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Top Cybersecurity Firm in U.S. Named

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, root9B is the world's most sophisticated company combating hackers and other cybercriminals.

(TNS) -- Colorado Springs added more ammunition to its efforts to lay claim as a national cybersecurity hub when root9B was ranked this month as the world's top provider of cybersecurity services.

Cybersecurity Ventures, a New York-based online publication, put the company at the top its first-quarter list of the world's top 500 leading companies that provide such services, describing root9B as bringing "a rare combination of extensive real-world cyber defense experience, senior level cyber experts with backgrounds protecting U.S. federal agencies and commercial enterprises, deep subject matter expertise in most cybersecurity disciplines."

Root9B employs 29 people at its Colorado Springs headquarters and a $2 million "Adversary Pursuit Center," which opened in September as an operations center offering government and commercial clients remote computer network defense, training and other services.

The company also operates offices in Hawaii, Idaho, New York, North Carolina and Texas and plans to double the size of its operations both locally and companywide to serve a growing list of clients that includes the University of Washington and to fulfill a research and development agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.

"We are humbled and proud to be recognized as the top cybersecurity firm, This results from our unique business model, our software capability and most important, our team," root9B CEO Eric Hipkins said Friday.

No other Colorado Springs companies were included in the ranking, though nine Denver-area cybersecurity companies were included - with Optiv of Denver the highest at No. 58.

The ranking is based on feedback from chief information security officers, information technology security professionals and service providers on problems solved and also consider a company's customer base and growth.

Last week, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced plans to build a national center in Colorado Springs to help businesses, nonprofits and government agencies combat and recover from cyber attacks, teach officials about cybersecurity and conduct research into cybersecurity threats. Hickenlooper and local officials say the center is expected to accelerate efforts to make the city a national hub for cybersecurity that will help the thriving local industry grow more quickly.

Root9B won a subcontract in November from Boston Fusion Corp. on its $60 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to support the agency's Information Innovation Office's Transparent Computing Program. Under the subcontract, root9b will provide consulting services to develop technologies and a prototype for data collection architecture and analysis, enforcement of information security policies and intrusion detection and forensic analysis.

Root9b was awarded another contract in November to provide cybersecurity assessments for the State of North Carolina that includes the state's university system, community colleges, public schools and county and local governments.

©2016 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.