he world’s largest corporations spend more than $12 billion combined annually making repairs to their computer networks, which frequently stretch across the globe to handle transactions all hours of the day. About half that money, according to a study by research firm IDC of Framingham, was spent on technicians who must physically locate the malfunctioning box within the system and make it work again. ComBrio Inc., a startup that yesterday announced it has received more than $6 million in venture capital, wants to change that — and save companies money in the process.

The 30-employee business in the Southboro Technology Park has created a piece of hardware that sits inside a corporate network, behind protective firewalls, and continually monitors the health of computer network equipment. Using ComBrio hardware, companies can make repairs to faulty gear within the network remotely, saving the cost of sending a technician by car or even plane to make a repair.

“It’s surprising that, given our technology today, more than half of the spending on this is for on-site repairs,” said David A. LeBeau, chief executive officer. “The opportunity here is to allow (information technology) managers to save money and to allow safe access to their networks.”

“Safe” is the key word. With hackers growing more creative by the day, large corporations are eager to prevent any unauthorized access to their networks.

Using current technology, technicians can access equipment remotely to make repairs, but must open up a hole in a firewall to do so. Firewalls are protective measures within a network that keep out unwanted electronic intrusions — such as viruses or hackers.

ComBrio’s equipment works differently, allowing for remote access without breaking holes in firewalls — thereby avoiding an opportunity for hackers to get inside a corporate computer network.

“Our customers have a bunch of devices in many locations,” said Mr. LeBeau. “They need to know that this device is available to make it easier to maintain these large networks.”

ComBrio was founded in 2002 by Clark W. Lefavour, a former Digital Equipment Corp. hardware designer, and John L. Cook, a former ChipCom Corp. product developer. Mr. Lefavour is vice president of engineering, and Mr. Cook is chief technology officer.

The company has raised $6 million in venture capital from Still River Fund of Boston, The Venture Capital Fund of New England and Inflection Point Ventures, both of Wellesley.

ComBrio has three customers currently using its equipment. The business is focused on three target markets: Fortune 1,000 companies, vendors of computer equipment, such as servers and storage devices, and application service providers, or companies that offer business services online.

At least one analyst believes the company has happened upon a much-needed offering.

“Remote-device support is critical to the IT infrastructure,” said Christine Tenneson, program manager with IDC. “Data centers today rely on a myriad of solutions to solve their issues, spending billions of dollars in the process.” Those IT managers are looking for a way to save money on that work, she said. “ComBrio’s launch is one solution that helps in that quest,” she said.