Overwatch raises $15M to fight AI-enhanced cybercrime

Overwatch, a New York startup that hunts digital threats for banks and fintechs, has raised $15 million, according to Fortune. The pitch is simple: criminals already use AI, so defenders had better use it too. The present tense of AI crime Arjun Bisen, Overwatch’s cofounder and CEO, told Fortune that AI has already changed cybercrime permanently. He was pushing back on the idea that AI’s criminal impact remains years away. Bisen’s background explains why he sees it this way. He previously managed risk at Stripe and worked on disinformation policy at Google, two jobs that involve watching bad actors adapt in real time. What Overwatch actually does The company runs an open-source intelligence (OSINT) and threat intelligence platform. OSINT means gathering information from publicly available places rather than from hacked systems or private databases. Overwatch uses AI agents to pull together scattered data from the dark web, social media and news outlets. The software then turns that pile into real-time alerts that security teams can act on. The target customers are enterprises such as banks and fintech companies. The numbers behind the pitch Overwatch has shared some early performan...