GE (General Electric) is a firm that together with other participants, has contributed up to $12 million in a fundraising for a cybersecurity startup, Xage. The General Electric Company is among the few that uses blockchain in linking IoT devices. Before the fundraising that involved GE and other companies like NexStar Partners and City Light Capital, Xage was worth around $35 million. The fundraising has however come at a time when there is a rapid increase in the cyber-attacks and how frequent they are reported. The IoT revolution is aimed at helping organizations to benefit from the technology developed in different industries. However, for the organization to fully benefit from this revolution, there is a need for the organizations to fully connect.
More about the Xage technology
This technology that has been designed by Xage creates a network for distribution among devices that can be able to authenticate each of the other’s unique fingerprint. This network allows the devices to recognize an anomaly that is present in one of the devices fast and blocks the possibility of the anomaly being transmitted to other devices.
Coming up with industrial control systems that are secure may prove to be a great challenge. This is because most of them were designed and created long before the current cybersecurity threats developed. The making of these control systems can also be a bit challenging because the machines are obtained from different manufacturers.
Other GE subsidiaries are also exploring the use of blockchain technology for their different industries. Recently, the industrial conglomerate presented and filed a patent which will be used to verify parts that are 3D printed. Towards the end of the year 2017, some patents were also filed concerning the monitoring of aircraft using the blockchain technology.
Conclusion
The GE Transportation, a subsidiary branch of the GE Company, also joined in a forum dubbed ’’the blockchain in transport alliance’’ that was started in the year 2017 November. This forum involves all the firms that are involved in the freight sector. GE Global Research is also another subsidiary of the GE Company. This subsidiary branch is involved in research and development and it is looking into new ways that the blockchain technology can be utilized. Some of the projects they have in mind include the production of renewable sources of energy for their clients like wind and solar farms. This way, the clients are able to get these technologies by using cryptocurrencies. The clients will be able to buy many kilowatts of electricity at a given time using the smart contracts.
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On July 23, Xage Security announced a $12 million Series A funding round led by March Capital Partners, with participation from GE Ventures, City Light Capital, and NexStar Partners. The first and only blockchain-protected security fabric for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Xage aims to create a decentralized security layer to facilitate autonomous communication and establish trust at scale.
The company will use this funding to further develop its security fabric for edge IIoT networks and essential national infrastructure, bolster its technology team, and strengthen its implementation capabilities for industries including energy, telecom, utilities, building management, and manufacturing.
“For IIoT technologies to successfully take hold, we need to deepen and broaden the integration of comprehensive cybersecurity within industrial systems,” said Duncan Greatwood, CEO of Xage Security. “We believe that every industry can be made more efficient and more secure. With this support, we will continue developing and implementing a foundational security solution that enables industrial innovation.”
The company is working with companies like NTT Communications, GE Renewables, and GlobaLogix to reshape and improve international industries and critical infrastructure with secure IoT technology. This investment will enable Xage to improve and expand the scope of its technology as the company supports innovations such as decentralized energy production, 5G networking, and smart cities.
Xage launched in December 2017 with the release of its foundational security fabric, distributing identity and authentication for industrial operations at the edge. The company recently released a systemic tamperproofing technology, using digital fingerprinting, to extend tamperproofing across IIoT operations, industrial controllers, and devices for the first time. With the increasing frequency and consequence of cyberattacks on mission critical systems, the impetus to protect industrial organizations and national infrastructure is greater than ever.
Source: Xage Security, GlobeNewswire
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