The security company Cylance today announced that it has closed a $120 million round led by funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and including other investors. Cylance does endpoint threat prevention with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

This is Cylance’s fifth funding round, bringing its total funds raised to $297 million.

The company touts its "predictive advantage," a technology that allows a business to protect its endpoints from threats that may not even exist for years to come. This is possible through the use of AI, which allows Cylance’s security products to continuously learn and improve over time.

The company claims that since its inception, its machine learning, AI-based approach has prevented attacks on average 25 months before the attack was launched and first discovered. The types of attacks prevented include threats such as ransomware, exploit and memory attacks, fileless attacks, script-based attacks, and living off the land attacks. This last type of attack is where the hackers use existing software to conduct their malicious activity.

The new funding will bolster the company’s sales, marketing, and development efforts to increase market share, further expand its global footprint across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and extend its breadth of product offerings.

The Irvine, California-based company said its revenues exceed $130 million for fiscal year 2018. It also claims over 90 percent year-over-year growth, and it counts more than 4,000 customers.

The company was founded by former McAfee veterans: Cylance CEO Stuart McClure and Chief Scientist Ryan Permeh.

Copyright: jassada9951 / 123RF Stock Photo