IoT Security Startup Phosphorus Builds Agentless ‘Update-All’ Button

Phosphorus Cybersecurity founder and CEO Chris Rouland, like many security company founders, got his start as a hacker before founding multi-million-dollar startups. His most recent venture tackles IoT security. And Rouland says it’s the first and only company to provide agentless patching and configuration management for all the “things.” “Computer hacking was a hobby in the ’80s, and all of us grew up to start companies — except Julian Assange,” Rouland said. “But we were all buddies in chat rooms.” Rouland was chief technology officer at Internet Security Systems, which was acquired by IBM for $1.3 billion in 2006. He then co-founded Bastille Networks, which enables enterprises to assess and mitigate IoT risk and has raised $39 million to date. And in 2008 he co-founded endpoint security company Endgame, which has raised $111.4 million. His new startup, Phosphorus, targets a massive — and growing — security threat that stretches across data centers, manufacturing floors, healthcare facilities, and other sectors.