Obama's emphasis on IT security a boon to Michigan companies

Michigan is not going to become the cybersecurity headquarters of e United States, but Mlive.com’s Nathan Bomey writes that the state is quietly building a respectable range of network security companies that could stand to benefit from the White House’s increased focus on IT security issues.

President Barack Obama is appointing a cybersecurity czar based on fears that the U.S. basic infrastructure is vulnerable to Web-based attacks from foreign and domestic adversaries. The move points to future governmental investments in network security technology.

The Ann Arbor region, for one, is poised to reap some of that investment. Although the U.S. economy’s contraction has caused governments and companies to conserve cash or cut spending, Bomey writes that Web-based attackers do not put their ambitions on hold because of the financial crisis.

This is why several network security with Michigan operations are expanding their operations.

Perhaps most notably, Barracuda Networks, a California-based firm, announced last year that it would add 185 employees over five years to expand its Ann Arbor research-and-development operation in Ann Arbor. A few weeks ago, Sean Heiney, Barracuda’s director of new product initiatives, gave Bomey a tour of the company’s Ann Arbor office. He has hired about 50 computer engineers in 2009. In fact, he told Bomey that he essentially hires every qualified person he can find.

In addition, Boston-based Arbor Networks — founded by University of Michigan professor Farnam Jahanian, Ann Arbor community activist and Zattoo vice president for Engineering Dug Song, and Arbor CTO Rob Malan — is also in the midst of a long-standing expansion. The firm revealed plans in January 2008 to hire 56 workers over several years.

The federal government in recent months has acknowledged that it identified heretofore harmless network security breaches originating from foreign sources. Harmless for now, perhaps, but an attack on the nation’s outdated electrical grid system or transportation infrastructure, for example, could prove devastating. “I think the majority of infrastructure existing today is starting to age, and companies are starting to recognize that they need to take a more proactive approach with network security, and we are seeing that reflected in our sales,” Heiney Bomey.