NexDefense

NexDefense operated as a specialized provider of cybersecurity solutions focused on industrial control systems (ICS). The company was established in 2012 by co-founders Derek Harp, Michael Assante, and Mike Sayre. Its technological foundation originated from a software called “Sophia,” which was developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). NexDefense secured the exclusive rights to commercialize this technology, which it further developed and rebranded as the Integrity™ product suite.

The company's core business was providing real-time operational technology (OT) network visibility and monitoring to safeguard critical infrastructure. Integrity™ was designed to establish a baseline of normal network activity and then continuously monitor for anomalies, misconfigurations, or malicious threats that could impact system integrity and safety. Key features of the software included passive asset discovery, deep packet inspection for industrial protocols, network topology visualization, and a reporting engine. This enabled operators in sectors such as utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, and defense to gain crucial awareness over their engineered networks without disrupting performance.

The founding team brought extensive and relevant experience to the venture. Derek Harp was a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded LogiKeep, a network security firm later acquired by Cisco. Michael Assante was a recognized ICS security expert, having served as the Chief Security Officer for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and American Electric Power (AEP). This deep domain expertise was a key differentiator in the highly specialized market of industrial cybersecurity.

After raising over $8 million in venture funding from investors including Mosley Ventures and BIP Capital, NexDefense established itself as a well-known name in the ICS security space. In a significant strategic move in March 2019, NexDefense was acquired by Dragos, Inc., another prominent industrial cybersecurity firm. Following the acquisition, Dragos integrated NexDefense's technology into its own offerings and made the Integrity™ software available as a free asset identification tool to the broader community, aiming to improve baseline security across the industry.

Keywords: industrial control systems, ICS security, OT cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, network anomaly detection, SCADA security, NexDefense Integrity, Sophia software, operational technology monitoring, industrial network visibility, passive asset discovery, Dragos acquisition, Derek Harp, Michael Assante, Mike Sayre, Idaho National Laboratory, cybersecurity for utilities, oil and gas cybersecurity, manufacturing security, control system security