SAP just opened a cyber defense center at its Newtown Square HQ

Cloud software company SAP unveiled the newest addition to its Newtown Square office Thursday with a ribbon cutting of the SAP Cyber Fusion Center.

The center will serve as an innovation hub for new cyber defense capabilities for the company and bring new security functions like analytics, defensive automation, cyber intelligence and cloud security to better assist SAP and its customers against security threats.

The company said it will provide access to cyber-related resources at nearby academic, research and military communities in and around the Philly area.

“Threats are evolving, accelerating and becoming more commoditized, which means SAP — and its customer base — represent a significant target for cybercriminals,” said SAP Chief Security Officer Tim McKnight.

The center also has plans to employ about 70 people by the year 2021, and will draw on area universities to build a talent pipeline. The company chose the U.S. headquarters to build the center, citing its access to academic, research and military communities in the area.

McKnight said as SAP’s business expands more into public and private sectors, the company sees a need for more “resilient, experienced and global security operations capability to support that growth and defend ourselves and our customers from harm.”

The issue of and industry for cybersecurity has been on the rise in cities like D.C. and Baltimore, but the Philadelphia area has seen increases in the industry over the last few years. Comcast recently purchased cybersecurity platform BluVector, and educational institutions like the University of Pennsylvania have recently added bootcamps to reskill workers in the field.