Our Cyber Howard Community

Bob Zhang leads the business development team at the Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA), focusing on business engagement, retention, and attracting new businesses to the county. He also supports the cybersecurity/IT sector and drives international initiatives by promoting export opportunities and foreign direct investment.

Bob’s professional background includes experience with Fortune 500 companies, IT consulting firms, and the federal government, giving him a deep understanding of various industries. In 2011, he founded his own business to help small and medium-sized enterprises enhance their digital presence. His commitment to public service is evident in his decade-long contributions to Maryland’s diplomacy and international initiatives, recognized by the National Association of Secretaries of State for his outstanding contributions. From 2012 to 2023, Bob served as Commissioner of the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian-Pacific American Affairs, where he chaired the business subcommittee. In 2019, he was appointed to the Maryland-Washington DC District Export Council by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, where he assists local exporters in expanding into global markets.

Bob holds a master’s degree in Applied Information Technology from Towson University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.

Chris Ewing works with B2B and B2C founders to help turn their ideas into profitable and scalable companies. As Founder & CEO of Rev&, he works with entrepreneur service organizations (ESOs) and their founder clients to accelerate commercialization. A seasoned entrepreneur and Entrepreneur in Residence at bwtech@UMBC and the Maryland Innovation Center, Chris brings 20+ years of expertise in marketing, sales, strategy, and growth for early-stage ventures.

Moni Oloyede is a marketing strategist, educator, and founder of MO MarTech. With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, marketing operations, and B2B SaaS strategy, Moni has worked with cybersecurity firms, tech startups, and software companies to drive growth. With a mix of wit and principle-based teaching, she empowers businesses to create clear messaging, attract the right audience, and get the customers to help grow their business. She blends marketing fundamentals with modern tools to help businesses scale smarter and faster.

AiLume LLC, based in Odenton, MD, develops an endpoint compliance scanner that detects AI tools and activity on Windows workstations in regulated environments. As employees adopt AI chatbots, browser add-ons, and AI programs installed directly on their computers without IT's knowledge, organizations face new exposure for sensitive data that network-based tools often miss. The scanner runs directly on each workstation, identifies where AI is present (including installed AI tools, AI software running locally on the machine, and AI service access keys left in files or settings), and then scores each finding against regulatory and NIST AI RMF controls to give compliance and security teams clear, actionable evidence. AiLume works with mid-market organizations and the managed service providers that support them.

Cloudry builds your software on our compliance-minded foundation with continuous assurance monitoring, AI-agent access controls, and real-time AI threat detection and remediation. Our multi-tenant infrastructure aligns with major frameworks and laws such as NIST, SOC 2, and HIPAA, while extending those same controls to tenants through a shared inheritance model that can be independently verified. Your business gets a continuous audit trail from day one, saving tens of thousands in pre-audit readiness costs.

We also help your business stay compliant through daily vulnerability scans and patching, system upgrades that reflect changing compliance requirements, and strict AI-access controls that regulate agents in your cloud environment—preventing unauthorized access and accidental damage.

Cloudry is building a new standard for secure, continuously assured software applications.

https://cloudry.app/

Cyntellia is the Continuous Cybersecurity Assurance Platform, built on patent-pending technology, that continuously verifies cybersecurity requirements across systems and AI and automatically takes action when those requirements are not met.

Founded by a former NSA Tailored Access Operations (TAO) cybersecurity subject matter expert with experience spanning federal cybersecurity, security product development, and government contracting, Cyntellia addresses a fundamental gap in cybersecurity assurance: when a security requirement is no longer met, the result is typically a finding, not a consequence.

Meanwhile, highly skilled security professionals spend significant time validating security requirements for assessments. Cyntellia changes that model by making verification continuous and actionable, enabling organizations to know immediately when requirements are unmet and take policy-driven action to reduce risk.

Initially focused on highly regulated environments, including the public sector, Cyntellia helps organizations stay ahead of cybersecurity threats before they become incidents.

Deception Check builds adaptive decoys that emulate the systems attackers target, including VPN appliances, water-treatment controllers, and hospital imaging servers. When an intruder engages a decoy, the platform captures the interaction and turns it into high-confidence threat intelligence. It does not scan customer networks, can operate fully air-gapped in OT and industrial environments, and integrates with existing SOC tools. A Black Hat USA 2026 Startup Spotlight finalist, Deception Check is built for organizations responsible for essential services that operate without large security teams or enterprise budgets. Its hybrid OT decoy architecture is patent pending.

https://deceptioncheck.ai/

Heart Security Suite builds OS-level malware containment for Linux servers. Its current product, Root Lock, uses kernel-level enforcement to restrict each application to only the files and resources it needs. This prevents a compromised application from giving an attacker control of the entire server—even if the attacker gains root access.

https://heartsecsuite.com/

LokDon is an AI-native cybersecurity company developing advanced protection for data, applications, and AI-enabled operations. Its flagship AI-Native Immune System and Governance (AINISG) Platform secures the critical point where AI systems interact with sensitive data, tools, applications, and other agents.

