Welcome to our blog.

TL;DR we raised a lot of money and we’re ready to go big.

We've raised $17M to bring “no BS” security to devs. We’re happy to welcome Henri Tilloy from Singular.vc on board, who is again joined by Notion Capital and Connect Ventures. This round comes just 6 months after we raised $5.3M in seed funding. That’s fast.

We founded Aikido because developers have a problem. Security and compliance requirements are no longer just for large enterprises - they are now a growing necessity for companies of all sizes, especially SMEs looking to win customers and scale up. Compliance standards like SOC2, ISO 27001, CIS, HIPAA, and the upcoming European NIS 2 Directive are becoming baseline requirements for software companies, especially those selling to enterprises or handling sensitive data, like in HealthTech or Fintech.

But this growing compliance burden often falls on the shoulders of developers, who are now expected to function as security experts. That's why we built Aikido - the all-in-one platform that brings together all the necessary code and cloud security scanners in one simple, easy-to-use interface, leveraging the best open source has to offer. We’re freemium, self-service, and open about what is under the hood and how much it’ll cost you.

We're an outsider challenger in the established, tight-knit security industry, which has long been dominated by US and Israeli enterprises led by industry veterans. Yes, there have been security tools for three decades, but we’re starting from a very different position. We are building a security platform where the buyer is the user. As it so often is, the CISO is the buyer, but then some poor developer is the user.

We’ve been that poor developer before. We have felt the frustration of working with clunky, legacy security tools that waste our time and our money. We wasted hundreds of hours on irrelevant security alerts as CTOs ourselves. We know how these tools look like the inside of an F-16’s cockpit. We know how they make you feel dumb, how you get so swamped with complexity and false alerts, that people stop checking them all together. We understand that a developer just wants to fix problems and move on with building fun features.

We’re excited to work with Henri and Singular. He’s one of the first investors we felt actually understood the product, and didn’t just see us as a spreadsheet. He believes that we have “an incredibly unique approach to security” as we are “simple, leverage open-source, and easy to set up and use, yet Aikido ticks off the boxes of company compliance and security requirements in one go." (We like him for his nice quotes and compliments too).

In less than a year since our launch, we are already used by over 3,000 organizations and 6,000 individual developers. Visma choosing us to secure all of its portfolio of 175+ companies was major and confirmed we’re on the right track (not that we doubted it ;)) We have 30% of our customers in the US and we're now aiming for further international expansion to help developers and SMEs get security done.

This new $17M Series A funding will allow us to deepen our platform and push Aikido onto the global stage, making security simple for SMEs and doable for developers without the industry jargon, red tape, and frankly, BS.

Want to join us?

Why are you here?

Let’s not waste time. You’re here because you’re building a webhook feature in your app. Unfortunately, there are quite a few things that can go wrong from a security perspective. This article aims to ensure that you’re not making any well-known mistakes while building webhooks.

How do webhooks work?

As a quick recap, webhooks are HTTP(S) requests to third parties to inform them about something that happened in your app. For example, if you offer an application that generates invoices, you might offer your customers the opportunity to set up webhook functionality that is triggered when a new invoice is created. This means that when the invoice is created, your application will send a HTTP(S) request to a location that is determined by the user. The user can use this to set up their own custom workflows that are triggered by the webhook, such as scheduling reminder emails, or sending the customer a message on Slack.

Checklist: securing webhook implementations

1. Defeating SSRF-type attacks

In this type of attack, the attacker tries to get information (e.g. instance metadata in a cloud) by exploiting the webhook feature. To counter it, you should take the following measures.

✅ Validate user input

• Basic: Perform simple URL validation.
• Better: Ensure URL starts with "https://", disallow "file://" and other non-HTTPS schemes.

✅ Restrict Local Addresses

• Block typical local IPs: 127.0.x, 192.168.x, 172.x.
• Prohibit "localhost" and "http://"

✅ Limit Log Exposure

• Show only HTTP status codes in user-facing logs.
• Avoid displaying headers or body content.

✅ Advanced: Enhanced URL Validation

• Require a specific response header for POST requests, unique to the customer.
• Maintain this verification continuously, even after initial setup, to counter DNS changes..

