Internet of things security startup ReFirm Labs Inc. said today it has raised $2 million in an early-stage funding to accelerate new product development and hire more staff.

The Pre-A round was led by DataTribe and New Dominion Angels and included TEDCO and Tysons Angel Investors.

Founded in 2017 by former U.S. National Security Agency cybersecurity operators, ReFirm offers a solution designed to check firmware on IoT devices. The company’s main product, Centrifuge Platform, proactively vets, validates and continuously monitors the security of firmware, the software embedded into IoT devices to make the hardware itself function.

Centrifuge Platform is said to identify and report potential zero-day vulnerabilities, hidden cryptography keys, backdoor passwords and already-known vulnerabilities in firmware. The company says the cloud-based dservice delivers results in under 30 minutes. The Centrifuge Platform simplifies the management and monitoring of security across a system of deployed IoT devices without needing agents or access to a network.

A spokesperson said attacks on firmware are a top concern for the IoT industry, such as the Mirai Bot malware that exploited millions of consumer devices in 2016 and, more recently, millions of IoT radios that were compromised through hidden Telnet backdoors. With 5G networks coming online, the opportunities for hackers will multiply, so there’s a need for better IoT and firmware security.

ReFirm Labs has signed several Fortune 500 companies and government agencies in industries such as telecommunications, cloud infrastructure and data centers, automotive, health care, utilities and manufacturing. Customers include AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

In addition, ReFirm recently signed a new strategic technology collaboration agreement with embedded system software provider Wind River Systems Inc. The Centrifuge Platform is integrated into Wind River’s VxWorks real-time operating system used in commercial aircraft, space exploration and military operations.

Including the new funding, ReFirm Labs has raised $3.5 million to date.

Image: ReFirm Labs