Two former leaders of IBM's X-Force Red team have started RemoteThreat, an offensive cybersecurity company with $7 million in pre-seed funding. CEO Chris Thompson and CTO Shawn Jones previously ran X-Force Red, where they tested nuclear plants, critical infrastructure, and major banks. Their new platform uses AI to plan, execute, and adapt offensive operations, going beyond typical automated penetration testing.
The startup's platform consists of eight connected systems covering mission planning, command and control, implants, initial access, advanced attacks, obfuscation, analysis, and AI-assisted operations. It can be run by humans or AI agents, and customers can connect models from OpenAI, Anthropic, or open-weight alternatives. RemoteThreat says it has 1,000 custom-built tools and already counts a major bank, a securities exchange operator, a large US healthcare company, and a leading AI lab among its customers.
The launch comes as Washington pushes for more private-sector involvement in offensive cyber. A March US Cyber Strategy calls for closer industry cooperation, and an August presidential memorandum would let vetted companies conduct operations against foreign cybercrime groups under federal oversight. RemoteThreat has joined US Special Operations Command's SOF RACER consortium and partnered with Talon Defense and the Nakasone Group, the advisory firm founded by former NSA director Paul Nakasone, who is also a strategic adviser.
Thompson said the concern driving the company is that AI could soon produce custom malware at state-sponsored quality and deploy it at unprecedented speed. RemoteThreat aims to give defenders and government operators the same speed and scale. Access is restricted to vetted enterprises, defense contractors, and US government customers, given the obvious potential for misuse. Thompson described the current environment as a "gold rush" as the government is pushed to work with commercial firms across major programs. The source reports only this perspective, with no contrasting views presented.