2. Allow your users to verify data authenticity

Your webhook consumer must have a way to know the data really comes from your app. You can use any of the following methods.

✅ Test Message Verification

First, enable users to trigger a test message to test security mechanisms.

✅ HMAC Verification Hash

One of the most effective security mechanisms for webhooks functionalities is implementing HMAC for data integrity and authenticity.

The basic process can be summarized as follows:

• Generate a hash of the payload using SHA-256 and a secret key.
• Send the HMAC with the payload.
• Recipients recreate the hash to verify payload authenticity and integrity.

✅ Timestamp Inclusion

This is more of an advanced security mitigation. Add a timestamp to the payload to prevent replay attacks. Ensures messages are not reused or altered.

✅ Client-Side TLS Certificates

Authenticate HTTP calls with client-side TLS certificates. This is particularly appealing for enterprise-level consumers.

3. Rate limit and avoid data overexposure

For webhook security, sending too little data is more secure than attaching too much. Although webhook callbacks should be encrypted using HTTPS, you can never know who might be in control of a domain name after a few years.

✅ Minimize Data Exposure

• Avoid sending Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or sensitive data.
• Instead of sending multiple data points (like contact_id, email, name), just send the contact_id. Let users fetch additional data through your public API if needed.

✅ Retry Policy Communication

• Clearly communicate the retry policy and rate limits to users.
• Inform them that due to retries, messages may arrive out of order.
• Define that any 2xx response is a success; other responses should trigger a retry.

✅ Use a Queue System for Delivery

Implement a queue system to manage webhook delivery and throttle output. This approach helps prevent accidentally overwhelming your users' servers in edge cases, like a large CSV import triggering excessive webhook calls and retries.

4. Bonus: Anomaly alerting

This is more for developer convenience than security, but it's a good thing to implement nonetheless.

• Alert users when 4xx and 5xx responses are encountered
• Send notifications to inform users of any failures

This addition enhances transparency and responsiveness in your webhook system.

Conclusion

And there you have it! We've covered some steps to make your webhooks not just functional, but also secure and user-friendly. Implementing these steps will safeguard your app and also enhance the overall user experience. Happy coding! 🚀🔒👨‍💻

Aikido Security is a developer-centric software security platform. We help keep your product secure, so that you can focus on writing code. You don’t need to talk to a sales team - just connect your GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Azure DevOps account to start scanning your repos for free.

Visma selects Aikido security, entrusting them to deliver software security to their portfolio of 170+ companies. Securing software is vitally important to Visma, whose operations deliver software to dynamic SMEs, powerhouse corporations, and key public institutions worldwide.

Together, Visma and Aikido are not just participating in the future of application security; they are creating it.

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) and an all-in-one approach

Why did Visma zero in on Aikido Security? Why go with a startup that is just over a year old? It's all about Aikido's powerhouse Software Composition Analysis (SCA) – the ultimate tool for dependency scanning. Visma's companies will be able to continuously monitor their code, find the vulnerabilities that matter, and fix them in a heartbeat.

But that's just the start. Visma isn't just cherry-picking features; they're thrilled with Aikido’s all-in-one approach that gives Visma and its network a complete security arsenal. Aikido’s 10-in-1 package is an industry game-changer, and Visma sees this clearly. That’s a 10-in-1 security package giving Visma’s security warriors the proactive and reactive tools to win. Besides the SCA tool, another highlight is Aikido’s SAST solution, which brings together best in class open-source solutions for Ruby, Python, Golang and PHP.

Noise reduction

Visma wasn't messing around – they wanted a security platform that's top-notch quality, yet simple to use. Enter Aikido, laser-focused on eliminating false positives. Aikido’s practical approach to security lets Visma’s companies zero in on real threats, without the distractions from white noise.

Nicolai Brogaard, Visma’s Service Owner of SAST & SCA, drives the point home: “Trying to reduce the noise that [other] tools actually generate – diving into the signal-to-noise ratio – is a nightmare.”

Aikido cuts through the chaos. No false positives, no noise. Visma wants results. Aikido provides them.

European businesses unite

Visma and Aikido aren't just European by location – they're European by attitude and approach! Cybersecurity tends to be a sea of non-European companies, so Visma is elated to find a Europe-based security provider with a shared vision.

Aikido closely monitors European Cybersecurity & Privacy Legislation such as GDPR, NIS2, CRA, DORA, etc. Through Aikido’s reporting feature, tracking your company’s technical security compliance becomes dead simple.

Want to see an example? Get your NIS2 report right on Aikido.

Rolling out Aikido

Visma's network is colossal and constantly growing, so they demand software that not only strengthens their security posture but comes hassle-free. In practical terms, Visma values onboarding simplicity, and Aikido delivers just that: fast, easy, and effective onboarding across Visma’s entire network.

The proof is in the pudding. According to Brogaard, “Since we launched Aikido internally with sign-up automation on the 19th of February, 55% of Visma’s portfolio has already started using Aikido.”

Aikido’s API meshes seamlessly with Visma’s inventory management juggernaut. So, with a few fiery clicks, Visma’s network can start using Aikido with lightning speed and no setup headaches.

Visma’s High Security Standards

Visma has an advanced security program, empowering companies in the group to manage their own security by providing specialised tools, capabilities and training. One of the tools they use is their “Visma Index”. A gamified security maturity index, custom-developed and crafted by Visma to score their companies on the adoption of security measures & tools. Aikido plugs directly into the “Visma Security Maturity Index” and makes it easy to monitor their security stance.

Aikido pulls it all together for Visma in its dedicated “Group Admin Portal”, which is basically a master control center for Visma’s extensive network. The portal gives Visma a crystal-clear view of the security stance across all 170+ companies, along with unprecedented insight into its collective security posture.

Visma’s security budgeting pain point

Brogaard points out, “Security tools cost way too much.”

Most similar platforms have a developer-focused pricing model, creating unpredictable costs and making budgeting an unnecessarily challenging and persistent headache. Consequently, for Visma, the pricing model becomes a high-priority security pain point. Considering Visma’s size and continual network expansion, ballooning costs and the unpredictability around budgeting become unsustainable.

Aikido Security solves Visma’s previous problematic pricing model pain with its unlimited users enterprise plan – a flat rate that is known upfront. No unknown costs = a huge advantage for budgeting.

About Visma

Visma is a leading provider of mission-critical cloud software, with revenue of € 2.06 billion in 2022, 15,000 employees, and 1.7 million customers across Europe and Latin America. By simplifying and automating the work of businesses and organizations of all sizes, Visma enables a more efficient and prosperous society. Visit Visma at visma.com.

About Aikido Security

Aikido Security is a developer-first software security platform. We scan your source code & cloud to show you which vulnerabilities are actually important to solve. Triaging is sped up by massively reducing false positives and making CVEs human-readable. Aikido makes it simple to strengthen your security posture to keep your product secure. And, it gives you back time to do what you do best: writing code.

Most security tools waste developers’ time. We’re on a mission to fix this.

Application Developers aren't paid to care about security. Their performance is measured by the speed at which they can add value to the business through new features or enhancements.

This makes traditional security tools a hindrance as they're not built for developers — plus, they're not designed to be helpful. Their job is simply to show a massive list of security alerts, leaving it to the developer to figure out the rest.

At Aikido, our mission is to make securing applications as quick and painless as possible, and one of the most important ways we do this is by reducing the noise and false positives that waste developers' time and cause delays in shipping security fixes.

This post will show you what Aikido does to offer a cure for Developers suffering from Alert Fatigue Syndrome.

Reducing the Noise

In his famous song, "The Gambler," Kenny Rogers captured it pretty well:

“the secret to survivin', Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep.”

The most significant impact you can have on the signal-to-noise ratio is only showing developers the CVEs and security alerts they should take action on and ignoring the rest.

Here’s how Aikido intelligently ignores irrelevant security alerts and CVEs:

Development-Only Dependencies

By default, Aikido will not report vulnerabilities for dependencies marked only for installation in development environments, as they should not be present in staging or production environments.

Invalid CVEs or CVEs Without a Fix

Showing a CVE without a fix is just a distraction. Hence, Aikido temporarily moves these to a list of ignored issues until a fix becomes available before surfacing in the dashboard.

