EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, has invested in United States-based Shape Security, which helps businesses defend against cyber attacks on Web and mobile applications.

EDBI contributed to Shape's US$40 million (S$54.5 million) funding round and aims to help the company expand in the Asia-Pacific region.

Shape's technology defends against sophisticated automated cyber attacks that evade traditional security solutions. Its mobile solution, launched in January, now protects more than 20 per cent of all in-store mobile payments worldwide, the company said in a statement yesterday. Shape also said it has prevented more than US$1.1 billion in fraud losses for its customers.

"As automated attacks on Web and mobile sites become more prevalent and harder to defend against with existing solutions, we believe Shape Security's highly innovative cyber security platform can be a game changer that offers enterprises real-time protection against such threats," said EDBI chief executive and president Chu Swee Yeok.

Shape Security chief executive Derek Smith said: "Over the past year, we've scaled the capabilities of technology and now we're looking forward to further scaling our business. With this new investment from EDBI, we'll be able to support more organisations in the Asia-Pacific region to defend against automated (bot) attacks."

Chia Yan Min