We are building a future where
compromise does not become catastrophe.
Architecture-level cyber resilience for the systems the world depends on.
Meet the TeamWhat Happens to the Mission When Compromise Occurs?
Modern organizations face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that can disrupt critical operations, degrade mission performance, and compromise strategic objectives. Traditional cybersecurity tools focus on identifying vulnerabilities and detecting attacks, but often fail to answer the most important question:
KAIperShield was founded to answer that question.
Where are the vulnerabilities?
What happens to the mission when they are exploited?
Organizations often understand that vulnerabilities exist, but struggle to understand how cyber events affect mission execution.
KAIperShield reveals how cyber compromise propagates across systems, dependencies, trust boundaries, and mission-critical functions. By exposing these relationships, organizations can identify where resilience investments will have the greatest impact on mission success.
Why We Are Different
Our approach is informed by decades of operational experience supporting mission continuity, resilience, and cyber assurance for some of the nation's most complex and consequential space missions. This experience has shown that mission success depends not only on preventing compromise, but on understanding how failures propagate, how critical functions are sustained, and how systems continue operating under adverse conditions.
Built upon foundational technology developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and advanced through Caltech-supported commercialization, KAIperShield applies architecture-level analysis to understand how failures propagate, how critical functions are sustained, and how complex systems continue operating under adverse conditions.
NIST SP 800-160
Built around the principles of systems security engineering and cyber resilience.
Mission Impact
Maps cyber risk to operational objectives, readiness, and continuity.
Resilience in Depth
Helps operators engineer continuity into the architecture before disruption occurs.
AI-Enabled Systems Engineering
Uses AI to reason across complex cyber-physical dependencies.
Markets We Serve
Our Heritage
- JPL Developed.
- Caltech Seeded.
- Patented JPL technology licensed through Caltech.
- Expanded through KAIperShield innovation.
Intellectual Property & Innovation
KAIperShield combines foundational technology licensed from Caltech with proprietary innovations developed by the company. Our platform incorporates patented technology originating from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory together with KAIperShield's own patent-pending inventions focused on cyber resilience, mission assurance, and architecture-level analysis of complex cyber-physical systems.
Leadership Team
KAIperShield brings together leaders from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Our team combines decades of experience in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, systems engineering, mission assurance, and national security to deliver next-generation cyber resilience solutions for mission-critical environments.
Larry James
Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General and former Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Larry provides the executive leadership, strategic vision, and customer access that define KAIperShield's go-to-market strategy.
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Larry James is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General with a 35-year career spanning military space operations, intelligence, and national security at the highest levels of command. Larry served as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2013 to 2024, responsible for JPL's $2.6 billion annual budget encompassing solar system exploration, Mars programs, Earth science, and all business operations.
His final military assignment was as the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the Pentagon, leading more than 20,000 ISR officers, enlisted, and civilians across the Air Force ISR Enterprise. Across his Air Force career he served at all levels of command, including Commander of 14th Air Force, responsible for all U.S. military space operations.
Larry is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, holds an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and was a Draper Fellow at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), serves as Strategic Advisor for Australia's SmartSat CRC, and is a Professor of Practice for Space Innovation at Monash University.
Dr. Kymie Tan
Cybersecurity engineer and researcher whose career spans academia, NASA, and national cyber policy. Kymie is the technical architect of CAVE and leads technology development and R&D at KAIperShield.
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Dr. Kymie Tan is a cybersecurity engineer and researcher whose career spans academia, NASA, and national cyber policy. Kymie served on the faculty in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University before joining NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she rose to Chief Cybersecurity Engineer, led space asset security efforts for the United States, and supported the White House Office of the National Cyber Director.
Her research at JPL directly produced the foundational algorithms and system models that became CAVE. She is a recognized expert in cyber-physical system security, anomaly detection, intrusion detection for operational technology, and the application of NIST security engineering frameworks to complex architectures.
She completed her undergraduate degree, honours, and Ph.D. in Cybersecurity at the University of Melbourne. Kymie is the technical architect of CAVE and leads technology development and R&D at KAIperShield.
Dan Crichton
Technology executive, data scientist, and software architect with more than three decades of experience spanning NASA JPL, Caltech, commercial technology, and government-sponsored research. Dan leads KAIperShield's artificial intelligence strategy, engineering, data architecture, operations, and corporate development.
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Dan Crichton is a technology executive, data scientist, and software architect with more than three decades of experience spanning NASA JPL, Caltech, commercial technology, and government-sponsored research. At JPL, he rose to Principal Computer Scientist and served as Program Manager for Data Science, Data Systems and Technology, and the Planetary Data System Engineering Program.
His career began at Hughes Aircraft Company developing real-time command-and-control systems for the Peace Shield air defense program. Throughout his career, he has led major data, AI, and software initiatives supporting NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, NSF, and the Department of Defense. At JPL, he led the development of data-intensive platforms supporting planetary exploration, climate science, and cancer biomarker research, publishing more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and pioneering several widely adopted open-source and scientific data systems.
Dan has received two JPL Magellan Awards, NASA's Exceptional Public Achievement Medal, runner-up honors for NASA Software of the Year, and multiple NASA Group Achievement and Software Awards. He is a co-founder of White River Computing, founder and former chair of the International Planetary Data Alliance, and served on the National Research Council Committee on the Analysis of Massive Data, which helped shape national recommendations for investments in artificial intelligence, data science, and large-scale analytics.
He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. At KAIperShield, Dan leads the company's artificial intelligence strategy, engineering, data architecture, operations, and corporate development. He is also a co-inventor on KAIperShield's provisional patents.
Dr. Ron Ross
Retired NIST Fellow, principal architect of the federal government's Risk Management Framework, and inductee into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame. Ron provides unmatched credibility and technical authority on federal security engineering standards and their commercial implementation.
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Dr. Ron Ross is a retired Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the principal architect of the federal government's Risk Management Framework. Over a four-decade career spanning the U.S. Army, National Security Agency, and NIST, he authored the foundational suite of federal cybersecurity standards and guidelines that CAVE operationalizes — including NIST SP 800-37, SP 800-53, SP 800-160, SP 800-30, SP 800-39, FIPS 199, and FIPS 200.
At NIST, Ron led the FISMA Implementation Project and the Joint Task Force, an interagency partnership with the Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Committee on National Security Systems that developed a Unified Information Security Framework supporting national security and non-national security systems. He previously served as Director of the National Information Assurance Partnership, a joint activity of NIST and NSA.
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Ron served as a White House aide and senior technical advisor to the Department of the Army during his twenty-year military career. While assigned to NSA, he received the Scientific Achievement Award and the Defense Superior Service Medal. He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School with a concentration on artificial intelligence and robotics.
Ron has been inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame and is a five-time recipient of the Federal 100 award for his leadership and technical contributions to critical cybersecurity projects. He has also been inducted into the Information Systems Security Association Hall of Fame and received its highest honor of Distinguished Fellow. Ron is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medal Awards, and Service to America Medal for Homeland Security and Law Enforcement. He is also the recipient of the Michael V. Hayden and National Defense Industrial Association Lifetime Achievement Awards for his contributions to cybersecurity.
Ron serves as KAIperShield's Chief Scientist.
Funding & Support
KAIperShield is supported through technology licensing and investment relationships with Caltech and through venture investment from Wilson Hill Ventures.
Headquartered at the Caltech Innovation Center, KAIperShield is commercializing advanced cyber resilience technologies developed from foundational research at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech.