Cork Readies for Next Phase of Growth, Appoints AWS Alum Dan Candee as CEO

Company launches Cork 2.0 to double down on protecting MSPs and their SMB customers from cyber threats; Carlson Choi to lead innovation cycle as Cork’s Chief Product and Technology Officer

/EIN News/ -- DOVER, Del., July 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cork Protection, Inc., the leader in smart warranty solutions for MSPs serving small businesses (SMBs) and the ISV solutions they manage, today announced its next phase of growth and innovation with the launch of Cork 2.0 and appointment of Dan Candee as CEO. Carlson Choi, who has served as Cork’s Founding CEO since its inception in 2022, will return to his digital roots and lead the innovation arm as the company’s Chief Product and Technology Officer.

Cork 2.0 introduces advanced features to boost its cyber intelligence and smart cyber warranty solutions. These enhancements empower MSPs to safeguard their clients against ever-changing threats while also expanding their business opportunities. By leveraging Cork 2.0, MSPs can enhance their security offerings and create new revenue streams, promoting both protection and profitability. Cork has been laser-focused on its mission to protect SMBs from financial losses stemming from cybercrime since coming out of stealth in 2023. The company partners with MSPs to ensure that cyber-attack prevention and cyber warranty become foundational parts of their customers’ cybersecurity solution stacks. Through its purpose-built security monitoring platform, Cork is managing more than 250,000 endpoints, with millions of compliance events checked daily and hundreds detected and mitigated.

Candee joins the company to lead the charge as it implements the Cork 2.0 strategy. Dan, an entrepreneur at heart, started his first business in 1997 and spent most of the next three decades growing small and medium-sized organizations. Most recently, Dan served as Chief Business Officer at Todyl, a company focused on transforming cybersecurity with a comprehensive security platform. Prior to Todyl, Dan led strategy, channel, go-to-market and operations at two exceptional enterprises Amazon Web Services (AWS) and DELL.

“My vision for Cork is to ensure our MSP partners can deliver as business continuity and security champions for their SMB customers,” said Candee. “I admire how Cork empowers MSPs by enabling them to deliver instant value to their SMB clients. By embracing MSPs existing cyber stack, Cork mitigates both the risk and cost associated with an attack. As we move into year two, we are making significant platform investments to build upon the phenomenal success the team has already experienced. Our Board, which includes channel and customer champions like Austin McChord and Jon McNeill, is deeply invested and active in Cork’s success. In the coming months, MSPs can expect to see an acceleration of our technology alliances and product development initiatives while we simultaneously expand our partner-first culture.”

“I’m especially proud of the incredible innovation and ingenuity our team has demonstrated to bring to life a leading cybersecurity platform, and I am excited to partner with Dan, whose expertise in channel sales, business strategy, and operations will take Cork to the next level,” said Choi. 

"MSPs need reliable, user-friendly financial solutions to protect against cyber risks and Cork addresses this through its monitoring and warranty platform that seamlessly integrates into their existing technology stack, enhances the value of their services, and provides immediate peace of mind to the SMB customers they support," said Austin McChord, Managing Director at Outsiders Fund. “I’m thrilled to see Dan take the helm as Cork enters a new phase and look forward to continuing to work closely with their team to further accelerate their growth and success.”

“Dan is a fantastic leader who blends culture, vision, and technical expertise together to drive Cork’s mission. As Cork’s CEO, he understands the challenges businesses of all sizes face in protecting themselves against evolving cyber threats and mitigating the risk of a cyberattack, and Cork’s proprietary inside/out risk assessment is an essential tool for MSPs,” said Jon McNeill, founder at Cork and CEO and co-founder at DVx Ventures. “Cyberattacks aren't a matter of 'if' but 'when.' Small businesses are especially vulnerable since they lack the resources of larger companies and rely on their MSPs, who in turn count on partners like Cork for the protection SMBs need.”

Expanded Capabilities for Enhanced Cybersecurity Protection

With the launch of Cork 2.0, Cork is extending the capabilities of its cyber intelligence and smart cyber warranty offerings with new features designed to help MSPs protect their clients from evolving threats while growing their businesses and driving profitability through new revenue streams. 

These new features include: 

• BEC compliance reporting. Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks have become more challenging to detect and prevent due to the growing use of cloud-based infrastructure. In 2023, businesses in the United States lost $2.9 billion in BEC scams, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). This number has risen more than 50% since 2020, when losses from BEC attacks were estimated at $1.86 billion. Cork’s innovations in BEC compliance will enable MSPs to optimize their email security application configuration and strengthen their security practices to prevent threat actors from gaining unauthorized access to a legitimate email account and redirecting funds or information to a malicious entity.
• Endpoint-based pricing. Cork has updated its pricing model to better suit the way MSPs implement cybersecurity solutions for their SMB clients. The new pricing, which is based on endpoints, is designed to help MSPs increase their margins and overall profitability when using the Cork platform.
• A one-stop shop for cyber assurance. Cork is teaming with DataStream, a leading technology-enabled online digital broker, to deliver end-to-end cyber warranty and cyber insurance protection to MSPs and the small businesses (SMBs) they serve. Effective immediately, MSPs can now use Cork’s cyber intelligence and active loss prevention platform to underwrite DataStream’s cyber insurance offering, which provides comprehensive coverage and risk analysis tools for first-party and third-party losses, including breaches, ransomware, cybercrime, and cyberterrorism. Leveraging the SMB’s existing security stack investment, Cork now provides both cyber warranty and cyber insurance underwriting services to eligible customers, including estimates and quoting.
  

“Cork is committed to the success of the MSSP and the MSP community and continues to increase our ability to prevent and counter cyber-attacks with its security-first platform approach and immediate access to financial support for our customers in the event of an attack,” said Jason Makevich, CEO of Greenlight Information Services. “The developments in Cork’s BEC compliance monitoring and the inclusion of cyber insurance underwriting are all factors that will contribute to the health of our customers, as well as the success and growth of our business.”

About Dan Candee 

Dan Candee was named CEO of Cork Cyber Protection in July 2024. An energetic and results-minded leader, Dan listens intently and takes action to deliver a superior experience to employees and customers. His decades of experience range from entrepreneur to enterprise leader. His experience includes serving as the Global Sales and Strategy Leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and, most recently, Chief Business Officer at Todyl Cybersecurity. Dan worked with his team and customers in these roles to drive greater revenues, generate more business value, and achieve operational success.

About Cork

Cork is a purpose-built cyber warranty company for managed service providers (MSPs) serving small businesses (SMBs) and the software solutions they manage. Its purpose-built platform is driven by an AI-enhanced cyber risk engine designed to offer MSPs and their clients peace of mind with near-instant coverage and settlements in the aftermath of security incidents. Cork’s revolutionary Protection from the Inside Out™ approach to actionable insights, flexible premiums, and claims management puts control in the hands of MSPs and SMBs to protect the digital assets they value most. Cork is backed by DVx Ventures, Outsiders Fund, and Vestigo Ventures. For more information, visit corkinc.com and follow Cork on LinkedIn.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/790fb588-9c2a-40a8-8eab-c461e0f2b0c3

Press Contact:
                    Suzanne Collier
                    714-469-0149