A Silicon Valley venture capital fund is laying the foundation in its fight to bolster cybersecurity, launching a new effort aimed at connecting companies from four of the biggest states — including Florida — to help advise and provide technology solutions to state and local government agencies.
NightDragon, a dedicated cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy investment firm, announced on Tuesday the formation of the NightDragon State and Local Advisor Consortium. The set of partnerships, which includes leading advisors and government relations experts, will be tasked with offering policy advice and emerging security and surveillance technologies to state and local government agencies in the wake of a rising number of cyberattacks.
“Cybersecurity threats are mounting higher every day against state and local governments. NightDragon is proud to partner with some of the best state and local advisors in the business to help guide these critical government agencies on how to better protect their digital and physical infrastructures against today’s aggressive threat landscape,” said Dave DeWalt, Founder and Managing Director, NightDragon.
Attacks on state and local agencies have risen significantly in recent years, with multiple reports indicating a 50 percent or greater increase in the number of ransomware and other types of attacks in 2020 over previous years. NightDragon and the Advisor Consortium will help foster stronger collaboration between companies that offer cutting-edge technologies and State and local partners, with the mission of helping them prevent and minimize disruption from increasingly serious and constantly evolving cybersecurity challenges.
Running point in Florida is Lisa Aaron Consulting, With over 35 years of statewide experience, Government Affairs Consultant Lisa Aaron noted that Florida has an opportunity to be an example of how to lead on cybersecurity threats that are constantly evolving.
“While the market opportunity is significant, selling to state and local government agencies requires specialized expertise in State, county and city requirements, procedures and decision making. We look forward to working hand in hand with NightDragon’s portfolio companies to navigate this important market and accelerate their businesses,” said Aaron.
Following the 2021 Legislative Session, lawmakers approved over $37 million to dramatically boost the state’s cybersecurity systems. The key investment seeks to enhance technology security measures statewide to help protect Florida against the ongoing and evolving nature of cyber threats that can compromise critical state resources and sensitive information.
“Florida is moving in the right direction given the substantial investment in cyber security by the Legislature during the most recent legislative session,” Aaron added.
The Consortium partners, which also include industry leaders from California, Texas, and New York, will be leveraged across the NightDragon portfolio for insights about market trends, technical needs and requirements and guidance on go-to-market, sales and business development strategies. Master partnership agreements established between NightDragon and the firms within the Advisor Consortium include accelerated onboarding and pre-arranged rates.
The Consortium joins additional NDGS advisors and partnerships to help advise public sector agencies, as well as help NightDragon’s portfolio companies successfully grow their government businesses. Other existing advisors and partners include former National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers; former Commander of the U.K. Joint Forces Command Chris Deverell; former Commander of the Israel Defense Force’s Technology & Intelligence Unit 8200 Nadav Zafrir; government IT solutions provider Carahsoft; and law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
“NightDragon is unparalleled in the resources and hands on guidance it offers to companies like iboss to improve our go to market efforts. We are excited to see those efforts expand with the new state and local Advisor Consortium and look forward to leveraging its resources to accelerate our business to new heights, as well as help state and local agencies better secure their critical environments” said Paul Martini, CEO, iboss, a NightDragon portfolio company.
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