Institute for Cyber Security at U Texas, San Antonio Opens Incubator

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 11/25/08

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Institute for Cyber Security (ICS) has launched a new Internet security incubator. The incubator was developed to commercialize promising technologies that address major cyber security and privacy issues. The first companies to enter the incubator are Denim Labs and SafeMashups.

"Public and private investment in sponsored cyber security research results in the creation of technology, inventions, and ideas," said Robert W. Gracy, VP for research at the university. "By offering local entrepreneurs access to university resources and providing a forum for researchers to transform their research into marketable business ventures, we enable students, faculty, and entrepreneurs to commercialize their ideas, produce successful, financially viable, and freestanding businesses, and create additional jobs in the community."

ICS will offer participating companies resources such as access to the ICS labs and its research, as well as the expertise of ICS advisors and university staff to support product development, including marketing, strategic guidance, and office and administrative support. The hope is that by leveraging the ICS incubator to expedite its commercialization efforts, incubator companies will fast track their product development efforts and expedite time to capital, market, and profitability.

The ICS incubator is structured to work with innovations developed within and outside the university. To become a part of the program, participants must agree to significant collaboration with ICS or other university staff.

"One thing I learned from establishing and running CERIAS is that the more people dedicated to enhancing the practice of computer security, the better," said Gene Spafford, executive director for the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) at Purdue University. Spafford is the executive director of the ICS Founders Board, and was instrumental in helping UTSA create ICS. "ICS has strong institutional and local support, world-class leadership, and enthusiastic community support--all critical elements for long-term success. I am particularly impressed with the launch of the ICS incubator, which has already begun working with some very interesting young companies in the application security space."

Denim Labs is a new venture created as a spin-off from Denim Group, an IT consultancy specializing in custom software development, systems integration, and application security. Denim Labs was created to commercialize leading edge technology developed at the Denim Group to provide non-intrusive real-time detection of attacks on certain classes of Web applications.

SafeMashups was founded to provide the level of security needed for enterprises to leverage mashups for business purposes.