{"id":11892,"date":"2026-05-27T23:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/defense-business-brief-defense-cyber-champs-hasc-mark-navy-iw\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T23:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:00:57","slug":"defense-business-brief-defense-cyber-champs-hasc-mark-navy-iw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/defense-business-brief-defense-cyber-champs-hasc-mark-navy-iw\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Business Brief: Defense cyber champs?; HASC mark; Navy IW"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cyber threats are an increasingly persistent national security concern supercharged by AI\u2014and so is the industry built to help hospitals, financial institutions, and the Pentagon secure their networks. But unlike the defense industrial base overall, there\u2019s no clear prime. Could that change with venture capital?<\/p>\n

Joe Lin, co-founder and CEO of the VC-backed cyber firm Twenty, said private capital isn\u2019t pouring into cybersecurity at the same rate as other defense tech areas in part because it\u2019s unclear whether \u201ctrue winners\u201d will emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\u201dThis was an ecosystem [that was] very, very hard for outsiders to come in and join. So that barrier has gone down. That’s the good news,\u201d Lin said during Second Front\u2019s Offset Symposium earlier this month. \u201cI think the question is still out as to whether or not a company that is able to take a lot of money invested into private R&D is able to actually be successful in the space where, historically, there’s been a lot of peanut-butter spreading in terms of awards\u2014funding awards, contract awards\u2014and whether or not there will actually be true winners that will come out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make it work, make it malleable<\/strong><\/p>\n

The winners will make versatile technology that works as the customer needs, said Brian Carbaugh, ex-CIA turned co-founder and CEO of Andesite, a VC-backed defensive cyber data analytics startup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a tremendous amount of noise. There are a lot of marketing dollars being spent,\u201d Carbaugh told Defense One<\/em>. \u201cFrom a customer, from a buyer standpoint, you can see some elements of fatigue because they’re having to sift through just so many vendors and pitches that oftentimes don’t materialize.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Buyers\u2019 expectations for cyber tools and services are extremely high, Carbaugh said, and\u00a0 companies must deliver products that can \u201cdo all the things, all the time. Because, I think, what most of us in this space thought would be sort of innovative in terms of features and functionality\u2014increasingly it’s becoming table stakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a warning shot for nascent companies, it\u2019s an opportunity, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe warning lights are blinking red in a lot of these [security] operations centers. The work that CISOs and their teams put in are, it’s nothing short of heroic on a daily basis,\u201d Carbaugh said. There\u2019s technology now that can “optimize\u201d and level up analysts \u201cby wrapping this tech around them\u201d and are auditable with a \u201cvery, very high security compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as cyber threats and industry grow, the Pentagon may need a more tightly coupled relationship with the cyber industrial base.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s an assortment of different companies that provide tools or services that are the ones that build and operate the domain on which we fight. They build our battlefield. We need to start partnering together so that they don’t build the battlefield and we operate on it in a very disjointed way,\u201d said Katie Sutton, the Pentagon\u2019s cyber policy chief, during the symposium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That relationship must also leave room for tweaks and changes to cyber tools, said Maria Barrett, former commanding general of U.S. Army Cyber Command.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s also got to be about the vendor being willing to work with us, and right side the operator, or whoever the user is, to tweak it. Because, I think, that quality of adaptability by the industry partner and the willingness to be able to do that and deliver it quickly\u2026that’s the new normal,\u201d she said on the panel.<\/p>\n

Welcome<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve reached the Defense Business Brief, where we dig into what the Pentagon buys, who they\u2019re buying from, and why. Send along your tips, feedback, and song recommendations to lwilliams@defenseone.com<\/strong>. Check out the Defense Business Brief archive here<\/strong>, and tell your friends to subscribe<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

HASC\u2019s NDAA mark. <\/strong>The House Armed Services Committee dropped its draft of the annual defense policy bill this week. Two things that caught my eye are related to supply chains:\u00a0<\/p>\n