Two former Apple employees who worked for the company as cybersecurity researchers are now launching their own startup. Called DoubleYou, the startup is focused on helping creators of cybersecurity products protect iOS devices and Macs.
DoubleYou is a new security startup founded by former Apple researchers
The startup was founded by Patrick Wardle and Mikhail Sosonkin. Wardle worked at the US National Security Agency between 2006 and 2008 before becoming an independent security researcher specializing in macOS. Sosonkin, on the other hand, worked on Apple’s security team between 2019 and 2021.
They consider themselves “long time friends” with extensive knowledge of security on Apple platforms. In an interview with TechCrunch, the researchers said that the idea of founding DoubleYou came after they realized that there are few security products for macOS and iOS. In contrast, both platforms have become increasingly targeted by malicious hackers.
The DoubleYou team wants to use techniques frequently used by hackers to attack Apple systems to apply them as defense tools. The researchers say they’re developing a method for analyzing all macOS processes to detect and block any untrusted code, as well as monitoring and blocking anomalies in DNS traffic.
The startup’s founders also want to create tools to monitor and block software such as cryptocurrency miners and ransomware. “We don’t need to use new technology to make this work. What we need is to actually take the tools available and put them in the right place,” Sosonkin said.
Although the researchers want their startup to grow in the future, they plan to remain independent for now as they “just want to catch some malware.”
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