Ann Arbor region poised to fill growing cybersecurity need

[Howell, Paul]

At
http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/05/ann_arbor_regi
on_poised_to_fil.html


Ann Arbor region poised to fill growing cybersecurity need

Posted by Nathan Bomey | Michigan Business Review May 28, 2009 05:40AM
Robert RameySean Heiney, head of Barracuda Network. 

As Web-based attacks become increasingly identified as a national
security issue, Michigan companies that offer cybersecurity solutions
are poised to reap influxes of revenue. 
The Ann Arbor region in particular has been steadily assembling a
portfolio of companies dedicated to providing network security products
and services. Such technology is drawing national attention as the
federal government has incurred a series of high-profile network
security breaches in recent months.

Executives from several local information technology security companies
suggested they are positioned to capitalize on a growing focus on
network security issues.

Sean Heiney, who leads Barracuda Networks' expanding Ann Arbor operation
on Depot Street, said the firm's Web filtering and analysis technology
is already deployed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
Centers for Disease Control and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, for example.

Critical to cybersecurity technologies is the ability to detect attacks
after hackers have breached a network, Heiney said. 

"The historic emphasis has been placed on the perimeter of the network,"
he said. "But now it's commonly recognized that security is best done in
defensive layers."

Barracuda engineers sift through immense amounts of data passing through
the network filters of the firm's clients to identify potential malware,
viruses and cyber attacks.

The federal government recently reported network security breaches in
the nation's air traffic control system as well as defense-related
projects. Experts suggested the breaches - although heretofore harmless
- could have come from Russia, China or Eastern Europe.

Growth in the network security sector 
* Boston-based Arbor Networks announced in January 2008 that it would
invest $14 million and hire 56 jobs in an expansion of its existing Ann
Arbor operation. That would bring the company to about 130 employees
locally.

* Barracuda Networks announced in September that it would add 185
employees over the next five years to expand its
research-and-development operation in Ann Arbor. The firm, which has
some 600 employees globally, signed a lease with First Martin Corp. to
become the first tenant in the 201 Depot St. complex.

* Networks Group, a 15-employee consulting firm, recently moved from
Brighton to Ann Arbor to leverage the region's talent base.


The White House is expected to create a White House "cybersecurity czar"
in charge of planning cyber warfare resistance - a strategy some
national security experts support as authoritarian governments and rogue
hackers launch more brazen attacks. 
Increased federal investment in network security technology is
inevitable, said Don Blumenthal, former director of Internet
investigations for the Federal Trade Commission. 

"In every Congress you see more legislation introduced to deal with
cybersecurity," said Blumenthal, a consultant with Washington,
D.C.-based Global Cyber Risk and an adjunct professor at the University
of Michigan School of Information.

Concern is percolating about the security of the nation's fundamental
infrastructure, including the electrical grid and even the stability of
the Internet itself.

Access to the Internet is not just about convenience but also national
security.

Boston-based Arbor Networks, which announced an expansion of its Ann
Arbor presence in 2008, offers security products to Internet service
providers, which in turn service governments and major corporations. 

"Over the last 10 years, they've increasingly relied on Internet
technology as a mechanism for communicating and getting their daily
business done," said Rob Malan, co-founder and chief technology officer
of Arbor Networks. "So whenever there's a threat to that, whether it's
commercial or government, there's a serious issue related to national
security."

Heiney suggested the nation should be particularly worried about
outdated infrastructure such as the electrical grid.

"I think the majority of infrastructure existing today is starting to
age, and companies are starting to recognize that they need to take a
more proactive approach with network security, and we are seeing that
reflected in our sales," he said. 

Michigan's network security technology expertise could establish the
state as a leader in IT infrastructure issues. 

Steve Fuller, president of 12-year-old Ann Arbor-based Networks Group,
said Michigan has sufficient IT talent to drive the industry.

Networks Group, which moved from Brighton about a year ago, is a
consulting firm with 15 employees. The company is a founding member of
the Michigan Security Network, a consortium of companies and
universities devoted to driving economic development in the state's IT
security segment.

"Clearly there's a great deal of talent in Michigan partly because of
the universities that we have creating a pool of skilled and curious
people," Steve said. "But there's also enough commercial entities in
Michigan that are either focused in that area or even migrating into
that area."


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