, Darktrace can cover Industrial Operational Technology, Email, SaaS, Cloud, Network, and Endpoint.[19]

Darktrace was included in Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2018,[20] The Cyber Award's AI Product of the Year in 2020,[21] Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies in 2021[22] and Fast Company's top 10 most innovative AI companies for 2022.[23]

As of 2022 Darktrace has a banner partnership with McLaren's Formula 1 Racing Team.[24]