SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Nov 3, 2014) - Tempered Networks, Inc., a provider of secure connectivity for critical infrastructure, industrial control systems (ICS), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), today announced that it has appointed Jeff Hussey as President and CEO. As the visionary who founded F5 Networks, Inc., Hussey, will lead the company into its next stage of growth. Tempered Networks is based on technology developed by Asguard Networks, which was founded by David Mattes who will serve as CTO of the new company. With its break through approach to solving escalating, complex security challenges, Tempered Networks has been recognized as the 2014 North American Entrepreneurial Company of the Year, based on Frost & Sullivan's independent analysis of Perimeter Network Security solutions in Critical Infrastructure.
Related to today's news, Tempered Networks has also announced its newly branded product line, which is based on standards from the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the International Society of Automation (ISA). The company's proven, enterprise-ready, and hardened product line meets the dramatically increasing cybersecurity challenges facing the modern industrial enterprise as they move to an IP-based infrastructure.
Details
- Product innovation based on 7-years Boeing R&D led by David Mattes, co-founder
- First commercial product released and customer established by Asguard Networks in December 2012
- In 2014, Hussey raised $2 million in seed funding, with additional $4 million planned by CYE
- October 2014, Mattes and Hussey co-found Tempered Networks
- Tempered Networks' new headquarters established October 2014 in Seattle, Washington
- Production customers in Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Utilities (water, power and energy) industries
- Company awarded '2014 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year' by Frost & Sullivan
- Product line includes a scalable orchestration engine (HIPswitch Conductor™), a series of hardened physical and virtual security appliances (HIPswitch™), and a management console and user interface (SimpleConnect™).
Solving problems of ubiquitous connectivity
Critical industrial control systems commonly found within manufacturing facilities, public utilities, power plants, oil and gas production environments and healthcare facilities have become increasingly networked. The enterprise has much to gain from this increased connectivity as it allows them to monitor and remotely support these industrial devices, increasing their operational efficiency and therefore their revenue. This trend towards increased connectivity, however, brings complex security challenges. As industrial devices are networked, they are inherently exposed to cybersecurity threats causing security to be a chief concern across the enterprise. As a result, IT departments are increasingly burdened with protecting this critical and revenue-generating infrastructure. Tempered Networks' solution creates a secure encrypted channel between industrial devices and cloaks critical infrastructure components.
Quotes
"Operations people need an inherently secure system, without requiring some intrusive add-on software to be installed onto their equipment every time the IT staff thinks a new virus image or other configuration change is warranted," said Craig Dupler, retired Strategic Architect and Technical Fellow at The Boeing Company. "At the same time, IT personnel lack the resources to meet the variety, scale, and lifecycles of production industrial networks. What results is inadequate integration, increased downtime, and unnecessary exposure to cyber attacks. At Boeing, we were able to bridge the cultural divide between IT and OT by deploying large-scale industrial overlay networks that coexisted with our enterprise network in a way that was highly secure, robust, flexible and cost effective."
"Tempered Networks has delivered a holistic solution to minimize targeted attacks by isolating communications between industrial control system devices in a private network from the underlying network infrastructure," said Rahul Vijayaraghavan, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst. "In addition, IT staff has the ability to further delegate that network to a specified operator while maintaining governance. It's an efficient, reliable, scalable, and easy-to-use solution offering that can be applied across various automation levels (level 0-4). We expect the solution to gain even more traction with the increase in the number of connected assets fueled by the IoT."
"The Internet was designed to be reliable but it wasn't designed to be secure," said Jeff Hussey, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Tempered Networks. "As critical infrastructure and other 'things' we take for granted increasingly rely on network connectivity, security is not optional. Tempered Networks offers customers the ability to create hardened and resilient networks with our overlay network architecture that cloaks critical infrastructure devices, while enabling communications over secure channels. I'm excited about working with this talented team as we drive the industry forward."
"With years of R&D investment at Boeing, numerous deployments in live production, and a market-driven roadmap, our products are built on a strong foundation," said David Mattes, co-founder and CTO at Tempered Networks. "People have always struggled with usability and security and we have found a way for our customers to achieve both -- without sacrificing operational integrity and availability. Looking ahead, our company -- with Jeff's commercial experience and deep understanding of enterprise-class availability and security -- we're well positioned to execute on our vision of delivering a secure, well-orchestrated Internet."
Related Information
- Tempered Networks solution video
- Tempered Networks technical brief
- Tempered Networks common customer use cases
- Best Practices to Securely Move to IP-based Networks
- Dept. of Homeland Security: November is 'Critical Infrastructure Security & Resilience' Month
- Project SHINE research1 - Reveals critical control systems connected to Internet
1 Source: Infracritical's Project SHINE Findings Report, October 2014
About Tempered Networks
Tempered Networks meets the security and connectivity challenges for businesses who rely on critical infrastructure, industrial control systems (ICS), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
The company provides a Virtual Private Overlay Network architecture that orchestrates identity and trust management. Organizations can cloak their critical infrastructure devices, while allowing them to communicate over secure channels. Tempered Networks' deployment model bridges IT and OT (Operational Technology) imperatives by delegating control of overlay networks, with centralized governance and oversight. This model increases an organization's profits, reduces TCO, and improves internal IT customer satisfaction. Tempered Networks' solution includes a comprehensive HIPswitch™ product line that matches the fit, form, and function of the target applications on trusted and untrusted networks. Key industries that benefit today from the solution include Public Utilities (Power, Water and Gas) Oil & Gas, and Manufacturing. For more information go to temperednetworks.com.
You can also follow us on Twitter @TemperedNW or visit us on LinkedIn for more information about the company.
Forward-looking statements. Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements include, for example, statements regarding the Company's or management's beliefs, expectations, estimations, plans, projections and similar statements. Any such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results and performance, or industry results to be materially different from any results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and there can be no assurance that the results and events contemplated by such forward-looking statements will, in fact, occur. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein.