French cybersecurity startup Riot has secured a $30 million Series B funding round, led by Left Lane Capital, with existing investors Y Combinator, Base10, and FundersClub participating once again. This investment brings Riot's post-money valuation to over $170 million, as reported by TechCrunch.

Riot initially focused on educating employees about cybersecurity risks through fake phishing campaigns, which trick employees into clicking on links and entering personal information. This approach has been successful, with the company currently interacting with one million employees across 1,500 companies, including notable clients such as L'Occitane, Deel, Intercom, and Le Monde.

However, despite the progress made in employee education, cyber incidents continue to rise, with widespread consequences. A recent example is the Change Healthcare data breach, which affected 190 million Americans and started with compromised credentials on a consumer service. This incident highlights the importance of going beyond employee education and addressing the broader issue of minimizing attack surfaces.

Riot's founder and CEO, Benjamin Netter, emphasized the need to look at employees' posture, including their activation of multifactor authentication, secure codes on smartphones, and privacy settings on LinkedIn. Netter believes that employees can take simple steps to make life more difficult for hackers, and Riot's next product, an Employee Security Posture Management platform, aims to facilitate this.

The platform will serve as a central cockpit to manage security at the employee level, providing a "karma score" to indicate an employee's security posture. Riot will then nudge employees to change settings, activate multifactor authentication, and take other simple steps to improve their security. This approach will require Riot to address the challenge of employee security depending on their cyber hygiene on personal devices and services, as well as the increasing prevalence of phishing campaigns on platforms like WhatsApp and social engineering attacks on LinkedIn.

To make the platform more engaging, Riot plans to incorporate consumer-like features, including nice animations and gamification elements, to incentivize employees to improve their security posture. Netter's long-term vision is to build a comprehensive employee security company, providing a suite of tools in the employee security stack, potentially including antivirus software and password managers.

With the new funding, Riot plans to accelerate its growth, opening new offices in other countries and expanding its client base to develop more sophisticated products. As the company embarks on this ambitious journey, it will be interesting to see how it navigates the complex landscape of employee security and cybersecurity.

In conclusion, Riot's $30 million Series B funding round marks a significant milestone in the company's evolution beyond employee education. As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, Riot's innovative approach to Employee Security Posture Management has the potential to make a meaningful impact in minimizing attack surfaces and enhancing overall cybersecurity.