Beyond Identity Joins NVIDIA Inception Program to Advance Hardware-Enforced Security for the AI Era

Key Takeaways

• NVIDIA Inception Program Membership: Beyond Identity has been accepted into NVIDIA Inception, a program that nurtures cutting-edge startups, to accelerate our vision for next-generation, hardware-enforced security.
• A Vision for Hardware-Enforced Security: As part of our work within NVIDIA Inception, we will focus on a strategic initiative to integrate our unphishable, device-bound credentials with NVIDIA BlueField DPUs.
• Securing the AI Supply Chain: This initiative aims to enhance security for high-value AI environments by ensuring only trusted users on trusted devices can access critical AI workloads, from development to production.

Beyond Identity is thrilled to announce our acceptance into NVIDIA Inception, a program dedicated to fostering innovation among startups at the forefront of artificial intelligence. 

This is a pivotal step in our mission to forge a new standard of security for the AI era: hardware-enforced network access control, grounded in strong, device-bound credentials that provide a foundational layer of trust for the entire AI ecosystem.

Why Does AI Infrastructure Require a New Security Approach?

To harness the potential of AI, organizations are building vast AI factories and deploying powerful GPU clusters to process enormous datasets and train sophisticated models. While this transformation unlocks accelerated innovation, it also introduces significant security challenges. These high-value AI environments, which represent substantial investments and sensitive intellectual property, have become prime targets for attackers. 

Traditional, software-based security measures are no longer sufficient to protect this critical infrastructure. For example, a compromised host operating system (OS) can potentially bypass software-level controls, leaving the door open for lateral movement and unauthorized access to sensitive AI workloads and data. 

Securing the AI supply chain, from development environments to production clusters, requires a substantial shift, one where security is deeply embedded into the hardware fabric of the data center.

What does Beyond Identity Aim to Achieve with this Initiative?

Our vision is to create a security architecture where identity and access are verified and enforced at the hardware level, providing a fundamental layer of protection that cannot be bypassed by software-based attacks or social engineering techniques. 

By combining our expertise in strong identity with access to NVIDIA’s leadership in accelerated computing and data center security, we aim to develop a solution that provides:

• Enhanced Security: A hardware-enforced security model that protects against sophisticated threats, including lateral movement and attacks originating from a compromised host.
• A More Secure AI Development Lifecycle: By ensuring that only authorized developers on trusted devices can access critical AI development environments, we help secure the AI supply chain from the very beginning.
• Improved Performance for AI Workloads: Offloading security functions to the DPU frees up valuable CPU and GPU cycles, allowing organizations to dedicate more compute power to their core AI and data processing tasks.

Our acceptance into NVIDIA Inception accelerates our efforts to bring this vision to life. We are excited for the opportunity to develop this groundbreaking integration and to usher in a more secure and trustworthy AI ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is the NVIDIA Inception program?

A: NVIDIA Inception is a free program designed to help startups that are revolutionizing industries with advancements in AI and data sciences. It provides go-to-market support, expertise, and technology to help startups grow faster.

Q: What is a Data Processing Unit (DPU)?

A: An NVIDIA DPU is a new class of programmable processor that combines industry-standard Arm cores with hardware acceleration engines for networking, storage, and security. It offloads, accelerates, and isolates data center infrastructure services from the CPU.

Q: How does this initiative improve upon existing security solutions?

A: This initiative aims to move security enforcement from the software layer to the hardware layer. By using Beyond Identity’s device-bound credentials and the NVIDIA DPU’s hardware isolation, we can create a more resilient security posture that is not susceptible to software-level vulnerabilities or compromises.

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