NexiTech, a software firm based in Colorado, has received a small contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop active cyber defense technology for the financial services industry.
The $194,000 contract will be applied toward NexiTech’s Moving Target Defense platform for protecting storage devices and networks.
“This project could potentially be of great interest to CIOs at financial services firms, as well as the many IT professionals specializing in data storage at those firms, not to mention the dedicated professionals at the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies who safeguard much or our nation’s critical data,” Donald Matthews, president and CEO of NexiTech, said in a statement. “The impact of this project would be felt in the commercial market for storage arrays, backup appliances and storage area networks.”
The company says developing its Moving Target Defense technology for the financial services industry “introduces active cyber defense technologies to an industry that typically uses only passive techniques, such as encryption and authentication.”
The contract was awarded by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate through its Silicon Valley Innovation Program, which uses rapid contracting techniques to quickly receive bids and make awards to technology startups. DHS said that NexiTech’s technology works “by creating multiple abstractions of devices, similar to frequency-hopping previously used in radio communication, to confuse potential cyber attackers.”