Cybersecurity firm NetRise Inc. today announced that it has raised $8 million in new funding to expand its platform capabilities, such as coverage for Windows systems and containers and the development of additional machine learning models for advanced analysis.

Founded in 2020, NetRise has developed a cloud-based software-as-a-service platform that analyzes and continuously monitors the firmware of “extended internet of things” devices. The company’s platform enables device manufacturers and enterprise customers to detect, respond to and prevent threats throughout their supply chains.

NetRise argues that as threats and vulnerabilities rise across the enterprise, commercial and consumer devices that are connected to the internet and each other create a critical blind spot for security operations and vulnerability management teams. Added into the mix, the firmware that powers XIoT devices introduce vulnerabilities into a network, one often overlooked, creating a neglected attack surface.

Features of the NetRise platform include continuous monitoring and analysis, assessing all connected devices for the latest risks. The platform delivers what the company calls “holistic risk visibility” through the combination of analysis from multiple artifact types to generate a risk score.

The platform offers robust inventory and querying, allowing enterprises to interrogate their device data to move from a reactive to a proactive posture. Other features include compliance adherence and support for software bills of materials.

With these capabilities, NetRise says it helps both enterprise and device manufacturer customers understand what’s inside their devices and their entire software supply chain to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. The platform is said to reduce the time and cost of firmware and software supply chain security programs, allowing organizations to find and remediate previously undetected issues quickly.

“Firmware security is not a problem that is relegated to a particular vertical or industry,” said Tom Pace, co-founder and chief executive officer of NetRise. “We have built our platform in such a way that support for automotive, networking equipment, consumer IoT, industrial control systems and medical device firmware alike are all supported.”

The new funding round was led by Squadra Ventures LLC, with participation from Miramar Digital Ventures LLC, Sorenson Ventures LP and DNX Ventures LLC. Including the new round, NetRise has raised $14.8 million to date, according to data from Crunchbase.

Image: NetRise