Key takeaways
Arete got its start helping companies tackle an existential threat: cyber extortion.
“Businesses were at risk in a way they hadn’t been before,” said Joe Mann, Arete’s CEO and founder. “It wasn’t just about stealing files or data. They could prevent you from doing business and really put your company under.”
After helping organizations navigate thousands of cyber incidents, Arete saw an opportunity: The data it collected could do more than resolve attacks. The company now uses that data to help businesses, governments, insurance carriers and financial institutions combat cybercrime.
Strategic shifts take guidance, and Arete tapped J.P. Morgan to help navigate its transformation.
Problem: Arete needed a bank to help it assess strategic alternatives to drive growth around a new line of business: cybersecurity and cyber extortion threat intelligence.
Solution: J.P. Morgan Mid-Cap Investment Banking offered guidance on Arete’s business-expansion strategy to monetize its data and help it prepare to explore strategic alternatives to fuel growth.
Outcome: Arete’s mission grew from cyber incident response to helping companies build resilience and block cyber threats.
Reported ransomware losses topped $32 million in 2025, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. But that figure almost certainly understates the true cost—it doesn’t capture operational disruption, lost files or third-party remediation expenses. And in some cases, organizations don’t report loss amounts.
Fast response, with collaboration between the target, its insurance provider and incident response team, is key. “You only have days to respond without losing the trust of your employees, clients and partners,” Mann said.
When a company experiencing a cyber extortion attack calls Arete, it works with teams across technology, legal, communications and more to help the company get systems back online and assess potential data exposure—all guided by Arete’s knowledge of the attackers.
“Having tracked all of these cybercrime activities since 2018, we have a deep understanding of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. We’re able to provide that perspective for the client and provide an interface with the adversary,” Mann said.
When negotiations are necessary, Arete takes the lead, including working to keep any payments compliant with regulations and sanctions programs. It restores systems without paying a ransom in nearly 70% of extortion engagements and negotiates payments down by up to 82%, according to Arete
Learn more about how we help mid-cap companies like Arete achieve their growth and investment goals.
Turning a proven capability into a new line of business is a high-stakes move. Done well, it can become a growth engine that shapes the company’s trajectory.
Arete realized the data it gathered on cyber extortion incidents—and the attackers behind them—had value beyond incident response. Working with J.P. Morgan, the company developed a strategy to monetize its data and began evaluating strategic alternatives to support its business expansion.
“That level of interaction, for an organization the size of J.P. Morgan, where people were really leaning in, was something I’ve never experienced before. It’s why I’m working with J.P. Morgan.”
Joe Mann
CEO and founder, Arete
Today, Arete’s data powers a threat intelligence service designed to help companies quickly identify, flag and block threats. As Arete responds to incidents, it updates its technology with new alerts and defense rules.
“What success looks like for Arete is simple: It's the adoption of a platform that's been developed on the front lines over the last decade so that organizations have the benefit of that actual attack intelligence and can see in a transparent way what's happening, where victims are falling and what's working to solve that,” Mann said.
J.P. Morgan combines deep industry expertise and a full suite of investment banking solutions to help companies pursue ambitious growth and investment goals. Whether you’re crafting a transformation plan or preparing for a major transaction, our Mid-Cap Investment Banking team can help you get there.