http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/technology/the-pentagon-as-start-up-incubator.html
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
The New York Times
August 22, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO -- In the ranks of technology incubator programs, there is
AngelPad here in San Francisco and Y Combinator about 40 miles south in
Mountain View. And then there is the Pentagon.
In the last year, former Department of Defense and intelligence agency
operatives have headed to Silicon Valley to create technology start-ups
specializing in tools aimed at thwarting online threats. Frequent reports
of cyberattacks have expanded the demand for security tools, in both the
public and private sectors, and venture capital money has followed. In
2012, more than $1 billion in venture financing poured into security
start-ups, more than double the amount in 2010, according to the National
Venture Capital Association.
For years, the Pentagon has knocked on Silicon Valley's door in search of
programmers to work on its spying technologies. But these days, it's the
Pentagon that is being scouted for expertise. Entrepreneurs and venture
capitalists are finding it valuable to have an insider's perspective on
the national security apparatus when trying to find or prevent computer
vulnerabilities or mine large troves of data.
"They have unique insights because they’ve been on the front line," said
Matthew Howard, a former intelligence analyst in the Navy and now a
managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners, referring to former military
and intelligence operatives who have hatched start-ups. He has invested in
several such companies. "Now they've got commercial desires. The lines are
blurring."
One of the start-ups is Synack, which promises to vet an army of hackers
to hunt for security vulnerabilities in the computer systems of government
agencies and private companies. The company's co-founders, Jay Kaplan and
Mark Kuhr, met in Fort Meade, Md., in the counterterrorism division of the
National Security Agency. They left the agency in February after four
years there, and later decamped to Silicon Valley. Within weeks, they had
raised $1.5 million in seed money; they are now working with their first
customers and pitching their experience in the spy agency.
[...]
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