Posted by Brier Dudley
Jeff Hussey, the founder and former chief executive of F5 Networks, has a new project.
Over the summer, Hussey connected with Seattle enterprise security startup Asguard Networks. He was intrigued enough to finance the company with $1.2 million of his own money and take over as chief executive.
Hussey also chose a new name for the company, which as of today is called Tempered Networks. Half joking, he said he considered calling it F6 Networks but Tempered better reflects the hardened nature of the industrial networking gear it builds for companies such as Boeing and public utilities.
Asguard was started in 2012 by Boeing veterans including DavidMattes, who worked on a new network security system for Boeing when it shifted from a traditional manufacturing approach to a robotic system on the 777. The idea was to connect industrial devices while shielding the company’s network from intrusion.
With Mattes as chief executive, Asguard developed a line of security appliances and secured around 15 customers deploying hundreds of the devices.
After being introduced by a former F5 executive last summer, Hussey and Mattes decided to relaunch and rebrand the company. Hussey sees a huge opportunity to improve the edge of industrial control networks, similar to the way F5 addressed the need to better manage the periphery of corporate networks.
Mattes is now chief technology officer. He said he always planned to hand over the reins at some point.