To celebrate this momentous occasion, we’re giving away a pair of Leafs tickets! Just Follow us on social media and enter our Sweepstakes for a chance to win.
ISA has a new name and a new look – well, a new take on a classic. We are now officially ISA Cybersecurity Inc. ISA Cybersecurity Inc. has always been focused on moving forward. It’s not surprising since we work in the technology industry; after all, it’s a field populated by future-minded, forward-thinkers. Founded in 1992, ISA Cybersecurity Inc. initially sold relational database business applications under the name Information Systems Architects. The technology was successful, with clients across government, education, and manufacturing. However, after a few years, ISA saw a more significant need and changed focus.
In the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web blossomed. In 1994, the internet flipped its sign to open for commercial use, the screech of dial-up connections filled the air, and Yahoo gave users access to whatever their fingers dared to type. By 1996, the number of internet hosts jumped to nine million (from only four million the year before). But you can’t have day without night, and in the shadowland, growing alongside the bright and shiny new internet, were hackers looking for ill-gotten gains, to manipulate, or to wreck the world’s new toy. It was in the mid-1990s when viruses like Boza, Concept, and Staog crept into our Windows 95 files, our Microsoft Word documents, and our Linux machines. The significant need ISA saw? Internet security.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new.” -Socrates
So, ISA reinvented itself, focusing all of its energy on building the new and developed into one of Canada’s top IT security firms. Since those early years, ISA has continuously evolved, building on the principles of quality, commitment, and integrity, fostering partnerships with both leading technology providers and our clients.
We knew we were onto something.
Numbers are the best indication of business success – specifically those that demonstrate longevity, revenue, and size. ISA Cybersecurity is now 27 years old. While we don’t compare with the likes of The Hudson’s Bay Company – in the technology industry, a quarter-century in age means well-established. It was way back in 2001 when we closed our first MSSP customer managing firewalls for a sizeable Canadian advertising firm. While substantial growth spurts usually mark the adolescent years, it’s in our 20s where ISA’s really grown. Since the late 1990s, we have seen our revenue almost quadruple in growth and we have grown 25 new clients in just the past 8 months. Some of these clients represent the largest corporations in Canada.
In 1992, ISA opened its doors in 1750 square feet of office space at King and Simcoe in downtown Toronto. By 2008, we’d outgrown that space and moved to Etobicoke, stretching our security limbs inside a 3500 square foot office. Six years ago, in 2013, we relocated again to 3300 Bloor Street to 5000 square feet. However, only two years later we’d already grown too big. So, in 2015, ISA relocated again (inside the same building) to over 9,000 square feet.
To complement our state-of-the-art Cybersecurity Intelligence and Operations Centre (CIOC) in Toronto, on March 1st of 2016, we opened our European CIOC, adding another 2,500 square feet of space. Additionally, we have offices in Calgary and Ottawa to serve our clients across North America. It’s from these four locations that we can secure the cyberspace of now while looking towards the future.
We are building the new.
We’re pleased to have just been recognized by IDC as a Major Player in the latest IDC MarketScape: Canadian Security Services Vendors Assessment. This assessment not only evaluates us in the face of our competitors, but also interviews some of our clientele about the quality of the work that we do. We value our clients’ opinions and evolve our business to suit their changing security needs. So – to a degree you can expect the status quo. We’re going to keep listening to our clientele, evaluating the changing security landscape, and giving our clients the services they need. With that said, here are some things you can expect from ISA going forward.
“The Managed Services delivered by our CIOC continue to be key to the company’s future and growth and are most valued by our customers,” says Kevin Dawson, CEO of ISA. The CIOC, designed to have unparalleled physical security capabilities and a multi-tenant cloud offering powered by an industry-leading SIEM technology, will continue to grow its 24-7-365 quality services, by utilizing cutting edge tools to protect against a continuously changing threat landscape. We will also continue to rapidly develop our team within our CIOC, as well as adding new staff to continue offering 24-hour-a-day eyes on glass from Canada. For those customers that want to take advantage of our global follow-the-sun model, we will continue to grow out our international presence as well.
Professional Security Services like strategic security advisory services and incident preparedness continue to be relevant to our clients. Unfortunately, in response to increases in the frequency and complexity of attacks, ISA’s Incident Response Services continue to grow, rapidly. As the threat complexity and landscape changes, the solutions also change and become more complicated within the security space. This requires ISA to evaluate and recommend new technology solutions and vendors to our clients.
We will continue to invest in our partner ecosystem. We expect our revenue of reseller partners that solve new cybersecurity problems to increase 200 percent, representing a much larger share of ISA’s overall technology solutions business. These technologies usually require unique and specialized skills for implementation and maintenance that will help drive the growth of our professional services. It also means we will continue to hire highly skilled security professionals, even in the face of a skills shortage.
We expect our revenue of reseller partners that solve new cybersecurity problems to increase 200 percent, representing a much larger share of ISA’s overall technology solutions business. These technologies usually require unique and specialized skills for implementation and maintenance that will help drive the growth of our professional services. It also means we will continue to hire highly skilled security professionals, even in the face of a skills shortage.
ISA continues to invest in the education sector in Canada to help curb the shortage of skills professionals. This year, The University of Guelph officially launched the Master of Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence program of which ISA is a proud sponsor. The Master of Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence program is an exceptional program that focuses on the Canadian cybersecurity landscape and provides a “deep focus on developing students’ technical understanding of security threats and solutions.”
ISA is pleased to be able to provide the ISA MCTI Entrance Scholarship for the Fall 2019 admissions. Two ISA MCTI Entrance Scholarships of $5,000 each are available to students registered in the Master of Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence program. One scholarship award is to go to a female student and one to a male student. The scholarship’s gender stipulation promotes another ISA initiative, to encourage and support women who work in, and who are entering, the cybersecurity industry. Members of team ISA will also be doing some guest lecturing, sharing their real-world expertise with the students.
We’re security technology experts, and it’s time we dressed the part.
ISA Cybersecurity Inc. knows cybersecurity and cutting-edge technology. However, our online presence hasn’t looked cutting-edge for a while. So, we got a cyber make-over. We’re pleased to announce our new website is now live! Check out www.isacybersecurity.com for all the cybersecurity news and information you can handle, in a much more user-friendly and attractive package.
To make this website announcement more fun, we’re putting on a social media sweepstakes because our President and CEO, Kevin Dawson, is a huge Leafs fan! And because we want you to become a fan of ISA’s, we’re giving away a pair of Leafs tickets to the October 25th, 2019 game against San Jose in Toronto. All you have to do is follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook for a chance to win! Also, check out our new website!