JetBlue Ventures Teams With Shift5 To Fill Aviation Cybersecurity Gap

A JetBlue Airways venture capital subsidiary is partnering with Shift5, a data and cybersecurity company expanding its defense focus to include capabilities for commercial aircraft. 

The technology “has the potential to revolutionize aviation cybersecurity,” says Steven Taub, MD of investments at JetBlue Ventures (JBV).

Shift5 says the investment will allow it to develop new capabilities for commercial air travel. Its platform captures real-time data from onboard sources which it translates, enriches, correlates, and analyzes for anomalies—to detect threats and maintain resilience of operational technology (OT) systems.

In addition to cybersecurity, JBV sees implications for improving reliability and safety. 

“What we’re looking at doing here is finding ways that we can use data from our fleet to better manage the operation, better manage the fleet, and keep everybody safe,” Taub told Aviation Daily. “We have a big effort within JetBlue to do more, and be smarter, about how we use the data that we’re getting off our aircraft and Shift5 is going to be a key piece of that.”

Taub pointed to Shift5’s focus on the OT side of cybersecurity as being unique, and a factor in the decision to invest. The company declined to comment on the financial details of their agreement. 

“Really there are only very few companies that are doing what Shift5 is doing, which is working with OT data onboard aircraft and other mobile platforms,” Taub said. “That’s really what I think is so revolutionary about it, they’re filling a gap that we saw in the cybersecurity landscape for aviation.”

In addition to being an investor, JBV is also positioned as a strategic partner, in a collaboration the company intends to be long-term. JBV is now working with Shift5 to help develop the product’s applicability for commercial aviation. Regulatory hurdles would still need to be cleared in the future before any deployment in the fleet, Taub noted. 

“JetBlue Ventures is looking to work with leading, innovative companies in the travel and aviation space, and we think that Shift5 is clearly one of those companies,” adds Taub. “They are doing something ... that is pretty unique in the market that we think brings a lot of value, both in terms of operational value as well as on the cybersecurity side.”

Joining existing investors in the data solution—including AEI HorizonX, AE Industrial Partners’ venture capital group formed in partnership with Boeing—JBV says the investment is one of several it plans to make in 2023. 

“We generally make six to eight new investments a year,” Taub said. “Broadly speaking, I think sustainability is going to continue to be a theme. You’ll probably see more investments there. And I think that operations is going to continue to be a big focus for us as well, and that’s super important to the company.”