A years-long professional relationship between two Southwestern entrepreneurs has led to an international merger coming together in Albuquerque. As part of the deal, Cyber Security Works will relocate its headquarters to Albuquerque after merging with Arizona-based technology consultant Zuggand Inc.
Why Albuquerque? To be located closer to an early customer, according to Zuggand cofounder and CSW chief executive officer Aaron Sandeen, who used to be the chief information officer for the state of Arizona. In that role, Sandeen worked with RiskSense and its cofounder Mark Fidel to improve digital security before leaving the government sector and founding Zuggand.
His new company then landed RiskSense as its first client and an early partner before being introduced to CSW, he said.
“It's actually been 10 years in the making," Sandeen said of the merger, which closed on July 1. "Mark and I go way back."
Fidel told Business First that CSW will sublease office space from RiskSense, which is located at 4200 Osuna Road NE. CSW has 13 open positions in New Mexico, where it employs only a few currently. Under the agreement, Zuggand will keep its distinct brand while operating under CSW. The parent company has about 150 total employees and tripled in size last year, according to Sandeen, who said that having a presence in the United States is "absolutely critical" as much of its business is focused here.
"More and more of our services around [the] cloud have to do with security," he added.
CSW provides services including penetration testing — where companies try to figure out how to breach systems — in addition to vulnerability management and infrastructure and code scanning to verify certain vulnerabilities. CSW is also conducting research on ransomware, commonly used to breach networks, which is “hottest thing right now from a security perspective," Sandeen said.
The merged company serves more than 400 customers in more than 15 countries, according to Zuggand.
CSW recently submitted a request for $411,390 in Job Training Incentive Program money for 13 trainees, according to documents provided by the New Mexico Economic Development Department. It was founded in 2008 in Chennai, India, and has provided security consulting services the oil and gas, telecom, banking, healthcare and other industries, according to an Analysis of JTIP Request for Funding provided by the state.
CSW "plans to significantly expand its business focusing on cloud optimization, application penetration testing and risk-based vulnerability management services," the analysis says. The company has additional offices in Singapore and Dubai, according to the analysis, and will also maintain Zuggand's existing presence in Arizona, Sandeen said.
The average wage for CSW's new hires in Albuquerque will be $56.88, according to the state's analysis.
