Surefire Cyber  is heating up the cybersecurity scene for Howard County and Maryland at large. The cyber response firm, which delivers swift and strong responses to cyber incidents, is helping boost cybersecurity and resilience across the state.

The privately held company, which officially launched in May, is backed by two major tech investment giants, Forgepoint Capital  and Gula Tech Adventures . Under the leadership of longtime industry veteran Billy Gouveia, the rapidly expanding company hopes to continue to strengthen Maryland's position as a national powerhouse in the cybersecurity industry.

Gouveia and his experienced team of cybersecurity gurus say that choosing to locate the up-and-coming business in Maryland was a no brainer. With access to a world-class pool of cyber talent, proximity to major insurance and legal markets, and a robust physical and digital infrastructure, headquartering the company in Maryland was a “surefire” decision.

Maryland is already well positioned as a national leader in cybersecurity, and Gouveia has a step-by-step plan to make that leadership role even stronger. The first step would be to streamline the state’s cyber efforts under the authority of Maryland’s Chief Information Security Officer and to develop a cybersecurity model. Next, state, county, and city initiatives should be organized into a unified effort to drive policy and investment. Working together as a unified partnership will be key to protecting the United States and its companies against cyber threats.

“I founded Surefire Cyber with the goal of helping organizations hit by cybercrime to have smoother experiences and positive outcomes so they come out stronger,” said Gouveia. “My focus as CEO is to sustain the quality growth of our team so we can drive a change in how organizations access the expertise and the technology they need to manage through a cybersecurity incident.”

While the team over at Surefire Cyber is putting plans into motion to improve cybersecurity across the state and country holistically, the company has also hit the ground running with aggressive plans for growth. The company started the year with one employee and quickly expanded to 24 team members. Surefire Cyber is actively recruiting for first class talent and plans to continue growing as the team helps more organizations manage cyber incidents.

From Surefire Cyber’s home base in Elkridge, the company was able to immediately begin supporting large corporations in Baltimore, university and healthcare systems across the state, and works with insurers and law firms in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York.