IPSecure recruiting 50 experts as it grows facilities.
07-05-2017
IPSecure, one of San Antonio’s cybersecurity pioneers, is significantly growing its operational spaces the Port.
During a sneak-peek event on June 29, the company announced it is more than doubling its secure office facilities at 903 Billy Mitchell Blvd., where it initially established an 8,000-square-foot presence in 2015. The new expansion provides IPSecure with an additional 12,000 square feet as it recruits up to 50 new cybersecurity experts to serve the Department of Defense and, increasingly, commercial sector clients.
Founded in 2000 by former Air Force avionics electronics lead Jesse Rodriguez, the firm provides an array of services to ensure the safety of highly sensitive networks and data. The organization initially focused on telecommunications security for the Department of Defense. Since that time, it has grown its areas of specialization to include testing of computer networks to secure them from external and internal threats.
The expansion, which includes additional secured compartmentalized information facility (SCIF) space, increases IPSecure’s capacity to monitor clients’ networks and take countermeasures against attempted cyberattacks. The facility also provides a secure environment for top experts to collaborate as they develop and test new cybersecurity products within a contained digital ecosystem.
IPSecure is adding 12,000 square feet of secure space to expand testing and R&D capabilities.
With nearly 20 years of experience helping defend military digital assets, IPSecure is applying its expertise to the commercial sector as well. Among its areas of focus are serving the region’s fast-growing medical, insurance and finance sectors, who face mounting threats from cyberattacks.
“Our spaces at the Port are a digital fortress,” said IPSecure’s Director of Cyber Strategy and Integration Jeff Medina. “By physically growing that environment and recruiting top talent, it allows us to effectively defend our clients’ assets. It also provides us a highly secure environment in which those bright minds can collaborate as they create the next generation of cyber defenses. The know-how that’s initially used to develop cyber technology to protect top-secret military networks is often applied to make sure that our smartphones, bank accounts, medical records and other devices and sensitive data remain safe as well.”
“Our mission is to provide strategic support in the creation of great jobs for our community,” said Port President and CEO Roland Mower. “Our role is to be a true extension of those businesses and create an environment where, in addition to providing a great space in which to work and grow, we are working closely with like-minded organizations to ensure that San Antonio continues generating top talent and innovative collaborations among key players for those employers to keep adding jobs.”
In the summer, IPSecure’s existing facilities at the Port hosted a cybersecurity exercise conducted by the Civil Air Patrol.
“Our region’s big cybersecurity community gets bigger by the day,” said Will Garrett, Director of CyberSecurity San Antonio. “The Port and leaders like IPSecure, with their proven dedication to San Antonio, play a central role in creating a vibrant environment to grow this great industry. Their ongoing successes are clear examples that San Antonio is the place to be for those who want to be on the leading edge of cyber innovation and its applications across virtually every industry in the world.”
“Few economic sectors touch the lives of big industries and ordinary citizens like cybersecurity,” said Chris Cook, Director of the CyberTexas Foundation. “The Port and customers like IPSecure clearly understand how to adapt quickly and capture new opportunities in a rapidly-evolving technology. IPSecure’s hometown roots and steady expansion in our community demonstrate a true spirit of collaboration that showcases San Antonio’s standing as Cyber City, U.S.A.”
IPSecure’s growth is the latest milestone in Port San Antonio’s role as a major cybersecurity hub in the Alamo City. The Port is already home to several government and private-sector cybersecurity operations and over 1,000 industry employees. Port tenants include the national headquarters for the 24th Air Force, part of the U.S. Cyber Command.
The Port is creating a new complex to host additional cybersecurity and other advanced technology operations and 3,000 new jobs.
To support additional industry growth, and to promote innovation and collaboration between cyber and regional industries that include aerospace, medicine and finance, in 2018 the organization will finalize the first phase of its Project Tech development. The upcoming multi-building complex in the heart of the campus will be located in close proximity to Air Force cyber headquarters and just down the street from aerospace and manufacturing operations at the Port. It is specifically tailored to the needs of advanced technology occupants that support both the Department of Defense and private sectors.
The first 90,000-square-foot building at Project Tech will be completed early next year. It will accommodate cybersecurity firms that require spaces ranging from a few hundred square feet to tens of thousands of square feet of contiguous area. Upon full build-out, Project Tech will exceed half a million square feet and accommodate over 3,000 advanced technology jobs.