Hushmesh, a Falls Church, Va., startup aiming to build a web with built-in security, has raised $5.2 million in an early-stage funding round led by Paladin Capital Group, with participation from Akamai Technologies.
“We currently have a proof-of-concept with AMI, our first design partner,” founder and CEO Manu Fontaine told citybiz. “We plan to be in production later this year.”
Universal Zero Trust
Fontaine, who has previously worked at EMC and Brightspot, said his public benefit startup has the complete blueprint and design for the Mesh, which he said will create “the next Web,” with cryptographic security and universal, built-in zero trust.
The world wide web was designed over three decades to be an open, global library, but in the process introduced two foundational security flaws, contends Fontaine. It needs to be administered by domain insiders, which creates a permanent risk, and it lacks a built-in global security mechanism. In contrast, the Mesh will boast a “fully automated, globally attested, physically decentralized network of confidential computing machines.” It also eliminates the traditional domain name system, instead creating what Hushmesh calls an “Universal Name System” with automated end-to-end cryptography.
Hushmesh views its Mesh as the web’s future, one that is necessary to mitigate rising cyberattacks and to provide better protection to data. The Mesh would automate encryption key management for all users, securing data right at the source, and eliminate obvious vulnerabilities arising from knowledge-based credentials like passwords. By eschewing databases, the Mesh could also end identity theft, prevent data breaches and fraud.
Cost Is No Barrier
The partnership with AMI, a leader in dynamic firmware for worldwide computing, and other design firms has driven Hushmesh’s early work. “Firmware security is of the utmost importance, as the security of everything else depends on it,” said Stefano Righi, senior vice president of AMI’s Global Security Software Group. “The built-in cryptographic security of the Mesh has the potential to provide our customers with global assurance of authenticity and enable secure communication in the supply chain in a way that was just not possible before.”
The main challenge now is to develop “an infrastructure with great care, to make sure we do not break the foundational principles of its architecture,” Fontaine told citybiz. Fontaine believes the additional cost of the Mesh would not be a barrier to adoption, certainly no more than other security solutions that organizations routinely buy. “Overall, the Mesh should not be more expensive. If anything, it may end up becoming much less expensive over time, as the Mesh secures everything for everyone, which will eliminate the need for each company to do it for themselves,” he said.
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Hushmesh’s collaboration with AMI has also provided “some early evidence that supply chain security will likely be a key decision factor for embracing the Mesh,” said Fontaine. “There simply is no other way to solve zero trust across domains, given the ‘world-wide weaknesses’ of the web.”
Ubiquitous Security
What Hushmesh has created truly has the potential to transform global security, said Mourad Yesayan, managing director of Paladin Capital Group, which has offices in Washington, D.C., and New York.
“As we put our entire lives online and connect our homes, cars, cities, and critical infrastructure, we must demand stronger security for our data and universal trust,” he said. “The progress for humanity that can come from built-in, invisible, yet ubiquitous cryptographic security is why we are backing Hushmesh as it commercializes its technology.”