Unreachable Code

Aikido's code intelligence and reachability engine will ignore a CVE if a vulnerable function is not called in the code base.

This decreases the noise, especially for large libraries with many dependencies, such as TensorFlow.

Expired or Revoked Secrets

Aikido will ignore secrets that have been verified as expired or revoked, or appear to be variables. Aikido safely verifies the validity of known secret types by sending a request to an API endpoint requiring authorization that doesn't produce sensitive data.

Manual Ignore Rules

You can configure Aikido to ignore vulnerabilities under certain conditions, e.g. ignore reporting for specific paths in a repository.

Deduplication

Because most companies piece together their security infrastructure from several different sources, it's common for multiple systems to surface the same alert or CVE — plus, it’s common for traditional tools to surface the same CVE multiple times within a single repository. Talk about noise!

Because Aikido is an all-in-one platform offering you a single pane of glass across all security issues, you'll only see a single CVE alert for each repository with sub-issues listing the location of each vulnerability.

Boosting the Signal with Contextual Sensitivity Tuning

A security issue discovered in a repository handling sensitive data should be scored differently from an internal-only repository that doesn’t persist data at all.

Aikido provides various contextual indicators for every repository, helping uncover more security risks and appropriately weighting an issue's final severity score.

For example, by adding a domain name, Aikido can perform targeted scans for issues such as SSL vulnerabilities, cookie misconfigurations, if a CSP has been applied, and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

Additional contextual examples include whether the application has internet access and which environments the application is deployed in.

Boosting the Signal for Exploitation Risk

Aikido uses real-time indicators to track the probability of a CVE being exploited in the wild, such as confirmed cases of exploitation, public code documenting how to perform the exploit, and any customer-specific cloud infrastructure concerns which may make them particularly vulnerable.

And because Aikido monitors both your code and cloud infrastructure, it can boost the severity of "toxic combination" issues arising from specific conditions under which your application is hosted, e.g. AWS instances using IMDS API version 1 are more vulnerable to SSRF exploits which can expose AWS Credentials.

Summary

Traditional security tools don't care about developer productivity. They're more than happy to bury a repository in a pile of false positives, wasting developers time that could've been better spent actually resolving security issues.

What makes Aikido different, is that we see the link between developer productivity and security. By removing irrelevant alerts and CVEs, genuine threats get more attention, and as a result, fixes get applied faster.

This win-win for developers and security is what we're all about and is how we're curing Security Alert Fatigue Syndrome for our customers.

Want to see it in action? Sign up to scan your first repos & get your first results in less than 2 minutes.

This is a question we get a lot from our customers. The NIS2 Directive’s wording is not always very explicit. NIS2 is a framework that countries need to implement. Because it’s a Directive and not a Regulation, each EU country has the autonomy to roll it out under their own interpretation.

NIS2’s language is broad, making it challenging to get your head around, especially until countries publish their specifics. But, we will answer as clearly as possible which companies NIS2 currently affects.

Aikido’s quick NIS2 self-check to see if you’re in scope

We like things to be practical and straightforward. So, to help make it easier, here’s our quick 5-step self-check to see if you’re in NIS2 scope:

1. Is your company working in an ‘essential’ or ‘important’ industry?
2. Check if you’re part of a sub-industry.
3. Do you fall within the size requirements?
4. If ‘no’ to 1, 2, and 3, double-check that you’re not an exception (pro tip: you may need to seek legal counsel to be on the safe side).
5. And, if ‘no’ to all of the above, check if your customers are or are not in scope.

Who does NIS2 apply to?

There are two key parameters to check to see if NIS2 impacts your company:

• Industry: If you’re part of an industry that is ‘essential’ or ‘important’.
• Size: If the size of your company meets certain ‘essential’ or ‘important’ thresholds, i.e. above X # of employees, €X revenue, or €X balance sheet.

Let’s look at both in more depth.

Which sectors does NIS2 apply to?

It all starts here. NIS2 is all about getting essential and important industries to be secure. NIS2 expands the number of industries that were the focus of the first NIS Directive. It differentiates between essential and important, but both categories are included in its scope.

Essential industries: energy, drinking water, wastewater, transportation, banking, financial markets, ICT service management, public administration, healthcare, and space.

