Meet Bashon, a French startup created in October 2022 to help small companies deal with cyber security threats without too much complexity. The company, created by former Palantir employees, has already raised $2.8 million.
Bastion wants to be the first and last cyber security subscription that differentiates itself from other cyber security startups. With a software-as-a-service approach, it includes a variety of products that all revolve around cybersecurity concerns.
Frst, Global Founders Capital, Kima Ventures and Motier Ventures have invested in the company, as well as several business angels such as Denis DuVernay, Joshua Mota, Renaud De Raison and Gale Olivier.
At Palantir, the four co-founders Arnaud Fournier, Arnaud Drizard, Sébastien Duque and Robin Coste were all working on cybersecurity in one way or another. Some were part of a small group that oversees cyber security, excluding governments and public administrations. One of them was in charge of anti-fraud provision for large banks and insurance companies.
“Companies we talk to say, ‘We have an insurance broker, an accountant, why do we have multiple cybersecurity products?’
When you need to lock your bike in a big city, you can use three different locks to make sure the wheels are properly secured and the bike itself is attached to the pole. This way, you can be 100% sure that your bike will not be stolen.
Or you can buy a proper U-lock to ensure it’s attached more securely than most bikes. And this is Bastion.
Essentially, Bastion’s ideal customer wants to ensure that their organization is secure and that there are no major vulnerabilities that could cause major disruption down the road.
Currently, Bastion has four different modules. First, the startup runs phishing tests because many security issues come from employees issuing credentials. In this training module, Bastion competes against Riot.
Second, Bastion scans your infrastructure and web applications to ensure your attack surface is as small as possible. The company will provide you with a maintenance list to upgrade your configuration.
Third, Bastion scans and protects endpoints such as employee laptops. “We offer an EDR solution, which is an advanced antivirus tool with a team that looks at what’s happening in real time,” Fournier said. EDR stands for ‘Endpoint Detection and Response’. For this product, Bastion has partnered with a white label EDR vendor.
And finally, Bastion wants to help companies track incoming emails with the fourth module. Now, customers can forward suspicious emails so they know for sure whether it’s a legitimate email or not. At one point, the startup wants to help you set up filters on incoming emails so they never show up in your employees’ inboxes.
“For some of these products, we find that the products on the market are too expensive for what they offer. We use open source building blocks or rebuild 80% of what’s needed,” Fournier said.
Bastion offers the entire suite for around 10 euros per employee per month. It’s not cheap, but some companies may choose to subscribe to a portion of Bastion’s offerings.
Interestingly, the company has no plans to sell the product directly to smaller companies. Instead, the company works in partnership with outsourced security service providers, banks, insurance companies and others.
In the coming months, Bastion plans to build a network of partners who are helping small and medium businesses and will start selling Bastion to their customers. And of course, there will be new features and product improvements as well.
Image Credits: Bastion
