Florida cyber firm expands to Arlington, citing talent pool and access to government

A global cybersecurity company headquartered in Tampa just established a physical presence in the DC region to be closer to federal customers and access a robust talent pool. 

OPSWAT, which specializes in critical infrastructure protection and boasts clients like the Department of Defense and HP, opened its Arlington office on Thursday. The 4,000 square foot space houses 10 workers, but CEO and founder Benny Czarny plans to double that number. It also features a cybersecurity lab complete with dummy missiles, a mock nuclear facility and an ATM to simulate cyber attacks for workers to easily visualize threats. 

The cyber company, which created a platform with more than 20 products to protect critical networks, has similar labs across the globe, including in Japan, Israel and England. 

“We have an aspiration to, like we do for any other office,” Czarny told Technical.ly, who founded OPSWAT in 2002, “to have a much more massive presence to support our business growth while supporting employee career development and growing local talent.”

This regional office opening follows OPSWAT’s acquisition of an Arlington cyber company, Fend, back in December. Fend specializes in developing hardware to protect devices from ransomware. It mostly works with energy and manufacturing companies, as well as the government. 

No employees were laid off as a result of the purchase, and there has been a 100% retention rate in the acquisition of Fend, per Czarny. 

“We make acquisitions because we believe in the people, and then we believe in the business and the product,” he said. 

Czarny, who founded OPSWAT in 2002, plans to establish partnerships with local universities and other collaborators like the ones the company has established in other places where it has offices. That includes the online private school Excelsior University and other colleges in Texas and North Carolina through its educational venture, the OPSWAT Academy. 

There are no official partnerships set in the DC region yet, though OPSWAT has been in contact with Virginia Tech to open its lab for external training. The university opened its own campus in nearby Alexandria in February. 

Other than the talent pool, Czarny decided to open an Arlington office due to proximity to its federal customers, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. 

Despite the Department of Government Efficiency and White House’s mass cuts to federal programs, Czarny said he’s seen an increased demand for his platform and products. 

He sees his technology as more effective than that provided by big names like CrowdStrike, which experienced a major outage last summer that disrupted flights and local government operations. 

OPSWAT regenerates data flow for organizations, Czarny explained. For example, one feature of the firm’s technology trashes original emails sent from people to organizations and regenerates them to avoid attacks. 

“You can do it in a different way,” Czarny said. “More elegant, more effective, more efficient, more deterministic — actually, more secure.”

Check out some scenes from the office ribbon-cutting below: