Member Article

New Darknet and Dark Web Surveillance Agency, Dark Intelligence, Awarded Funding from Innovate UK

Newly launched digital intelligence agency, Dark Intelligence, which specialises in Darknet and Dark Web surveillance that can alert businesses to threats from advanced cyber criminal groups attempting to connect to their networks via the darknet in near real-time, is one of the winners of Innovate UK’s The Sustainable Innovation Fund competition. The company was assessed by up to five independent assessors selected by Innovate UK from industry and academia,and won the Round 2 competition on the basis of its solutions that monitor the darknet quickly to prevent cyber-attacks and data losses.

Dark Intelligence is a growing UK-based business that offers a new concept in darknet threat mitigation. The company offers a dedicated Darknet Security Operations Centre that performs round-the-clock surveillance of the Darknet to rapidly expose threats from Advanced Persistent Threat groups (APTs), botnet infections, or rogue insiders. The service is especially useful for large corporations and Critical National Infrastructure providers who utilise Industrial Control Systems, which are difficult to update and monitor, and have a myriad of networks to maintain.

Vince Warrington, CEO, Dark Intelligence said: “This win is a major coup for Dark Intelligence. With support and funding from the UK’s most influential innovation agency, Innovate UK, we can now scale much more quickly and effectively by hiring additional security specialists to meet growing demand for our product and services.

“The current protections available to prevent data from being stolen from organisations via the darknet are largely inadequate. Incidents are increasing, with 46% of businesses and 26% of charities reporting cybersecurity breaches or attacks within the last 12 months according to the Cybersecurity Breaches Survey 2020.Dark Intelligence provides a sophisticated ‘fire alarm’ so that organisations can mitigate this growing risk, whilst future-proofing their defence programmes more effectively, and we look forward to working with Innovate UK over the coming year to help UK businesses protect themselves better in an intensifying battle against cyber-crime, especially with the increase in home working due to COVID-19.”

Minister for Digital Infrastructure Matt Warman said: “This timely funding win for Dark Intelligence will enable more organisations to benefit from its state-of-the-art surveillance tools and protect their data online. The UK is a globally leading tech hub and the government is supporting cutting-edge innovators to tackle the serious threats posed by the dark web and boost our digital economy. I look forward to seeing how the firm’s work can help bolster our efforts to build a cyber secure Britain.”

Innovate UK Executive Chair Dr Ian Campbell said: “In these difficult times we have seen the best of British business innovation. The pandemic is not just a health emergency but one that impacts society and the economy.

“Dark Intelligence, along with every initiative Innovate UK has supported through this fund, is an important step forward in driving sustainable economic development. Each one is also helping to realise the ambitions of hard-working people.”

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £191 million to fund single and collaborative research and development projects as part of the Sustainable Innovation Fund over the next two years. The aim of these competitions is to help all sectors of the UK rebuild after the effects of COVID-19.

The Sustainable Innovation Fund is funding 1,103 projects, 1189 UK businesses and totalling over £130 million in support across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laurena McKenna .