Sqrrl

Sqrrl Data, Inc. was an American cybersecurity and big-data analytics company founded in 2012. Its origins were closely connected to the United States Intelligence Community and the National Security Agency, where several members of its founding team had previously worked. The company initially operated from Washington, D.C., before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sqrrl built its products around Apache Accumulo, an open-source distributed key-value store originally developed within the U.S. government and later hosted by the Apache Software Foundation. Sqrrl was involved in the creation and continued development of Accumulo and related Apache projects, using the technology as the data foundation for security analytics at large scale. The company's central proposition was that security teams could examine vast volumes of events, identities, assets, and relationships in a unified data environment rather than relying solely on isolated alerts from conventional security tools. Its principal offering was a visual threat-hunting platform designed to help analysts detect advanced persistent threats and investigate suspicious activity. The platform combined link analysis, user and entity behavior analytics, machine learning, and risk scoring. It represented users, systems, assets, and events in a behavior graph that analysts could explore visually, enabling them to follow relationships, identify unusual patterns, and investigate threats that might not have generated a known signature. Sqrrl also supported integration with security information and event management systems, including IBM QRadar. The company raised a $2 million seed round in 2012, followed by a $5.2 million financing round in 2013 and a further $7.1 million round in 2015. These financings supported the development of its linked-data analysis toolkit and threat-hunting products. Sqrrl was recognized in cybersecurity industry awards and marketing, including SC Magazine's Top Innovator recognition in 2015 and 2016 and a 2017 Cybersecurity Excellence Award in the threat-hunting category. In January 2018, Amazon acquired Sqrrl. The company subsequently became part of Amazon Web Services, bringing its threat-hunting and security analytics expertise into Amazon's cloud security organization. As an independent company, Sqrrl is no longer active; its acquisition is the principal endpoint of the standalone Sqrrl brand's corporate history.

Sqrrl emerged from the intersection of government-scale data infrastructure and commercial cybersecurity. Several of its founders had backgrounds in the United States Intelligence Community and the National Security Agency. Co-founder and chief executive Oren Falkowitz had previously worked with the United States Cyber Command, while co-founder Ely Kahn had served as a director of U.S. cybersecurity policy. Their experience informed Sqrrl's focus on detecting sophisticated and persistent threats in large, complex environments. The company's technical foundation was Apache Accumulo, a distributed data platform whose development began in 2008 and which became open source in 2011. Accumulo was designed to handle large datasets with strong security and granular access controls. Sqrrl was established in the summer of 2012 to apply this technology to cybersecurity use cases, including the investigation of relationships among people, devices, systems, accounts, and events. It was initially founded in Washington, D.C., but soon relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sqrrl's early financing supported the conversion of government-oriented data technology into an enterprise security product. In August 2012, the company announced a $2 million seed round led by Accomplice, then operating as Atlas Venture, and Matrix Partners. In October 2013, it raised $5.2 million in another round led by the same investors. In February 2015, Sqrrl announced a further $7.1 million financing round intended to support its linked-data analysis toolkit. The company's principal commercial product was a visual cyber threat-hunting platform. Rather than limiting investigations to predefined signatures or individual alerts, the platform combined data from users, entities, assets, and events into a behavior graph. Analysts could navigate links within that graph, examine anomalous relationships, and search for previously undetected activity associated with advanced persistent threats. The product incorporated link analysis, user and entity behavior analytics, machine learning, and risk scoring. It could also connect with security information and event management systems such as IBM QRadar, allowing threat-hunting workflows to use data from existing security operations infrastructure. Sqrrl participated in the broader Apache ecosystem and actively contributed to Apache Accumulo and related projects. This open-source involvement reinforced the company's identity as both a security software vendor and a specialist in distributed data systems. Industry recognition included SC Magazine Top Innovator mentions in 2015 and 2016 and a 2017 Cybersecurity Excellence Award in a new threat-hunting category. On January 24, 2018, reports stated that Amazon had acquired Sqrrl. The transaction brought Sqrrl's technology and personnel into Amazon Web Services, where the company's capabilities were relevant to cloud security, behavioral analytics, and threat detection. Following the transaction, Sqrrl ceased operating as an independent company. Publicly available reference material does not provide a complete account of the acquisition price, detailed integration structure, or the subsequent product-by-product disposition of the Sqrrl platform.

• 2018

  Acquired by Amazon

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  Amazon acquires Sqrrl, which becomes part of Amazon Web Services.

• 2015

  Further funding for linked-data analytics

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  Sqrrl raises $7.1 million to support its linked-data analysis toolkit.

• 2013

  Second financing round

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  The company raises $5.2 million in a round led by Accomplice and Matrix Partners.

• 2012

  Sqrrl is founded

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  Sqrrl is founded in the summer of 2012, initially in Washington, D.C., to apply Accumulo to cybersecurity.

• 2012

  Seed financing announced

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  Sqrrl announces a $2 million seed round led by Accomplice and Matrix Partners.

• 2011

  Accumulo becomes open source

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  Accumulo is released as open-source software, creating the technical base for later commercial security applications by Sqrrl.

• 2008

  Development of Apache Accumulo begins

  [1]Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org

  The distributed data technology that later became the foundation for Sqrrl's cybersecurity platform begins development.

Large-scale, real-time cybersecurity analytics and visual threat hunting for detecting advanced persistent threats.

• Cybersecurity analytics

  Sqrrl threat-hunting platform

  Sqrrl's primary product was a visual platform for actively investigating cyber threats and advanced persistent threats. It brought user, entity, asset, and event information into a behavior graph that analysts could explore through relationships and activity patterns. The platform combined link analysis, user and entity behavior analytics, machine learning, and risk scoring, and could integrate with security information and event management systems such as IBM QRadar.

• Big-data analytics

  Sqrrl linked-data analysis toolkit

  The linked-data analysis toolkit applied Apache Accumulo's distributed data capabilities to security investigations. Its purpose was to help analysts connect apparently separate observations across large datasets, supporting the discovery of suspicious relationships and previously undetected threats. The toolkit formed part of Sqrrl's broader effort to adapt government-scale data analysis techniques for enterprise cybersecurity operations.

• 2018

  Sale to AmazonM&A

  Background

  Amazon acquired Sqrrl as the cybersecurity company developed a specialized threat-hunting and big-data analytics platform.

  Action taken

  Amazon purchased Sqrrl in January 2018 and moved the company into Amazon Web Services.

  Aftermath

  Sqrrl ceased operating as an independent company. Public reference material does not disclose the acquisition price or the full details of the product and personnel integration.

  Source

• 2012

  Apply Apache Accumulo to cybersecurityStrategy

  Background

  Sqrrl was founded to commercialize security applications for Apache Accumulo, an open-source distributed data platform associated with government-scale data processing.

  Action taken

  The company built a cybersecurity analytics business around large-scale linked-data analysis, behavioral analytics, and threat hunting.

  Aftermath

  This positioning defined Sqrrl's products and differentiated the company from security vendors focused primarily on conventional alerting and signature detection.

  Source

1. 1Sqrrlen.wikipedia.org