Former NSA head's cyber-security startup raises $32.5 million

(Reuters) - Former U.S. National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander's cyber security startup, IronNet Cybersecurity Inc, said on Monday it had raised $32.5 million in a "Series A" funding round led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity.

IronNet says its technology detects and mitigates anomalous activity in a company's cyber infrastructure using advanced behavioral models and analytics.

The funding will help accelerate growth and scale the launch of the IronNet product line, Alexander, the company's chief executive, said in the statement. (http://bit.ly/1WdBx4D)

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers also participated in the funding round. A "Series A" funding is typically a start-up's first major round of capital financing.

Alexander founded the company in 2014 along with former top officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

IronNet aroused controversy last year after employing a senior U.S. intelligence official to work part-time, a move that NSA officials said risked a conflict of interest. Alexander later ended the deal.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)