Mars Security, a cybersecurity startup, has emerged from stealth with a platform designed to help organizations keep pace with rapidly evolving global cyber threats.
The company, established a year ago, is led by CEO Shahaf Galili, who served over two decades in elite cyber units, along with his co-founders Ran Lerer and Matan Caspi.It is staffed by 16 employees, many of whom share similar operational backgrounds.
Their experience conducting offensive cyber operations shaped the company’s core thesis.
“We came from the trenches,” Galili told The Jerusalem Post. “We’ve been doing offensive operations against organizations across the world, and we saw how things really are.”
According to Galili, the ease with which attackers can breach organizations, even those investing heavily in cybersecurity, has revealed a widening gap between defense and offense.
Mars Security team (credit: Courtesy)
“We understood that there was an amazing mismatch between how easy it is to get inside an organization and hack it, and how much these organizations are investing in their security stack and teams,” he said. “There is a huge gap between how this industry is, and how effective the hackers are.”
Galili noted that while state‑sponsored groups once dominated advanced cyberattacks, the rise of AI and automation has lowered the barrier to entry. “Code skill and knowledge became a commodity,” he said. “Now every person with malicious intent can become a semi-state‑sponsored hacker.”
He argues that this shift has made traditional defensive approaches less effective.
“Defense has been pretty stagnant,” he said. “Automation, scale, open‑source data, and social engineering – that’s where the real danger is.”
A different approach to threat intelligence
Mars Security’s platform focuses on translating real‑world threat intelligence directly into organizational defenses. Rather than relying on static priority lists or manual rule‑building, the system monitors how threat actors operate, including new techniques and zero‑day vulnerabilities, and automatically applies relevant protections.
“First look at what’s happening, then apply it to the organization,” Galili said. “It’s uncommon, but very effective.”
The company emphasizes rapid deployment and integration with existing tools, avoiding heavy endpoint installations. Galili believes the team’s operational experience is its main differentiator.
“Other platforms have similar capabilities,” he said. “What sets us apart is our market fit. We have way deeper experience in the hands‑on processes. Whatever happens, clients are protected – no matter the medium or attack type.”
Mars is targeting companies in North America across industries, with particular interest from financial institutions, manufacturers, and utilities – all sectors that are facing heightened cyber risk. Now that the company is out of stealth, they have an aggressive go‑to‑market strategy and a growing pipeline.
Speed, Galili said, is central to the company’s strategy: “Companies that are not super fast will die. AI can put you out of business if you’re not fast enough.”
Mars Security is backed by TLV Partners, where investor Ofir Shai was an early supporter. Shai said the team’s expertise stood out immediately.
“They’re not a team, they’re an A‑team,” he told The Post. “We come across 100 teams every month, but very few come with such deep domain expertise.”
Shai noted that even before Mars had a fully defined product, the founders demonstrated a clear understanding of the problem and how to solve it. “As time went by, they narrowed down to the right idea,” he said. “The product is on the market; they are a one-stop shop for threat hunters. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
