Maryland’s cybersecurity community is made up of talent at corporations, services firms, startups and government, and professionals from each of those came together Thursday night in one big ballroom.

The 2019 Maryland Cybersecurity Awards were presented inside the Maryland LIVE! Casino & Hotel in Hanover. It was third edition of the ceremony, organized by The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, Inc.

The event puts the spotlight on organizations that lead with the products and know-how to keep technology secure, as well as in the community. Finalists are picked by an independent panel.

In all, 15 awards were presented during the event, which was emceed by Point3 Security CEO Evan Dornbush and EZShield CTO Darrell Laffoon. It was a mix of signature awards, as well as regional winners. Here’s a look:

Cybersecurity Champion of the Year

• John Leitch, president and CEO of Winquest Cybersecurity Services, an Annapolis-based company which provides cybersecurity to small and medium sized businesses. His efforts were noted on the Buy MD Cyber initiative, which last year resulted in a new tax credit for businesses looking to purchase cyber services from companies in the state.

Cybersecurity Company to Watch

• IronNet Cybersecurity, the Fulton-based company founded by General (Ret.) Keith Alexander, the former commander of the National Security Agency, which makes a product called IronDome that shares info about anomalies across an industry sector, as well as a platform offering analytics and detection related to threats. The company raised $78 million in funding last year.

Cybersecurity Woman of the Year

• Diane M. Janosek, commandant of the NSA’s National Cryptologic School, which leads five colleges that educate the intelligence workforce. Janosek previously served as chief of staff in the NSA Technology Directorate, as well as in legal, policy and executive management. She’s also involved in NSA’s GenCyber summer camp program.

Cybersecurity Defender of the Year

• Patriot Technologies, the Frederick-based firm offering services to commercial and government customers. The 20-year-old company has specialties in both hardware and software, including network security services, as well as security appliance manufacturing.

Cybersecurity Innovator of the Year

• Quantum Xchange, the Bethesda-based company building a fiber network that protects data using quantum computing. The company raised $10 million in Series A funding, and in June selected Zayo Group to deploy a network that will stretch from D.C. to Boston.

Last night, we were proud to accept the Cybersecurity Innovator of the Year Award given by the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland! pic.twitter.com/rJqlVfiSAH

— Quantum Xchange (@Quantum_Xchange) April 12, 2019

Cybersecurity Diversity Trailblazer

• AboutWeb Cares, a program of an IT solutions provider with offices in Baltimore and Gaithersburg which provides entry-level workers with training, including in cybersecurity. AboutWeb provides funding by investing a portion of funds from every two hours of technical consulting it bills into hiring an individual who will take part in the training.

Cybersecurity Industry Resource

• Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC), the Westminster-based nonprofit formed to galvanize tech and entrepreneurship around the Carroll County city’s municipal fiber network. Among its programs are capture the flag competitions, which bring international participants. The next is Saturday April 13.

People’s Choice Award

• Dr. Loyce Pailen was chosen by popular vote from a field that included all finalists. Pailen is a professor of cybersecurity technology at University of Maryland University College and the director of the university’s Center for Security Studies. Pailen has held director-level information technology positions at the Washington Post, Graham Holdings and UMUC.

The awards also included regional winners:

Baltimore City

• Think|Stack, the Fells Point-based design thinking and IT innovation company, which also works to close the opportunity gap with YearUp

Anne Arundel County

• Bowler Pons Solutions Consultants, a Serverna Park-based company focusing on enterprise security

Montgomery County

• saf.ai, a company which protects data by combining AI and blockchain

Baltimore County

• Cyberspace Analytics, a bwtech@UMBC-based company working in cyber risk, resilience and compliance

Howard County

• IronNet Cybersecurity

Excited to be honored at the Maryland Cybersecurity Awards of 2019 as Cybersecurity Company to Watch and Best Cyber Security Company of Howard County! pic.twitter.com/u44H3fW4yy

— IronNet (@IronNet) April 12, 2019

Frederick County

• Fornetix, an advanced encryption key management company based in Frederick

Carroll County

• Skayl, the systems integration company based in Westminster