IFI CLAIMS Technology Spotlight: Cybersecurity
The digital world is becoming more dangerous. The rise in internet-based threats around the globe has corporations and governments looking to strengthen online security. Here are the companies innovating in the safekeeping of networks.
Patents On Guard
In the age of AI, the value of data is immense. So is the risk of storing that data—especially now that enterprises are increasingly using cloud computing. More frequent and progressively devastating hacks are a growing challenge that requires ever more sophisticated frameworks to secure networks. The FBI’s most recent Internet Crime Report showed a record number of complaints from U.S. callers, up 10 percent from the previous year, with dollar losses increasing by 22 percent. At a time when the public trust has been undermined by strings of attacks and cyber spying, IFI CLAIMS, the industry’s most trusted patent data provider, took a look at the companies and inventions in the cybersecurity space. Here is what we found:
Microsoft’s Cyber Patent Command
As the largest computer software company in the world, it’s no surprise that Microsoft, with $211 billion in annual revenue, applied for the most U.S. patents over the past five years. The company is a target for attacks and also possesses key insights on strikes and vulnerabilities at outside enterprises. Earlier this year, Microsoft detected an intrusion to its corporate email systems by Russian-backed Midnight Blizzard. But Microsoft was also taken to task in April by the Department of Homeland Security for its corporate failings in Storm-0558, a 2023 Chinese state-sponsored hack that compromised the email accounts of important U.S. government officials.
IBM and Intel are not far behind Microsoft in cybersecurity patents. In fact, after nearly three decades of winning the top spot on the IFI CLAIMS list of companies that hold the most patents in the U.S., IBM announced last year that the company was shifting its innovation strategy toward more selective patenting in five key technology areas. Security is one of those areas.
Top Ten Companies Patenting in Cybersecurity
Cyber Protection Patents Rise
Over time, online threats have only intensified. So it’s only natural that cyber patents have also taken off over the past decade. During the last 10 years, patent grants in this space have grown about 11 percent on a compound annual basis. For applications, the growth rate is roughly 9 percent.
Cybersecurity Application & Grant Trends
Cyber Defense Technology Classifications
Countering cyber intrusion is an ongoing, ever-escalating battle that gets more complex as bad actors become more sophisticated. The top technologies keeping virtual enemies at bay? Network architectures and security arrangements for protecting computers are critical. Machine learning and cryptographic mechanisms are also playing an important role.
Company Cyber Forces
Cybersecurity touches many patent classifications. But different companies tend to develop specializations. The charts below highlight the leading cybersecurity technologies for the largest players in the area. Security and protocols for protecting computers and networks and pattern recognition for signal processing are foundational patent areas for the top five cyber defense patent holders. In cryptographic mechanisms, Microsoft is laying the most track in front of that railway. AI cybersecurity firm Darktrace, recently acquired by PE firm Thoma Bravo for $5.3 billion, is the only one of the five with a top focus in packet switching networks. Intel, meanwhile, has developed an emphasis on control units, while Knowbe4 is the only player with a top five concentration in computing based on biological models, a classification that is heavily associated with AI. Both Knowbe4 and Darktrace are working on patents in email security. This Knowbe4 patent for a system that discovers hazardous messages and alerts users (US-11343276-B2) was granted in 2022.
Microsoft's Top Specializations in Cybersecurity
IBM's Top Specializations in Cybersecurity
Intel's Top Specializations in Cybersecurity
Knowbe4's Top Specializations in Cybersecurity
Darktrace's Top Specializations in Cybersecurity
Cites Set On Risk Assessment
Strengthening the defenses in a computer network is one way to stave off incursions. But it’s also crucial for any organization to understand its cyber weaknesses. Over the past five years, the most cited U.S. cybersecurity patent belongs to global insurance and financial company Aon for its 2019 grant of its assessment system for cybersecurity risk (US-10387657-B2). The system rates vulnerabilities within an enterprise’s tech architecture after identifying features of the infrastructure and producing threat scenarios. Aon’s patent has been cited by IBM, Samsung, Bank of America, Siemens and T-Mobile.
