San Antonio Has a Lock on the Security Industry
Published Apr 14, 2008
ISI Security Group CEO Sam Youngblood says his business in equipping prisons and jails with security systems has grown tremendously since Sept. 11. The trend has made San Antonio home to a cluster of security companies.
What’s keeping our nation’s financial industry locked down and secure? Odds are one of the many security companies located in the San Antonio region.
Named one of the Top 10 cities in America for information assurance by Information Week, San Antonio’s mix of military manpower, academic know-how and a prepared workforce is earning it the nickname “Cyber City.”
Thanks to the city’s strong military presence, most notably the Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency and the 67th Network Warfare Wing, San Antonio’s become a breeding ground for a growing industry of information security developers who work on the Web and with digital hardware.
But even though these companies are based in San Antonio, they’re building prestige by doing business around the globe.
Mark Bell is vice president of security and compliance operations for Digital Defense, a San Antonio company that serves financial companies with assets from $10 million to more than $25 billion. He says the military has helped breed some of the most innovative business owners in the security industry.
“Lots of these guys are ex-military, and they start out in military intelligence,” he says. “The military is always cutting edge, and eventually that technology makes it into the marketplace.”
Bell himself, who joined the company shortly after it opened in 2000, is also currently serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a security engineer. He says Digital Defense primarily helps companies assess their cyber risks and also the safety of the actual workplace.
“With the nature of the Internet, the threat has really changed from someone coming in with a mask and a gun and robbing a credit union to robbing you without having to show their face,” he says.
Other companies concentrate their services in more obvious areas of need, such as the corrections industry. ISI Security Group, which was bought in July 2007 by Argyle Security and is headquartered in San Antonio, furnishes security systems and equipment to prisons and jails across the United States and internationally.
Sam Youngblood, CEO of ISI, says the security industry has boomed since Sept. 11th, and that’s had an effect on the San Antonio business industry.
“San Antonio has busted loose over the last few years,” he says. “There’s no longer a small group controlling the major economy in this city, and I think that’s a good thing. On the other hand, it still has a small-town feel, which is really nice.”
Another factor in the growing industry is the academic community’s interest.
The University of Texas San Antonio has recently opened the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security, which is working to research new techniques and to help other cities plan for a cyber attack.
Jeffrey Kantor, the Center’s Senior Associate Vice President for Research Development, says he doesn’t believe the need for cyber security will slow down anytime soon.
“There’s a whole other issue when you go wireless,” says Kantor. “When you send things wirelessly, and anyone can pick them up.”
Story by Jaime Sarrio
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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