Cyacomb
Cyacomb provides patented Contraband Filter block-level hashing software to law enforcement agencies and commercial platforms for the rapid detection of child sexual abuse material and terrorism content. Founded in 2016 from Edinburgh Napier University research, the Edinburgh-based company serves customers across the UK, US, and Canada.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersEdinburgh, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cyacomb does
Cyacomb Ltd is an Edinburgh-based, privately held safety-technology company founded in 2016 by Ian Stevenson and Bruce Ramsay, originating from a PhD research project at Edinburgh Napier University. The company builds software that detects and blocks harmful digital content — primarily child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and terrorism-related material — using a patented block-level hashing technique branded as Contraband Filter. The architecture is secure-by-design: digital fingerprints of known harmful content are extracted and matched against target data, but only match decisions leave the system, meaning the underlying harmful material cannot be reverse-engineered or reconstructed from the filters. This allows detection in end-to-end-encrypted environments without compromising user privacy.
Cyacomb operates two product lines. Cyacomb Forensics — anchored by Cyacomb Examiner Plus — is a digital forensics triage tool used by law enforcement agencies to rapidly identify illegal content on suspect devices, including iOS and Android mobile devices, with claimed scans up to 100x faster than traditional MD5-based tools and configurable accuracy up to 99.9%. It is supplemented by Cyacomb Mobile Triage, Cyacomb Responder / Offender Manager, and a Data Management Tools suite (Cyacomb Core, Collector, Filter Builder). Cyacomb Safety is a separate product targeting social media, cloud storage, and encrypted messaging platforms that need to detect and block known CSAM at the point of upload while preserving user privacy.
The company monetises through annual subscription licensing of its software to government agencies and commercial platform customers, with a quote-based pricing model supported by a 21-day free trial programme for law enforcement and direct enterprise sales led from Edinburgh with a North American sales operation based in Dallas via Cyacomb Inc. Customers include national and regional law enforcement bodies across the UK, US, and Canada (e.g., Dallas Police Department ICAC, Southern California ICAC agencies, the UK's National Crime Agency), alongside non-profit partners such as the Internet Watch Foundation (which supplies the 1.7 million-file Contraband Filter database) and NCMEC. As of May 2025, the company had raised approximately £8.75M+ in disclosed venture funding, primarily from the Scottish National Investment Bank, Par Equity, Mercia Ventures, and Scottish Enterprise.
Cyacomb firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cyacomb
- Legal name
- Cyacomb Ltd
- Website
- https://cyacomb.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cyacomb provides patented Contraband Filter block-level hashing software to law enforcement agencies and commercial platforms for the rapid detection of child sexual abuse material and terrorism content. Founded in 2016 from Edinburgh Napier University research, the Edinburgh-based company serves customers across the UK, US, and Canada.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cyacomb industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Forensics & Online Safety Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fraud Detection, Scam Prevention & Account Takeover (Crypto) (FSADALAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Blockchain Analytics & Transaction Monitoring (FSADALAB)
Keywords
Where Cyacomb is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edinburgh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Cyacomb business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: Cyacomb Examiner Plus and related forensic tools licensed to law enforcement agencies. Products include Cyacomb Forensics, Cyacomb Mobile Triage, Cyacomb Responder/Offender Manager, and Data Management Tools (Cyacomb Core, Cyacomb Collector, Cyacomb Filter Builder).
- Enterprise Software Subscriptions: Cyacomb Safety product for social media, cloud, and messaging platforms to detect and block CSAM in encrypted environments. Subscription-based licensing model for commercial organisations.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Cyacomb Examiner Plus - Digital forensics triage for law enforcement |
| Subscription | Annual | Cyacomb Safety - For commercial organisations (social media, cloud, messaging) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Cyacomb product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cyacomb develops patented Contraband Filter block-level hashing software that rapidly identifies known illegal content (CSAM and terrorism material) on digital devices and within encrypted online environments. The company sells two main product lines: Cyacomb Examiner Plus for digital forensics triage used by law enforcement agencies, and Cyacomb Safety for privacy-preserving CSAM detection and blocking for commercial messaging, social media, and cloud platforms.
Product overview
Cyacomb offers a dual-product portfolio: Cyacomb Forensics (digital triage tools for law enforcement) and Cyacomb Safety (CSAM detection for encrypted environments). Cyacomb Forensics centers on Cyacomb Examiner Plus as the core triage platform, supported by data management tools (Cyacomb Core, Collector, Filter Builder), mobile triage add-ons, and offender management modules. Cyacomb Safety operates as a separate core product targeting social media, cloud, and messaging platforms. Both products share the proprietary Contraband Filter technology as their underlying detection mechanism.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cyacomb Forensics: Digital forensics triage tools for law enforcement to rapidly identify harmful content on devices
- Cyacomb Safety
- Contraband Filter
Products and services
- Cyacomb Examiner Plus Rapid digital forensics triage tool for law enforcement that identifies illegal content (CSAM, terrorism) on suspect devices up to 100x faster than traditional methods, with support for hard drives and mobile devices.
