Wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what your customer wants when he or she calls your company’s hotline? Wouldn’t it be lovely to have insights about every single attack that your company faces and have that threat exterminated both internally and externally quickly?

There are two Israeli companies that focus on doing just that. One is called NICE; and the other is called IntSights. Nasdaq-listed NICE, which originally stood for Neptune Intelligence Computer Engineering, was founded in 1986 and now has revenues exceeding US$1 billion. Startup IntSights, set up in 2015, has attracted US$41.3 million in VC funding and claims it’s the only all-in-one external threat protection suite designed to neutralize cyberattacks outside the wire.

These were two companies – among others – that a delegation of Singapore-based CIOs, CTOs and CISOs visited on Sept 24, 2019. The delegates were on a study mission to Israel organized by the CIO Academy Asia. They also visited the Israel Innovation Center, Red Dot Capital, Check Point, Sepio Systems, ReSec, and a slew of startups funded by Team8 (watch this space).

NICE focuses on perfecting customer experience and engagement. “We enable organizations to deliver an effortless, consistent and personalized experience,” said Mr Itai Brezis, NICE’s vice president and head of strategy. “Our solutions allow enterprises to know their customers, act in real time, and ensure that every employee is engaged. The goal is for organizations to offer enhanced customer experiences and streamline operational efficiency.”

Mr Brezis said NICE helps organizations deliver better customer service, ensure compliance, combat fraud and safeguard citizens. “About 25,000 organizations in 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies are now use NICE solutions,” he added.

IntSights CEO Mr Guy Nizan, who was featured in “Forbes 30 Under 30” said it offers companies a complete product suite “designed to discover, analyze, and mitigate external cyberthreats targeting your organization.” The company has 150 employees, including a few in Singapore, and is the only one that focuses on detecting phishing domains and eliminating them quickly.

Mr Nizan said that as companies adopt new digital channels to reach customers, cybercriminals have followed suit by impersonating popular brands, promoting scam campaigns and profiting off unknowing consumers. “Organizations need to extend their external monitoring and enforcement to take down campaigns that impersonate their brand, infringe on trademarks, and threaten customers,” he said. “That’s exactly what IntSights does.”

The delegates also visited the Israel Innovation Authority in Jerusalem. This was set up in 1965 as the Office of the Chief Scientist, and renamed as the Israel Innovation Authority in 2016. It now has 24 incubators to boost innovative startups and manages three frameworks: The R&D Fund, the Incubator Program, and the Magnet Program (manages partnerships between academic and commercial R&D).

The CIOAA study mission, called ABC (AI, Big data, Cloud) comprises CIOs, CTOs and CISOs from government agencies, insurance companies and other large enterprises and will visit companies and government agencies in Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem.

Written by : 
Raju Chellam, Senior Advisor, CIO Academy Asia