Cisco backs Israeli cyber startup led by Iranian-born security veteran

Cisco Systems Inc., through its venture capital arm Cisco Investments, has made a strategic investment in Zafran Security, an Israeli startup specializing in an AI-native cyber threat exposure management platform. Founded in 2022 by Sanaz Yashar, Snir Havdala, and Ben Seri, Zafran Security develops a platform designed to identify and remediate software security threats within hours by coordinating existing security tools. While the investment amount was not disclosed, Hebrew press reports estimate it increases Zafran's total funding to over $140 million. Janey Hoe, Vice President at Cisco Investments, stated the investment aims to "create a more unified, intelligence-driven security ecosystem that empowers our customers to better discover vulnerabilities and reduce risks in their infrastructure." Yashar, an Iranian-born cybersecurity veteran, emphasized that "AI has fundamentally changed how attackers operate, increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of exploitation," and Zafran acts as a "nerve center that helps organizations understand exploitability, identify where to act first, and mobilize the security controls they already have to reduce risk before exploitation occurs."