RiskIQ

Corporate brand

Cybersecurity company that provided cloud-based digital-risk detection, threat intelligence, and attack-surface management services.

Last updated August 24, 2026

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Overview

RiskIQ was a San Francisco-based cybersecurity company founded in 2009 by Lou Manousos, Chris Kiernan, and David Pon. It developed cloud-based software designed to help organizations identify and investigate threats affecting their online presence. Its coverage included phishing, online fraud, malware, malvertising, spyware, malicious websites, mobile applications, brand impersonation, and other forms of digital abuse. The company’s central proposition was visibility beyond the traditional corporate network. Rather than limiting monitoring to infrastructure directly controlled by a security team, RiskIQ collected and analyzed information about the wider digital footprint associated with an organization, including websites, domains, advertising networks, mobile applications, and other internet-facing assets. This approach supported threat intelligence, digital-brand protection, external attack-surface discovery, and prioritization of risks that could be investigated or remediated. RiskIQ served enterprise and public-sector security teams through software-as-a-service offerings. Its capabilities were associated with digital footprint monitoring, automated threat analysis, phishing and fraud detection, malware discovery, and mobile application security. Products such as RiskIQ Illuminate and RiskIQ PassiveTotal became associated with the company’s efforts to combine internet-scale visibility with investigation and response workflows. The company also monitored advertising ecosystems for malicious campaigns and spyware, an area commonly referred to as malvertising. RiskIQ expanded through venture financing and industry adoption. It raised a $10 million Series A round from Summit Partners in February 2013 and a $25 million Series B round from Battery Ventures in May 2014, according to the company’s Wikipedia reference material. It was also a member of the Cloud Security Alliance. In May 2018, Standard Bank deployed RiskIQ software to automate analysis of brand infringement, cybercrime, and web-based attacks directed at its digital presence. Microsoft acquired RiskIQ in July 2021 for more than $500 million. Following the acquisition, RiskIQ’s technology and intelligence capabilities were incorporated into Microsoft’s broader security portfolio, including its external attack-surface-management and threat-intelligence activities. RiskIQ therefore ceased operating as an independent company, although its technology and product concepts continued to influence Microsoft security offerings.

History

RiskIQ was established in 2009 in San Francisco by Lou Manousos, Chris Kiernan, and David Pon. The company was created to address a growing cybersecurity problem: organizations increasingly operated across websites, domains, advertising systems, mobile applications, and other internet-facing services, while conventional security tools often focused primarily on internal networks and known assets. RiskIQ developed cloud-based software that collected and analyzed signals from the public internet and related digital ecosystems. Its services were designed to detect phishing, fraud, malware, malvertising, spyware, and other threats, while also helping customers understand how their brands and digital assets were being abused. This placed the company at the intersection of threat intelligence, digital-brand protection, external attack-surface management, and online fraud detection. The company secured a $10 million Series A investment from Summit Partners in February 2013, followed by a $25 million Series B round from Battery Ventures in May 2014. These financings supported the expansion of its software and threat-intelligence operations. RiskIQ also participated in the Cloud Security Alliance, reflecting its connection to the broader cloud-security industry. RiskIQ’s product portfolio included RiskIQ Illuminate and RiskIQ PassiveTotal. The company’s capabilities covered automated investigation, digital-footprint discovery, threat analysis, mobile application security, and monitoring of advertising networks for malicious activity. Its technology was used by enterprise security teams seeking to identify threats outside their directly managed infrastructure. In May 2018, Standard Bank deployed RiskIQ software to automate analysis of brand infringement, cybercrime, and web-based attacks against its digital presence, illustrating the use of the platform in financial-services security and brand protection. Microsoft agreed to acquire RiskIQ in 2021 and completed the transaction in July of that year. The reported purchase price was more than $500 million. After the acquisition, RiskIQ no longer operated as an independent company. Its capabilities were integrated into Microsoft’s wider security ecosystem, where external attack-surface visibility and internet-derived threat intelligence could complement Microsoft’s identity, endpoint, cloud, and security operations products. The independent RiskIQ corporate brand consequently became defunct, while elements of its technology and expertise continued within Microsoft.

2021
Acquisition by Microsoft
[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Microsoft acquired RiskIQ in July 2021 for more than $500 million, ending RiskIQ’s independent corporate operation.
2018
Standard Bank deployment
[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Standard Bank deployed RiskIQ software to automate analysis of brand infringement, cybercrime, and attacks against its online presence.
2014
Series B financing
[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Battery Ventures invested $25 million in RiskIQ’s Series B round in May 2014.
2013
Series A financing
[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
RiskIQ raised $10 million in Series A funding from Summit Partners in February 2013.
2009
RiskIQ is founded
[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Lou Manousos, Chris Kiernan, and David Pon co-founded RiskIQ as a cybersecurity company focused on detecting threats across organizations’ external digital presence.

Products and positioning

Enterprise-focused cybersecurity provider specializing in internet-scale visibility, external attack-surface discovery, digital-risk protection, and threat intelligence.

Digital-risk and attack-surface management
RiskIQ Illuminate
RiskIQ Illuminate was associated with the company’s effort to provide broad visibility into an organization’s external digital footprint. It supported the discovery and assessment of internet-facing assets and digital risks, helping security teams identify exposed services, impersonation, malicious infrastructure, and other threats beyond the conventional corporate perimeter.
Threat intelligence and investigation
RiskIQ PassiveTotal
RiskIQ PassiveTotal was a threat-intelligence and investigation offering associated with the analysis of passive DNS, domains, infrastructure, and other internet-derived indicators. It was intended to help analysts investigate relationships among suspicious assets and improve the speed and context of cyber-threat research.
Mobile application security
RiskIQ mobile application security
RiskIQ provided mobile application security services intended to help organizations identify malicious, fraudulent, or impersonating applications and assess risks associated with mobile software distributed through online application ecosystems.

Brand decisions

2021
Microsoft acquisition of RiskIQM&A
Background
RiskIQ had developed capabilities for monitoring internet-facing assets, digital abuse, malware, phishing, and other external threats. Microsoft pursued the company to strengthen the visibility and threat-intelligence dimensions of its security portfolio.
Action taken
Microsoft acquired RiskIQ in July 2021 for more than $500 million and incorporated its capabilities into the Microsoft security organization.
Aftermath
RiskIQ ceased operating as an independent company. Its technology and expertise became part of Microsoft’s broader cybersecurity offering.
Reported acquisition price. More than $500 million (July 2021)
Source

Recent events

2021
Microsoft acquires RiskIQ[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
M&A
Microsoft acquired RiskIQ in July 2021 for more than $500 million, bringing its digital-risk and threat-intelligence capabilities into Microsoft’s security business.
2018
Standard Bank deploys RiskIQ for digital-threat analysis[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Other
Standard Bank adopted RiskIQ software to automate analysis of brand infringement, cybercrime, and web-based attacks affecting its digital presence.
2014
RiskIQ raises $25 million in Series B financing[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Other
Battery Ventures provided RiskIQ with $25 million in Series B funding to support the company’s growth in digital-risk monitoring and cybersecurity software.
2013
RiskIQ raises $10 million in Series A financing[1]RiskIQen.wikipedia.org
Other
RiskIQ received a $10 million Series A investment from Summit Partners as it expanded its cloud-based cybersecurity and digital-threat detection business.

Sources9 sources

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