______________The influx of cash will allow ZeroFOX, which specializes in detection and defense for social media threats, to “do everything we’re already doing today, but faster.”
Foster declined to talk specifics about the company’s revenue, but said he expects to quadruple sales next year. The company, just under 100 employees now, will reach triple digits next year and begin looking for a larger office in Baltimore.
The report identifies DeRay McKesson and Johnetta Elzie, two prominent Black Lives Matter organizers who took part in the Baltimore protests, as "threat actors" for whom "immediate response is recommended." It describes McKesson and Elzie as "high" severity, "physical," and "#mostwanted" threats and notes both have a "massive following" on social media. It says that ZeroFox was engaged in "continuous monitoring" of their social media accounts and specifies their geographical locations at the time of the report. The report does not suggest that the pair were suspected of criminal activity but were "main coordinators of the protests."Following Mother Jones' revelations, Baltimore Business Journal reported that ZeroFox's surveillance and report was conducted without a contract.
ZeroFox executives say their outreach to Baltimore officials came from a sense of responsibility to help the city in which their employees work and live. But the report has struck a nerve with others in Baltimore's tech community and beyond, who have taken to Twitter and Facebook to criticize the company. At best, ZeroFox’s critics say the company’s approach to helping the city calm violence and avoid potential cyber threats was tactless. At worst, they say the report is an example of a local company trying to capitalize on a public crisis through fear mongering.
“ZeroFox should be held criminally liable for this slanderous, baseless, and patently ridiculous piece of corporate malpractice delivered as a sales brochure to Baltimore City government in a time of legitimate crisis. This is utterly irresponsible,” longtime Baltimore entrepreneur and investor Dave Troy posted July 30 in the Baltimore Tech Facebook group, which has more than 3,100 members. Since then the post has received more than 240 comments.