Billionaire Peter Thiel secretly funded a startup that could hack WhatsApp

By Thomas Brewster

Since its founding in 2017 in San Diego, startup Boldend has kept a low profile. Why; Because he had to do it, as two insiders of the company say. Boldend’s mission is to develop cyberwarfare “weapons” with an emphasis on automation and its only client: the US government, which demands secrecy.

Although she has received little press coverage, Boldend appeared in the New York Times last weekend at the end of an article about the Israeli company that developed the Pegasus spy software. Boldend reportedly developed the ability to hack WhatsApp, although in January 2021 it locked the software to upgrade its security, according to a presentation to defense industry giant Raytheon. It was the first time that Boldend “cyber warfare” software was “exposed” publicly, beyond the announcement of its partnership with Raytheon in 2020, when the two companies announced in a joint statement that they would create “automated products that accelerate the development and the use of cyber-tools for businesses and systems of paramount importance to national security “. They also announced that they would integrate a Boldend technology – called Origen – into Raytheon’s technology product line. A software-as-a-service technology, which looks like a development platform that focuses on security and fast product creation in cyberspace.

But there was another element that sparked interest in Boldend. In the same presentation to Raytheon, according to the content of a slide, Boldend was financially supported by the Founders Fund, Peter Thiel’s investment vehicle. This fact was not known, although the startup had previously announced other investors who financed it. Two sources close to the company confirmed to Forbes that Boldend was indeed funded by the Thiel fund, with one saying that the funding was more than $ 10 million and was made in the early years of the company, without being able to determine exactly when. (Neither the Founders Fund nor Boldend responded to a Forbes e-mail requesting comment).

There is some irony in the case: Thiel, one of Facebook’s best-known financiers, is now an investor in a company that has tried to hack into the technology of a Facebook-owned company. Not that Thiel is afraid to invest in companies that risk breaking Facebook rules to help enforce the law: The Founders Fund backed ClearView AI, a face recognition company that used Facebook to create a huge database of people , which could be used by the police as part of its investigations.

Covering the offensive and defensive cyberspace

As a result, Thiel is now an investor in an anti-ransomware company, Halcyon, which is wholly owned by Boldend, according to sources close to the two companies. Indeed, the Halcyon.ai website lists the Founders Fund as a financier, as does Boldend’s other investor, Ron Gula.

With operations in both the offensive and defensive fields, Boldend is positioned as one of the few “full-spectrum cyber companies” with an emphasis on protecting and attacking government agencies and companies. Few startups have appeared in this highly specialized field in recent years, seeking financial support from Venture Capitals. Among them are QOMPLX – a $ 1.4 billion cybersecurity startup with $ 96 million in revenue – and Blackhorse Solutions, which raised $ 9 million before its acquisition by Parsons Corp. for $ 200 million in the summer of 2021. Both are based in Virginia.

BlackHorse, which has contracted far more government and government agencies than Boldend or QOMPLX, promises to integrate “cyber-magnetic warfare with the Department of Defense’s intelligence operations.” . Formerly known as the White Canvas Group, Forbes gained access to US Dark Search (US) “Dark Web” contracts on behalf of the US Army and US Corps Cyber ​​Management training. Marines in terms of utilizing open source information on the internet. For the past five years, it has entered into several multimillion-dollar contracts with the Pentagon. Among them, a $ 90 million agreement to provide “automation solutions to support US Cyber ​​Administration”.

Although two sources close to the company said that Boldend is not used to developing exploits, as it did for WhatsApp, and that the software reported by the New York Times may never have been used, similar mission, the startup could compete with other companies that emphasize cyber-attack in order to break the security of encrypted applications such as WhatsApp. Boldend can now be considered a competitor to the Israeli NSO Group and American startups such as Paragon. The latter, as reported by Forbes last year, focused on trying to penetrate messaging applications such as Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram. He has received financial support from Battery Ventures – based in Boston – for this project.

Boldend remains a small company. To date, it has raised just $ 13 million in funding and is valued at $ 31 million, according to Pitchbook. However, as one of the company’s investors told Forbes (who asked to remain anonymous as he was not allowed to speak officially), Halcyon has the potential to be much more profitable as it could sell a product to thousands of companies, and not just a handful of Secret Services in the West.

Like many of Halcyon’s new employees, most of Boldend’s workforce comes from Cylance, a defense security company that claims to use artificial intelligence for network security. Among them is its CEO and founder, Jon Miller. Cylance was acquired by BlackBerry in 2019.

Boldend does not flirt with publicity, and its “two-page” website reveals little more than: “The solutions we offer combine cutting-edge electronic warfare elements with next-generation cyber-enterprises.” The “Products” subpage requires a password from the visitor.

When Forbes contacted Boldend CEO CE Miller, he referred us to the Department of Public Relations and Communications, adding that the company’s work – which only supports the US government – requires discretion. The company’s public relations officers did not respond to requests for comment until the publication of this article.

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