Former NSO CEO, Ex-Austrian Chancellor Start Cyber Firm

Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg News

Sebastian Kurz, Austria's chancellor, during the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Economy Day 2021 conference in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. The top brass of Angela Merkel's conservative bloc is holding their annual economics summit alongside some of Germany’s key business leaders in Berlin. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The former chief executive officer of Israeli spyware company NSO Group, Shalev Hulio, has joined with ex-Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to found a new cybersecurity startup focused on protecting critical infrastructure.

Their company, Dream Security, has raised $20 million in funding in a round led by venture capitalist Dovi Frances, a spokesperson said. Gil Dolev -- former CEO of Wayout Group, an Israeli tech company that had catered to intelligence agencies before it was acquired -- will also join the new business.

Dream will use the funds to build an artificial intelligence-based solution that will monitor and respond to cyber threats as they occur, the company said.

“We decided to leave the intelligence side, offensive side if you want, and move to the defensive side,” Hulio said in an interview. “We saw that the biggest challenge the cyber world is dealing with is critical infrastructure.” Hulio said the new company is primarily aimed at European countries, “because I currently think that they have the biggest threats right now because of the geopolitical situation.”

Hulio previously gained prominence in his role leading NSO, whose Pegasus software is sold to governments and law enforcement agencies that use it to hack into mobile phones. He stepped down in August amid a reorganization.

In a report last year from human rights groups, NSO’s spyware was found in use in more than 60 cases targeting dissidents and government critics in countries including Rwanda, Togo, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Morocco and India. NSO said at the time that it investigates any improper use of its system. The company has more recently said it will focus on NATO-member nations going forward.

Read more: New Database Ties NSO Group to Improper Spying and Violence

Kurz was forced to resign as chancellor of Austria in 2021 after prosecutors launched investigations into alleged corruption that helped his rise to power. He has since been appointed global strategist at billionaire Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital LLC. Kurz has denied any wrongdoing.

Read More: Billionaire Thiel Gives Austria’s Disgraced Wunderkind a Job

“This is the strongest and most seasoned founding team I have seen,” said Frances, who has previously invested in firms including TripActions and Tipalti. He added that the new company came at a “unique time in the market where de-globalization forces all nations to strengthen protection around their critical infrastructure.”

(Updates with comment from Hulio in fourth paragraph.)