Last May, Governor Hogan announced the Excel Maryland Initiative at the inaugural Maryland Business Summit in front of more than 700 business, education, and community leaders in the state. The initiative's goal is lofty – to launch a comprehensive, statewide economic development strategy focused on developing new collaborative techniques to accelerate growth in the life sciences and cybersecurity industries.

With more than 35 incubators and research parks and a number one ranking in STEM job concentration, Maryland is fertile ground for entrepreneurs in life sciences and cybersecurity, industries where Maryland already leads. Excel Maryland, the latest tool in the state's toolbox, is designed to propel these industries to even greater heights.

MDBizNews sat down with a few local businesses that are thriving in the state's cybersecurity sector and giving the Commerce team plenty to brag about at the upcoming RSA Conference.

Trinity Cyber, based in Bowie, operates a business-to-business cybersecurity service for clients based on a three-pronged approach of being proactive, adaptive, and invisible when it comes to securing valuable networks.

Founders Steve Ryan and Neill Sciarrone come from top-level government security backgrounds – Ryan previously served as Deputy Director of the National Security Agency's Threat Operations Center and Sciarrone was Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director of Cybersecurity and Information Sharing at the White House. Steve Wagner, Trinity's director of external affairs, said Maryland was a natural fit for starting an-up-and-coming cybersecurity business.

"Maryland has a great reputation for supporting both small and local businesses, from state representatives to the governor's office to county and city officials, all of whom have exceeded our high expectations," said Wagner. "Additionally, as an education-rich environment with several top-tier institutions offering degrees in digital security, Maryland offers access a rich pipeline of talent in the cybersecurity field."

Trinity's approach to security utilizes their patented Proactive Threat InterferenceTMservice that works with a client's existing cyber defense infrastructure to prevent malicious Internet traffic from reaching corporate networks. Wagner says that the proactive nature of Trinity's cybersecurity service breaks the mold of most reactive defense services.

"Cybersecurity products and services tend to focus internally on the corporate network, helping to identify malicious traffic, investigate potential events, and minimize damage from incursions," Wagner said. "While these functions are very important to securing networks, they are also inherently reactive to events that have already occurred. Trinity Cyber's service complements these existing functions by operating outside the corporate network, between our customers and cyber adversaries, to stop attacks before they even reach our clients."

As Trinity grows rapidly in this ever-expanding industry, the company plans to tap into talent pipelines from the University System of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and Maryland's other leading higher education institutions to expand their team and meet demand.

"As a growing business, we are constantly searching for top cybersecurity talent," Wagner said. "Proximity to Maryland's strong educational institutions provides us with a strategic advantage as we continue to scale our operations and execute on our mission."

For more information visit trinitycyber.com.

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