Channel investors, Content, Vertical markets

OT Cybersecurity Funding: Shift5 Raises $20 Million

Operational technology (OT) cybersecurity company Shift5 has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The company will use the funding to provide cybersecurity and operational intelligence for commercial fleet operators and military platforms, Shift5 said.

The Series A funding comes after Shift5 in November 2020 won a contract from the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). Under the terms of the agreement, Shift5 is responsible for configuring its commercial technology on Army combat vehicles.

Shift5 was created by founding members of the U.S. Army Cyber Command unit who pioneered modern weapons system cyber assessments, the company stated. It offers a cybersecurity solution and specialized services to protect planes, trains and tanks against cyberattacks.

Commercial fleet operators and military organizations can use Shift5's solution to monitor vehicles and detect and prevent cyber intrusions, the company noted. The solution includes the following components:

  • Intake: Deploys as hardware or software that captures embedded data from serial databuses on a fleet of vehicles and collects, compresses and transmits vehicle information to a cybersecurity team.
  • Engine: Provides a ruleset to parse hundreds of thousands of alerts generated by vehicle serial databuses.
  • Gauge Cluster: Visualizes vehicle information to help a cybersecurity team identify and address security issues.

Shift5's solution integrates directly into existing vehicle platforms, the company indicated. In addition, the solution supports firmware and configuration attestation and helps organizations neutralize malicious or corrupted payloads.

Along with Shift5's solution, the company provides specialized services for vulnerability research, capability development and other OT cybersecurity areas. It also delivers cybersecurity and operational intelligence to protect the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and several of the largest U.S. passenger rail systems.

Shift5 delivers its solution and specialized services directly to commercial fleet operators and military organizations. It does not currently offer a partner program for MSSPs or other channel partners but may look to provide one in the future.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.