Important industries: postal and courier services, waste management, chemicals, food, manufacturing (e.g. medical devices, computers/electronics, machinery/equipment, motor vehicles, trailers/semi-trailers/other transport equipment), digital providers (e.g. online marketplaces), and research organizations.

Some sectors are instantly in scope, no matter what. Some examples include domain name registrars, trust service providers, DNS service providers, TLD name registries, and telecom providers.

Beyond that, national authorities will have the power to designate individual companies that do not fall neatly into the essential or important sector categories. They can do this if they deem the company to provide a sole service, have a significant impact, and/or be essential to society.

NIS2 company size criteria

NIS2 has size cap rules. This means you’ll need to comply with the Directive if you cross certain thresholds.

What are essential and important companies for the size criteria?

• Essential companies: 250+ employees OR €50m+ annual turnover OR €43m+ balance sheet
  Note: An essential company that does not meet the essential size thresholds (above) but still meets the important companies size thresholds (below) is considered an important company. And, therefore still in scope.
• Important companies: 50+ employees OR €10m+ annual turnover OR €10m+ balance sheet

So, on the surface, NIS2 applies to medium enterprises and large corporations. And, leaves out small and micro enterprises. But, there will be exceptions. For example, if a company doesn’t meet the size thresholds, a national authority can exert its designation prerogative as with the sector criteria.

How do I know which country has jurisdiction over my business?

The European Commission says: ‘As a rule, essential and important entities are deemed to be under the jurisdiction of the Member State where they are established. If the entity is established in more than one Member State, it should fall under the jurisdiction of each of these Member States.’

There are exceptions. In some cases, that means considering where the company provides the service (e.g. DNS service providers). In other cases, the key is where their main establishment is (e.g. cloud computing service providers).

Are there other exceptions to the rules?

Of course, there are some related to the industry and size rules. On top of that, as countries implement the directive, there will be country-to-country differences to pay attention to as the localized rules come into effect (all by October 17, 2024).

For example, if you don’t meet the size requirements BUT are the sole provider of a critical service for societal or economic activity in a member state, you may still need to implement NIS2.

Note: If you’re active in the finance industry, you’re probably already familiar with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). DORA is a piece of legislation – not a directive like NIS2 – so it takes precedence over NIS2. We recommend focusing your efforts there first but make sure you check in when NIS2 is transposed into local law by your EU member state.

Don’t forget about the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) as well. CRA sets out cybersecurity requirements for a range of hardware and software products placed on the EU market. These include smart speakers, games, operating systems, etc.

Are you looking for a bit more detail?

Here’s a great overview of who’s in scope, developed by the Centre for Cyber Security Belgium:

If your customers are in-scope, NIS2 will likely impact you

Did you know that NIS2 includes the third-party knock-on effect? That means even if you’re not directly in scope but your customers are, you will likely need to comply with NIS2.

Companies that must implement NIS2 will need to ‘manage and assess the risks’ associated with their ‘third-party providers’. This includes, for example, conducting regular security assessments, ensuring that you have adequate cybersecurity measures in place, and implementing contracts/agreements that require you to comply with NIS2 requirements.

So, if you’re a B2B company and you thought you were out of scope because of sector and size, but your customers are in NIS2’s scope, you should start preparing!

Aikido provides NIS2 report

Aikido Security has created a NIS2 report feature available in our app. We’ve designed this report to help companies who need to comply with the directive.

Are you likely affected by NIS2?
Find out where you stand with your application on NIS2.
Although our report is not exhaustive (and only covers your technical setup) , it’ll get you on started and on the right track.

Register for Aikido and get your NIS2 report for free!

Aikido has just gone through the process of becoming ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type 2 compliant. And one of the things we wish we’d had was some practical, no-nonsense advice on how to get started. Best practices, things to watch out for - basically tips from someone who’d already been through the ISO 27001 certification process.

Read more about Aikido’s path to becoming ISO 27001:2022 compliant and the ISO 27001 requirements.

That’s why we’ve written this blog post: to help anyone at a SaaS company looking at becoming ISO:27001 compliant.

8 things we learned during the ISO 27001 certification process

1. Know what you’re getting into

If you’ve never done this before, the first thing to do is ask your friends and business acquaintances. You’ll probably find someone who has gone through the process, so hit them up and get advice.

