ATHENE Start-up Award UP22@it-sa: Online audience to vote on ten pitch candidates

• Ten start-ups are in the running for the coveted UP22@it-sa Award for innovative IT security solutions.
• The IT security community will cast votes in advance on the digital dialogue platform it-sa 365.
• The winner will be honoured at the it-sa Expo&Congress. Europe’s leading cybersecurity trade fair will be held in Nuremberg from 25 to 27 October.

The UP@it-sa Award will be presented for the fifth time at the it-sa Expo&Congress on 27 October 2022. The expert jury for the ATHENE Start-up Award UP22@it-sa has chosen ten finalists and the community of IT security experts will help decide which start-up should win the coveted award in a pitch event to be held at the itsa365.de on 22 September. The pitch event will be conducted in English and will be broadcast live on the digital dialog platform it-sa 365.

The following start-ups will present their IT security solutions for the pre-vote for the UP22@it-sa Award:

• Bauta is devoted to defending privacy. A patented anonymisation process based on the “privacy by design” principle enables optical data collection without revealing the identity of the data subject.
• Multi-factor authentication re-imagined: That is the motto of DeepSign, which tracks user behaviour. The continuous monitoring of the personal patterns of keyboard and mouse entries serves as an additional security mechanism.
• Edgeless System promises to turn the public cloud into a private cloud without the use of additional security products. To do this, the start-up relies on confidential virtual machines to perform end-to-end data encryption and insulate the data from the cloud infrastructure.
• LocateRisk offers automated risk assessments. Identified deficiencies in the customer’s network are summarised in a report which IT departments and senior management can use to make decisions.
• meshCloud offers a solution to protect cloud environments. It provides a platform from which users can manage accesses, control budget planning and invoice processes, roll out landing zones, and enforce compliance rules.
• The company Psoido disconnects virtual IDs from real identities, helping consumers and data-processing companies alike. Because pseudonymised data can be analysed only to a limited extent under the GDPR regulations, full anonymisation creates additional leeway in the use of collected data.
• Quantum Optics Jena encrypts data with the aid of quantum computing. Based on physical principles, their solution can already surpass today’s encryption standards, which are based on mathematical rules.
• Secfix supports companies that rely on information security management according to ISO 27001. The offered platform, which is integrated in the ISMS, helps IT security managers with checklists and automatic compliance checks.
• Based on data from the entire network, Tenzir creates an overview of shadow IT, access authorisations, and anomalies. The company uses machine learning to optimise forensics and react to cyber-attacks.
• The TrustCerts platform, which is based on blockchain technology, prevents identity theft and forgeries. Companies can integrate it into their processes, making it possible to automatically create, sign, and manage documents.

Video pre-voting and pitch event

The nominees will present their business ideas to an expert jury in the pitch event to be held on 22 September. Users of the dialogue platform it-sa 365 will then be able to vote for the best cybersecurity start-up. The pitches will be preceded by an online vote in which the start-ups can already begin to collect points to help them win.

All information about the pre-voting and the pitch session can be found at: www.itsa365.de/en/up-award

Award ceremony at the it-sa Expo&Congress

The UP22@it-sa Award will be presented to the winner on the final day of the it-sa 2022 trade fair. The stage for this ceremony is one of the open forums at Europe’s leading trade fair for IT security in Nuremberg. Featuring roughly 350 presentations and panel discussions, including the International Forum held in the English language, they offer expertise and the latest information from all areas of IT security.