Ballistic Ventures Seeks $490M as ILC Dover Pays $13M Cyber Fine

SAN RAMON & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Venture capital investment in artificial intelligence security and federal enforcement of contractor cyber standards accelerated on Tuesday, November 3, as San Francisco’s Ballistic Ventures filed to raise $490 million across 2 new funds, defense manufacturer ILC Dover agreed to a $13 million federal settlement, and new waves of connected-device attacks struck European supermarket refrigeration systems and Li Auto electric vehicles.

Ted Schlein’s Ballistic Ventures Files to Raise $490 Million Across Two Cybersecurity Funds

According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings reported by TechCrunch, San Francisco-based Ballistic Ventures—founded in late 2021 by former Kleiner Perkins partner Ted Schlein, former AT&T Cybersecurity president Barmak Meftah, and Fortify Software and AlienVault co-founder Roger Thornton—is seeking $490 million across 2 new vehicles: $360 million for its third flagship fund and $130 million for Ballistic Ventures Fund B.

The target matches the $360 million second flagship fund and roughly $130 million Ballistic Ventures Fund A raised in 2024, following the firm’s $300 million debut fund in 2022. Ballistic’s portfolio includes Talon Cyber Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Pangea (acquired by CrowdStrike), Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security, and Oligo Security. According to a JPMorgan Chase report citing PitchBook data, U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025—the highest total since 2022—and AI-enabled companies accounted for 72% of U.S. cybersecurity venture deals through May of this year, double the 36% share recorded in 2019.

Defense Contractor ILC Dover Agrees to $13 Million False Claims Act Cybersecurity Settlement

As reported by CyberScoop, Delaware-based defense and aerospace manufacturer ILC (comprising ILC Dover and ILC Astrospace) agreed to pay $13 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it failed to meet mandatory cybersecurity requirements across contracts with the Department of the Army, the Missile Defense Agency, and NASA between 2018 and 2024.

Federal prosecutors alleged that ILC used a third-party cloud provider to store sensitive data without required safeguards and failed to maintain mandated security plans for covered information systems. Whistleblower Philip Root, ILC’s former director of cybersecurity, will receive $2.35 million of the recovery under the Civil War-era statute, which the Justice Department has used since 2022 to penalize contractor cyber lapses. Sara Hasell, spokesperson for parent company Ingersoll Rand, stated that Ingersoll Rand discovered the issues after acquiring ILC Dover in June 2024, took prompt corrective action, and brought the systems into full compliance by October 2024 without admitting liability, while U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wallace and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate emphasized preventive contractor compliance.

Connected-Device Intrusions Hit European Supermarket Fridges and Li Auto Smart EVs

Two international incidents underscored the vulnerability of internet-connected commercial and consumer hardware:

• European Supermarket Refrigeration Attacks: According to KCBS Radio and The Associated Press, supermarkets across at least 6 (six) European countries—Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, and Estonia, alongside a butcher shop in Athens, Greece—reported that attackers remotely hijacked refrigeration controllers, spoiling millions of dollars in food. One Swedish supermarket’s units were raised to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), while Athens butcher George Boubas reported his Kifisia shop’s unit was set to 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit) at 4 a.m. before a technician restored control after 2 hours and disabled Wi-Fi. France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI (which first issued an alert on October 12) and U.K. National Cyber Security Center leaders Richard Horne and Paul Chichester, along with U.K. cyber minister Liz Lloyd, University of St. Gallen professor Katerina Mitrokotsa, Darktrace SVP Nicole Carignan, and European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier (representing the bloc’s 27 national authorities), noted that the attacks exploited internet-facing legacy controllers with default passwords from Denmark’s Danfoss (AK-SM and AK-SC lines) and U.S.-based Copeland (Dixell xweb systems) rather than AI tools.
• Li Auto EV Master Account Hijackings: As reported by Risky Bulletin, Alexander Rasfairy, co-founder of a Li Auto car club, confirmed a 2nd wave of attacks in Russia (following an initial wave in July 2025) in which hackers use leaked vehicle identification numbers (VINs) to locate expired Chinese eSender eSIM numbers, re-register the master car accounts to generate a new digital key, immobilize the doors and engine, and demand $500 to $600 (down from $3,000 last year) from at least 20 confirmed owners.