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DefenseStorm

Atlanta, US · Founded 2014 · 84 employees on LinkedIn · 6 known investors

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238 people in our graph share verified history with the DefenseStorm team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Patrick Ennisunlockedknows Edgardo Nazario · together at Yale University (overlapped)
knows the team · via RealNetworks
knows the team · via Yale University
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×3knows the team · via United States Navy
×2knows the team · via Georgia Institute of Technology

DefenseStorm provides a cloud-based compliance and cyber risk management platform specifically designed for financial services institutions. The solution helps banks and credit unions achieve cyber threat readiness and regulatory compliance.

Also known as DefenseStorm

Founders & leadership

DefenseStorm was founded in 2014 by Edgardo Nazario, Harold Brewer, and Jeff Lunsford.

ENEdgardo Nazario
Edgardo NazarioinChief Technology Officer & Co-FounderEdgardo Nazario is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of DefenseStorm, a cloud-based compliance and cyber risk management platform for financial services. He has 18 years of experience in program management, product management, and software development.
HB
Harold BrewerBoard Advisor & Co-Founder
JLJeff Lunsford
Jeff LunsfordinChairman of the Board & Co-FounderVenture Partner at Revel Partners

Investors · 6

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

DefenseStorm offers a cyber risk management platform designed exclusively for banks and credit unions, combining managed detection and response, continuous risk intelligence, and governance and evidence reporting in a single system. The platform is built on GRID Active, described by the company as its intelligent data engine, in which security events, risk signals, AI outputs, and governance artifacts are consolidated. The company positions the offering as a replacement for separately procured SIEM, EDR, SOC, risk assessment, vulnerability management, brand management, security awareness training, and governance tools.

The threat operations component pairs AI-enhanced triage with a 24x7x365 "Collaborative SOC" of U.S.-based, banking-focused analysts who investigate escalations and frame them for examiners; the company states that roughly 80 million daily events per institution are filtered to about three requiring human attention, with detection typically under three minutes and analyst ownership in about five minutes. Continuous risk intelligence applies control monitoring across more than 16,000 controls in place of static annual assessments. The governance layer converts alerts, investigations, and decisions into structured evidence mapped to the CRI Profile, NIST CSF 2.0, and examination procedures, producing evidence exports for examiners and summary reporting for boards.

AI capabilities are governed by seven "Built for Banking" principles that the company maps to the NIST AI RMF and CRI FS AI RMF, with stated commitments to explainability for non-technical stakeholders, inventoried and documented capabilities, human-in-the-loop boundaries, and human sign-off before autonomy expands.

Business model

Vendor of a subscription-style security and risk platform bundled with a managed 24x7x365 SOC service, sold as a single provider alternative to multiple point security and governance tools.

Traction

More than 200 banks and credit unions use the platform; the company cites continuous monitoring across 16,000+ controls, thousands of audit-ready artifacts produced annually, and average yearly savings of about $170,000 per institution.

Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography

Market position

States it is used by more than 200 banks and credit unions and holds a 4.7-star G2 rating in MDR and SIEM categories.

Focus on a single vertical: detection rules, governance workflows, analyst training, and 16,000+ control mappings are specific to banking regulation and exam procedures, and AI is governed by seven published Built for Banking principles rather than adapted from generic enterprise models. The SOC is staffed by senior U.S.-based, banking-fluent analysts without a Tier 1 queue.

Technology

GRID Active, the company's intelligent data engine, unifies security event ingestion, AI-enhanced threat triage, continuous control monitoring, and governance evidence generation. Detection rules, control mappings, and analyst workflows are built for banking, with AI capabilities inventoried, documented, and framework-aligned to NIST AI RMF and CRI FS AI RMF, and outputs required to be explainable to non-technical reviewers.

Go-to-market

Direct sales through demo requests on the company website, supported by customer testimonials from institutions including Great Lakes Credit Union, Space Coast Credit Union, and Prevail Bank.

U.S. banks and credit unions, including their security teams, risk officers, boards, and examiners.

Geography

Serves U.S. banks and credit unions, with a U.S.-based analyst team.

Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
Average annual customer savingsJan 2026$170K
Controls mappedJan 202616,000 controls
Customers (banks and credit unions)Jan 2026200 institutions
Events ingested per institution per dayJan 202680,000,000 events/day
Exam preparation reductionJan 202670%
G2 rating (MDR & SIEM)Jan 20264.7 stars
Years of banking-only threat dataJan 202612 years

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

In the news

Research sources · 1

primary sources listed

1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does DefenseStorm do?
DefenseStorm runs an AI-governed cyber risk management platform built exclusively for U.S. banks and credit unions.
Who founded DefenseStorm?
DefenseStorm was founded by Edgardo Nazario, Harold Brewer, Jeff Lunsford in 2014.
Who are DefenseStorm's investors?
DefenseStorm's investors include Georgian, TTV Capital, BTECH CONSORTIUM, Curql Collective, LLC, FINTOP Capital, Next Level Ventures.
Where is DefenseStorm headquartered?
DefenseStorm is headquartered in Atlanta, US.