As 2025 begins, 2024’s AI breakthroughs stand out, but so do the cyber threats that accompanied them. From AI-powered phishing to deepfakes and cloud breaches, the year highlighted the delicate balance between innovation and security risks.
2024 saw hackers unleashing AI-powered phishing and deepfake scams, leaving agencies scrambling. From deepfake fraud to open-source malware, cybercrime surged. But as we head into 2025, there’s hope—smarter defenses and a chance to outsmart evolving threats. Stay cautious and prepared!
2024 will forever be remembered as the 'Year of Global Outages,' revealing the fragility of over-automated systems. A single cybersecurity provider’s disruption triggered global chaos—freezing transactions, grounding flights, and crippling healthcare. The call for resilience is deafening.
Visa boosts AI fraud detection with Featurespace acquisition, lifting its stock; Experian expands Latin American security by acquiring ClearSale; Booz Allen shares cyber expertise at Singapore International Cyber Week; Torq secures $70M for global growth; SentinelOne and Okta shine in top awards.
Welcome to CNC’s Money and Markets, where we deliver a midday update on the hottest mergers, acquisitions, investments, and market-moving events in cybersecurity and global intelligence. Dive in for the latest on industry leaders shaking up the sector.
The market has reacted positively to last month's announcements by Visa, reflecting confidence in the company’s latest strategic moves. Visa's stock rose by 2.27% to $277.85 following news of its acquisition of UK-based fraud detection leader Featurespace, boosting its market cap to $540.66 billion. This acquisition, positioned to enhance Visa’s digital payment security, aligns with the company's goal to leverage advanced AI in combating fraud.
Featurespace, founded in 2008 from Cambridge University’s engineering department, brings renowned technologies like the ARIC Risk Hub and Adaptive Behavioral Analytics. Known for real-time fraud detection, Featurespace’s tools are designed to identify unusual transaction patterns and thwart even the most complex fraud attempts. Antony Cahill, Visa’s Global Head of Value-added Services, emphasised,
"Providing our clients with solutions that can adapt to and anticipate the changing threat landscape is of the utmost importance."
Visa’s acquisition of Featurespace strengthens its global security portfolio, adding a powerful layer of AI-driven tools that will support clients in managing fraud in real-time.
"The combined expertise of Visa and Featurespace will enable clients to manage fraud in real-time and further protect the payments ecosystem,"
the companies said in a joint statement, underscoring the acquisition's significance in securing global transactions.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal year 2025 and will provide significant benefits to financial institutions, consumers, and the wider payments industry.
Credit reporting powerhouse Experian has announced plans to acquire Brazilian fraud prevention specialist ClearSale for around $350 million. The acquisition bolsters Experian’s growing footprint in Latin America, especially in the rapidly evolving fraud prevention sector. Experian CEO Brian Cassin highlighted the strategic importance, saying,
"The acquisition of ClearSale extends our ID&F suite, adding transaction fraud detection to our existing strengths in account opening and account takeover fraud prevention."
This move aligns with Experian's commitment to deliver comprehensive fraud prevention solutions across a range of financial activities, supporting safer online transactions in emerging markets.
Cybersecurity powerhouse Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) is sending a senior delegation to Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW), a premier event for cybersecurity policy discussions in the Asia-Pacific. Booz Allen’s team will engage in panels and workshops, sharing insights drawn from decades of leadership in cyber intelligence and technology solutions.
As the top cybersecurity service provider for the U.S. government, Booz Allen has a significant footprint in federal cybersecurity contracts, supporting government missions and private enterprises alike. Deltek’s recent Federal Cybersecurity Market, 2023-2027 report highlights Booz Allen’s leadership, noting the firm’s dominance in U.S. federal cyber-related prime contracts between 2020 and 2022.
Security automation platform Torq has raised $70 million in a Series C funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners, with contributions from prominent firms like Bessemer Venture Partners and Greenfield Partners. Torq plans to expand its presence in EMEA and APAC regions and enhance its engineering and AI capabilities.
"The new round will increase expansion across EMEA and APAC, hire additional world-class engineering, R&D, and sales talent, and double down on devoting more resources to deliver cutting-edge generative AI enhancements," the company announced.
This funding solidifies Torq’s position as a leader in innovative security automation.
SentinelOne has been recognized as the Best Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service Provider of the Year at the Future Security Awards 2024. This accolade underscores SentinelOne’s commitment to advanced endpoint protection, leveraging AI to deliver proactive security solutions for its clients.
Hosted by CPI Media Group, the Future Security Awards honor excellence in enterprise IT security. SentinelOne’s market momentum and robust MDR offerings have set a high bar in cybersecurity, reinforcing its leadership in the evolving threat landscape.
Identity management leader Okta announced the finalists for its first-ever Okta SaaS Startup Competition, spotlighting early-stage startups in identity, privacy, and security. The finalists will present their solutions at Oktane24 in Las Vegas, competing for funding and industry support. Okta stated,
"These finalists represent some of the most promising early-stage startups in the US, each building cutting-edge applications leveraging identity, privacy, and security."
Attendees of Oktane24 will witness these startups vying for a chance to bring their ideas to life and influence the identity management space.
Broadcom joins Nvidia in the $1 trillion club, reshaping the AI chip race with a 51% revenue surge in Q4 2024 and VMware's $69B acquisition. As China invests $25B to boost semiconductor self-reliance, U.S.-China tensions escalate, redefining global innovation and geopolitical power dynamics.
Salesforce saw an 8.3% revenue rise to $9.44 billion, driven by its AI tool, Agentforce, while Intel’s CEO Patrick Gelsinger exited with a $10M package amid struggles to reclaim its chip-making dominance. Both companies reflect the pressures of competing in a rapidly evolving AI-driven market.
Nvidia’s stellar week featured $35B in Q3 earnings, a 195% YTD stock surge, and bold AI collaborations in Indonesia. With innovations like Blackwell chips and Sahabat-AI, Nvidia is driving the AI revolution into mid-decade, achieving a $3.6 trillion market cap and redefining global tech leadership.
Tech companies and banks are bringing employees back to the office in 2025 to boost face-to-face collaboration and innovation. While some miss remote work, workplaces are buzzing once more.
