There are many levels of cybersecurity preparedness that modern business needs to address. Most apparent is the outer perimeter, where cybersecurity applications prevent well-known threats that directly affect end users and, ultimately, the company.
However, when you delve deeper, another threat at the core of business operations is sometimes overlooked. And that’s development-level security. Snyk excels in identifying and fixing code vulnerabilities, open-source dependencies, and more broadly, taking developer security up a notch.
Snyk is on the Acceleration Economy Top 10 Shortlist of Cybersecurity Enablers.
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Who They Are
Snyk was founded in 2015 in London and Tel Aviv, Israel. Today, the company is headquartered in Boston. However, Snyk still has hubs in the two capitals, as well as Singapore, and offices in Denver; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; and Zurich, Switzerland.
Snyk’s founders include Guy Podjarny, Assaf Hefetz, and Danny Grander. Podjarny is still an active member of the company’s leadership team and board.
Snyk has raised $1.2 billion in funding over 13 rounds; the latest investment came in January 2023. In its relatively short history, Snyk has made seven acquisitions, and it was named a leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing (AST).
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Peter McKay is the CEO of Snyk. His previous CEO roles include Watchfire, Desktone, and Veeam. Supporting McKay in the C-Suite is CFO Ken MacAskill. He has worked with several high-growth organizations since the early-2000s, including Watchfire and Desktone.
Manoj Nair is Chief Product Officer at Snyk. Previously, Nair held positions as Chief Cloud Officer and General Manager of Metallic at Commvault and is the co-founder and former CEO of HyperGrid.
What They Do
Snyk focuses on securing four key areas: proprietary code, open-source dependencies, container images, and cloud infrastructure. A single unified platform tackles the security issues surrounding application creation and development during the build phase and the risks associated with the software supply chain.
The Snyk platform has four core functions:
- Securing code as it’s createdÂ
- Avoiding open-source vulnerabilitiesÂ
- Finding and rectifying container vulnerabilities
- Fixing cloud misconfigurationsÂ
Four fundamental features address these core functions: Snyk Code, Snyk Open Source, Snyk Container, and Snyk Infrastructure as Code.
Snyk Code
Snyk Code enables users to secure code as it’s written. The tool automatically scans and fixes code in real-time so that no additional builds are required. Vulnerability scanning is integrated into the development process.
The Snyk platform provides remediation advice powered by the Snyk knowledge base, which leverages machine learning and curated, actionable measures from Snyk security experts.
Snyk Open Source
Snyk Open Source simplifies open-source software security management by automating vulnerability fixes. Users benefit from a single-click pull request for upgrades and patches.
The tool supports continuous monitoring, alerting users to new vulnerabilities via various reporting mechanisms. Developers also benefit from testing in live operating environments. The feature enables governance, too, with internal and external compliance evaluation capabilities.
Snyk Container
Snyk Container enables developers to continuously monitor and fix container vulnerabilities before the production phase. Advanced intelligence and remediation support provide users with recommendations on alternative images, one-click upgrades, and risk scores.
Users can prioritize vulnerabilities based on Snyk’s scoring mechanism to streamline the monitoring process, and native scanning and monitoring can be incorporated into daily workflows. As with the rest of the Snyk platform, the feature integrates with the most popular developer tools including Kubernetes, Red Hat, and Docker Hub.
Snyk Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Snyk Infrastructure as Code is designed to support companies in building and deploying applications and operating in the cloud. Like Snyk Code, the feature enables developers to find and fix vulnerabilities via cloud environments.
A unified policy engine ensures every developer operates under the same cloud policy, while compliance is supported through more than 10 out-of-the-box cloud compliance frameworks. Again, these tools are designed for pre-deployment, so vulnerabilities are fixed before applications are released. Beyond this, developers can fix cloud issues quickly because they are automatically linked to the IaC source code.
Acceleration Economy cybersecurity practitioner analyst, and CISO, Chris Hughes, views Snyk as a disruptive innovator. “As an industry, we continue to hear how we need to shift security left, and Snyk does that by bringing a developer-centric approach to their tooling and platform, looking to empower those closest to the code to address vulnerabilities earlier in the software development lifecycle before they become runtime vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit.”
Hughes adds, “They also ensure they cover the modern landscape with capabilities such as Infrastructure as Code scanning and secrets scanning, ensuring that misconfigurations in the cloud don’t lead to data breaches and exposures and that sensitive credentials, which remain the primary attack vector.”
Customer Snyk Has Dazzled: Citrix
The cloud computing and virtualization giant Citrix needed a platform to automate vulnerability scanning over its vast code base with millions of lines of code to secure. The challenge was finding technology that covered a wide variety of programming languages. The company uses many languages including COBOL, as well as cloud services and on-prem systems.
According to a case study published by Snyk, Citrix was able to:
- Provide scanning results to 2,000 developers using multiple programming languages
- Reduce overall risk posture by 50%
- Significantly reduce the average time to fix vulnerabilities
- Secure open-source dependencies without interrupting workflows
- Increase testing by 204% in 90 days
Why Snyk Is On Our Top 10 Cybersecurity Shortlist
Snyk provides a comprehensive solution to the myriad of security concerns that plague developers. The company has been selected by our practitioner analysts for inclusion on our Cybersecurity Top 10 Shortlist because:
- The Snyk approach is holistic, covering four cornerstones of developer security. However, all of these features are contained in a unified platform.Â
- Snyk’s vulnerability scans don’t affect the flow of work, enabling users to continue developing without releasing dangerous code.
- The platform integrates with all the major developer tools and languages for maximum flexibility.
- Powerful customer references including Citrix validate the company’s technology and approach.
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