Aussie start-up, Secure Code Warrior, has secured $US50 million in a Series C funding round from US backers. The company specializes in creating learning platforms for software developers, likened to a flight simulator. Woolworths, Xero, and Telstra are among the company’s customers who use its training tools to develop secure software. One of Secure Code Warrior’s key products is Sensei, a tool that acts as a spellchecker for coders, helping them avoid security weaknesses.
This latest funding round follows a $US47.6 million investment in 2019, making it one of the largest funding rounds of that year. Despite the global squeeze on tech valuations, Secure Code Warrior’s co-founder and CEO, Pieter Danhieux, revealed that the company’s value has doubled since the previous funding round. However, the exact valuation was not disclosed.
The newly acquired capital will be used to fuel the company’s expansion beyond Australia and further develop its products in the era of generative AI. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, generative AI has found significant commercial applications in software code writing. However, this technology also poses security risks for organizations.
Danhieux acknowledged that although ChatGPT speeds up software development considerably, the quality and security of the code generated may be compromised due to decades of bad code present on the internet. To address this, Secure Code Warrior provides training modules that educate developers on what good and bad code looks like. Additionally, the company is researching the possibility of training AI with their coding patterns to generate secure code and validate its security.
Google’s Bard, a generative AI model, is also being recognized as a valuable tool for software development. However, Amarnag Subramanya, Head of Engineering on Google’s Bard, stated that it is still too early to solely rely on Bard for this purpose, emphasizing that computer-generated software code should be seen as an experiment. Danhieux sees this as an opportunity for Secure Code Warrior to train customers on how to safely utilize code generated by AI.
One challenge with generative AI is its tendency to hallucinate, occasionally creating code that references non-existent software functions or libraries. This can inadvertently expose developers to potential threats when malicious actors release libraries with similar names to trick inexperienced developers. Danhieux believes that, over time, generative AI will improve, and newer models will be designed with security in mind. In the meantime, Secure Code Warrior aims to fulfill its responsibility by educating developers about the potential risks of using ChatGPT and training them on how to mitigate those risks. Ultimately, the company aims to leverage AI to ensure the generation of secure code.
As the demand for secure software continues to grow, Secure Code Warrior’s expertise and dedication to training developers in writing secure code position the company for success. With the support of its recent funding, Secure Code Warrior intends to expand its reach globally and harness the potential of generative AI while prioritizing the security of code generation.
