This cybersecurity company is opening a new office in Columbia

Cybersecurity company Silent Circle is opening a new office in Columbia, said Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Joshua Konowe.
The company has about 15 employees working out of Cirql, a new office space on Columbia Gateway Drive. Employees there will be a mix of company leaders, tech and sales staffes, Konowe said. Silent Circle, which has about 70 employees, will keep its Fairfax office, Konowe said.
Earlier this year, Silent Circle named Gregg Smith as CEO. He formerly led Baltimore-based OptioLabs. The five-year-old company has a new B2B focus after sales of its privacy-focused smartphone, called the Blackphone, struggled.
The company makes a software product called Silent Phone, which is designed to secure functions like calls, messaging and file sharing on mobile phones. Along with encryption, it has capabilities to delete messages after a period of time set by a company. The product is sold to enterprises. Konowe said the company is looking to sell to government contractors, healthcare and insurance firms. Silent Circle recently released version 6.0 of the product. The new version is faster, and the company looked to create more consistency between iOS and Android products, Konowe said.
Silent Circle also added hardware recently with an acquisition of Kesala. That company’s product is a small box that encrypts data before connecting to the internet, Konowe said.