- Cyacomb Safety Privacy-preserving CSAM detection and blocking solution for encrypted messaging environments and social media platforms, using patented Contraband Filter technology to detect known child sexual abuse material in real-time while maintaining user privacy.
Quantifiable outcome
- Scans up to 100x faster than traditional methods - results in seconds vs hours
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Cyacomb
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cyacomb technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Cyacomb partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)coreIWF provides 1.7 million file database of known CSAM as secure Contraband Filter for use with Cyacomb tools. Largest global CSAM Contraband Filter available to law enforcement. Partnership includes ongoing data updates and collaboration on child protection.
- OSTIA (Online Safety Technology Industry Association)supportingCEO Ian Stevenson serves as Chair of OSTIA. Industry association representing online safety technology companies and advocating for child protection in policy discussions.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Cyacomb competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- NetClean: NetClean provides CSAM detection software for law enforcement, corporate environments, and internet service providers. Direct competitor to Cyacomb Forensics in the same niche of block-level hash matching for known illegal content identification.
- Griffeye (by Marubeni): Griffeye produces Griffeye Analyze DI Pro, a digital forensics platform specifically designed for law enforcement to triage, process, and analyze CSAM. Direct competitor to Cyacomb Examiner Plus in law enforcement CSAM triage workflows.
Emerging players
- Thorn: Non-profit technology organization building tools to combat child sexual exploitation, including Safer for platform CSAM detection. Comparable mission-driven approach to Cyacomb Safety targeting online platforms with detection capabilities.
- Yoti: UK-based digital identity and age verification company working in the online safety space. Adjacent peer addressing the online safety ecosystem including age assurance, with potential overlap in serving platforms navigating child safety regulations.
- SafeToNet: UK-based online child safety software company providing safeguarding tools. Adjacent peer in the online child safety space but focused more on end-user/parental controls rather than platform-level detection like Cyacomb Safety.
- ActiveFence: Trust and safety platform helping online platforms detect harmful content including CSAM, hate speech, and fraud. Comparable to Cyacomb Safety in serving commercial platforms with content moderation technology but with broader harm categories.
Broad incumbents
- Cellebrite: Global leader in digital forensics and mobile device intelligence, serving law enforcement with broader triage and extraction capabilities. Competes with Cyacomb in law enforcement forensics but with much wider scope beyond CSAM-specific detection.
- Magnet Forensics (Grayshift): Provider of digital forensics software including Magnet AXIOM for law enforcement investigations. Broader digital forensics competitor with some overlap in CSAM detection workflows but focused on wider forensic analysis.
- MSAB (Micro Systemation): Swedish company providing mobile forensics solutions to law enforcement globally including XRY for mobile device extraction. Overlaps with Cyacomb Mobile Triage but operates at much larger scale with broader mobile forensics scope.
- PhotoDNA (Microsoft): Microsoft's hash-matching technology for identifying known CSAM images, used widely by platforms and law enforcement. Conceptual competitor to Cyacomb's Contraband Filter approach but free and broadly distributed as a non-commercial service.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cyacomb social profiles
Digital presenceCyacomb financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cyacomb leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Cyacomb subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Cyacomb funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cyacomb M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cyacomb
What does Cyacomb do?
Cyacomb develops patented Contraband Filter block-level hashing software that rapidly identifies known illegal content (CSAM and terrorism material) on digital devices and within encrypted online environments. The company sells two main product lines: Cyacomb Examiner Plus for digital forensics triage used by law enforcement agencies, and Cyacomb Safety for privacy-preserving CSAM detection and blocking for commercial messaging, social media, and cloud platforms.
Is Cyacomb a public or private company?
Cyacomb is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Cyacomb founded?
Cyacomb was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cyacomb based?
Cyacomb is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Cyacomb make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Software Subscriptions.
Who are Cyacomb's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NetClean and Griffeye (by Marubeni). Emerging players are Thorn, Yoti, SafeToNet and ActiveFence. Broad incumbents are Cellebrite, Magnet Forensics (Grayshift), MSAB (Micro Systemation) and PhotoDNA (Microsoft).
Does Cyacomb have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cyacomb.
What industry is Cyacomb in?
Cyacomb's product category is Digital Forensics & Online Safety Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADALAF, Fraud Detection, Scam Prevention & Account Takeover (Crypto), with a secondary code of FSADALAB, Blockchain Analytics & Transaction Monitoring.