If you really can’t find anyone, you can make contact with a pre-auditor. Just be aware that they will understandably try to sell you services.

Either way, it really helps to get a good sense of how it all works. This will save you time in the end and help you get your ISO 27001 certificate faster.

2. Communicate that you’re working on implementing ISO 27001

People appreciate it when you mention you’re in the process of implementing ISO 27001. They’ll be eager to know that there will be less for them to worry about in the near future. And that will in turn help your sales and conversions. So mention this on your website, in sales conversations, on LinkedIn, and more. Let your users know that you’re making your product more compliant.

3. Decide which ISO 27001 standard to implement (2013, 2017, or 2022)

2022 has way more controls regarding secure coding and software security. (e.g. detection of malware is a new control). This means it involves more work to implement than an older version. If you go for one of the newer standards, it will require more controls, but you’ll already be prepared for the future. So it’s probably better to go for the 2022 version.

Quick tip: ISO 27001 certification needs a full audit every three years. That means that it’s best not to go for ISO 27001:2013, as it’s only valid for another two years.

Each version of the ISO 27001 standard also frames the risk management process differently. The 2022 version includes updated certification requirements that reflect evolving cybersecurity risks. That makes it important for companies to have a robust risk management process in place to identify, assess, and mitigate these risks.

Note that, if you’re a big, mature company, you might prefer to go for the 2017 version, as it’s more established and might lead to less disruption in your existing processes.

4. Don’t outsource everything

It’s risky to outsource the whole process... Even though it’s possible to outsource the whole process to a consultancy, I would advise against this. Sure, a consultant can definitely help, provide templates, and that kind of thing. But if you outsource everything and you encounter a problem, you need to know how to handle it. My advice is to have at least two, and up to four, people from the company involved.

Quick tip: Remember that the final audit must be carried out by an accredited certification body!

5. Get a pentest that makes sense for your company

If you’re a software company, you should choose a pentester to focus on things that are not covered by automated tooling like OWASP ZAP. Go for pentesters with bug bounty hunter experience, rather than “old-school” pentesters.

6. Leverage compliance standards and accelerate

Already being SOC2 compliant makes it faster to become ISO compliant. And it’s good to know that, if you’re ISO compliant, NIS2 (a new regulation applicable in the EU) will be easier.

Quick tip: Double-check that your auditor has been audited (it’s a requirement). Don’t settle for someone without the right credentials or you might get duped.

7. Realise that nobody’s perfect

The eventual audit will always find non-conformities and it’s OK to be imperfect. But you have to know about those imperfections and make sure you have a formal action plan to resolve the issues. It’s a continual improvement process that will ultimately lead to better security throughout your company. Sure, you might never attain “perfection” but you should do your best to get there!

8. Start early with implementing tools that cover ISO controls

If you’re considering going for ISO compliance, it’s always a good idea to do a trial run of the tooling that will help you cover certain controls (and also produce the evidence you need).

For example, ISO requires you to implement some processes regarding people. for instance, onboarding, offboarding, background checks, assigning and retrieving of company assets. Having these processes implemented in a human resources information system (HRIS) such as Officient, Personio, or Workday, will help you hit the ground running the moment you need to produce your evidence for ISO.

It’s the same thing with Aikido, which already performs checks on 22 controls and generates a comprehensive ISO 27001 report. It’s another great example of getting a head start on preparing for your ISO.

ISO 27001:2022 technical vulnerability management

On your own path to ISO 27001:2022 certification? Our platform, Aikido Security fulfills all technical vulnerability management needs for ISO 27001:2022 applications. We’ve also decided to partner up with Compliance Monitoring Platforms (like Vanta or Drata) to easily sync the data & ensure that your vulnerability information is always up to date. This helps you easily stay on top of your security posture.

Request our report

Feel free to request our own ISO 27001:2022 certificate directly on our security overview page. We’re more than happy to share the fruits of our hard work! 😉

I hope this blog post is helpful to you. I certainly wish I knew all of these tips when we started the process. If you’re exploring ISO certification, connect with me on LinkedIn and I’ll be glad to share my insights!