Snap hires team to protect it from Zuckerberg's army
Snapchat cares about security—whether it's keeping CEO Evan Spiegel's yacht adventures private or its software free from vulnerabilities. They, of course, would also not like to see any of their code ripped off by competitors such as Facebook.
Bloomberg connected some dots in a story Friday, highlighting moves that Snap Inc. has made in taking cybersecurity more seriously.
Notably, Snap Inc. snatched up Strong.Codes, a Swiss startup that specializes in protecting software code from being reverse engineered, a.k.a. copied.
The acquisition, according to Bloomberg, began with Snap hiring Laurent Balmelli, a cofounder, of Strong.Codes early this year. Later, the fellow three employees joined Snap, and Strong.Codes has since stopped operating separately, Mashable confirmed.
Snap declined to comment on the acquisition.
Snap is facing the wrath of investors with its stock falling from a high of $27 to below $15 as of Friday. One of the biggest concerns shouted across boardrooms is Facebook incessantly copying what Snapchat has done.
Snapchat's once unique "Stories"—a mobile-optimized way to share photos and videos—is now available across Facebook's family of apps. Snapchat's once unique lenses (augmented reality experiences) are also available on Facebook and other apps. Snapchat offers original content from media outlets (Mashable is a Discover partner), but Facebook also plans to release new exclusive video series this year.
Snapchat and Facebook are in a competition for people's attention, for sure. So what's the smaller player to do? Hiring a team of software security experts may help, but Facebook/Instagram copying Snapchat isn't as simple as ripping off source code. Facebook is staffed with thousands of engineers, an army much more powerful than Snapchat when it comes to fast acquisition of software products.
The potential of Facebook continuing to copy Snapchat is inevitable, and Snap Inc. is smart to keep hiring talent. Engineers at Strong.Codes can bring knowledge of cryptography and security as well as help expand their presence in Switzerland.
Topics Facebook Snapchat Social Media
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
