Autonomos.ai, a Johannesburg, South Africa-based cybersecurity firm, has landed an agreement with Horizon3.ai, a U.S.-based cybersecurity provider, to join Horizon’s channel program as a fully licensed and certified partner, the companies announced on June 1.
Cybersecurity for Africa
The cyber protectors’ goal is to bring advanced cybersecurity services to the African continent. This partnership aims to provide enterprises, governments, and non-governmental organizations, nonprofits included, with a comprehensive, proactive, continuous defense against cyber threats.
According to African Business, some 90% of African businesses are operating without cybersecurity protocols in place, making them vulnerable to cyber threats. Cybersecurity is often overlooked as a business priority by emerging companies looking to build reliable electricity and internet networks.
NodeZero AI Probes Client Defenses
In that Autonomos helps organizations to assess their network infrastructures to find, fix, and verify that attack vectors are remediated before threat actors can exploit them, the deal is a good fit for both parties. Autonomous gets access to Horizon3’s flagship, cloud-based NodeZero AI-driven engine that will enable it to pentest client infrastructures at scale.
NodeZero provides white-labeled reporting, multi-client management and other features designed for managed security service partners and managed service partners, Horizon said.
The agreement gains Horizon access for its software and services to the fertile African market beset by cyberattackers. The economic consequences of digital insecurity are already substantial on the African continent, African Business said, noting that cyber rime costs South Africa $570 million a year, Nigeria $500 million and Kenya $36 million.
NodeZero provides Horizon3’s partners with visibility into vulnerabilities enabling them to remediate issues and verify risk reduction, said Snehal Antani, Horizon3 chief executive and co-founder. In explaining its impact on the Autonomous agreement, he said:
“What sets NodeZero apart is its advanced AI-driven decision-making engine, which enables our partners to test their clients’ infrastructures at scale by chaining together harvested credentials, misconfigurations, dangerous product defaults, and exploitable vulnerabilities to achieve critical impacts like domain compromise and sensitive data exposure… We are dedicated to working with our partners to help improve security on a global scale.”
Patrick Schoutens, Autonomos chief technology officer said the company is "thrilled" to partner with Horizon:
“This collaboration will combine our AI expertise with Horizons3.ai’s software development capabilities, enabling us to continually create innovative solutions that empower businesses.”
Platform Upgrades, New Partners
Two months ago, Horizon fleshed out its NodeZero platform with a number of upgrades, including an enhanced user experience and interface, attack surface coverage, leverage for artificial intelligence and API interface. A month earlier Horizon struck a partnership with Proactive Risk, a risk management solutions provider that joined Horizon’s partner program as an authorized service provider.