Built on LokDon’s patented keyless data-protection technology, AINISG combines runtime monitoring, policy enforcement, continuous authorization, and auditable threat response. The platform detects suspicious activity, protects sensitive assets, and helps contain threats across cloud, edge, and distributed environments. LokDon supports government agencies, financial, healthcare, critical-infrastructure operators, regulated industries, and technology partners seeking to deploy secure, trustworthy, and governed AI.

b2b.lokdon.com

Open C Health Systems is a clinician-founded company developing blue-team-enhanced AI cybersecurity and firewall protection purpose-built for healthcare. Its product portfolio includes C_Verified, C_Wall, and C_Fence, designed to defend against AI-driven threats, block unauthorized actions, and protect patient data and clinical workflows. The company’s approach combines policy enforcement, adaptive defenses, and tamper-evident audit trails to govern what AI can access, change, and execute. C_Verified is being developed as an independent protection layer for existing healthcare systems, while the broader portfolio supports Open C’s Autonomous Health Intelligence (AHI) platform. The mission: give healthcare the benefits of AI without surrendering control over patient care.

https://openc.health/

Packetronix develops hardware-based IP Ethernet testing and network validation platforms designed for network architects, equipment vendors, service providers, and enterprise engineering teams.

Core Offerings & Technology:
- EtherExpert™ Platform: A unified, FPGA-powered 1U "Lab-in-a-box" hardware appliance supporting line rates from 1G to 100G with nanosecond precision.
- Network Impairment Emulation: Line-rate WAN emulation across up to 32 paths to accurately simulate latency, jitter, packet loss, bandwidth constraints, link flips, and burst errors.
- Traffic Generation & Analysis: Multi-stream traffic generation supporting up to 256 independent streams with deterministic flow tracking (PID) and custom protocol stacks.
- Standards-Based Benchmarking: Automated test suites supporting industry standards including RFC 2544, ITU-T Y.1564, and BERT.
- Wire-Speed Packet Capture: Integrated hardware-accelerated L2–L4 filtered PCAP capture alongside real-time flow analytics.

www.packetronix.com

ViKeLaAi helps defense contractors and MSPs validate their security posture against technical evidence, identify CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness gaps, and turn verified system state into review-ready evidence and documentation — reducing the time and guesswork in preparing for a CMMC assessment. We also provide supply chain risk intelligence, mapping and monitoring the cybersecurity posture of subcontractors and supply chain partners — because risk doesn't stop at your own network boundary. Founded by Aaron Christmas (BS Computer Science, Elon University).

Vikelaai.com

Valty develops Operational Cyber-Value Management software designed for private equity operating partners and the CISOs and CFOs at PE-backed portfolio companies.

Organizations still treat configured controls as proof of protection. Valty verifies whether security controls are actually enforced in practice, then turns that evidence into financial views of potential cyber loss so security, risk, and finance leaders share one decision language.

Core Offerings & Technology:
- Control Enforcement Verification: Continuous checks that distinguish controls that are merely configured from controls that are enforced in production environments.
- Quantitative Cyber Risk (FAIR / VaR): Evidence-backed estimates of potential cyber loss exposure, with traceable sources behind every figure used in executive and board reporting.
- Board-Ready Proof Packs: Structured reporting that connects verified control evidence to financial risk views for operating partners, CISOs, and CFOs.
- Continuous Verification: Software-defined and network verification that supports ongoing assurance, not one-time point-in-time snapshots.
- Offensive Validation / Pentest Lane: Native testing capabilities that help validate whether assumed protections hold under realistic attack conditions.

https://valty.ai/

Artemion is building AIRE (Artemion Identity Risk Engine), a platform that quantifies identity risk in financial terms. As identity becomes the primary attack surface in modern enterprises, organizations still rely on fragmented alerts and scores that fail to capture real impact. AIRE changes that by translating identity exposure into clear, dollar-denominated risk, giving security, risk, and executive teams a shared language to understand and act on cyber risk.

https://artemion.io/

Cipher is a technology company operating at the intersection of cybersecurity and quantum computing. The company helps organizations gain visibility into how cryptography is used across their digital infrastructure, identify vulnerable implementations, and prepare for emerging quantum-related threats.

As adversaries increasingly collect encrypted data with the expectation that future quantum computers will be able to decrypt it, Cipher is focused on helping organizations transition to quantum-safe cryptography. Its platform enables security teams to discover, inventory, and assess their cryptographic posture by combining technical metadata with business context, allowing them to prioritize risk and develop a clear roadmap for modernization.

Purpose-built to support the ongoing NIST post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration, Cipher is working directly with enterprise design partners to validate its platform in real-world production environments and help organizations prepare for the future of cybersecurity.

https://cipher-inc.com/

Argonyx is an AI-powered cybersecurity platform delivering real-time visibility across all IT assets. It maps attack paths, identifies vulnerabilities, and prioritizes critical risks with clear, actionable insights—supporting enterprises, SMBs, and government organizations in achieving resilient operations across cloud and hybrid environments.

https://www.cyborgusa.com/

Nunsys is a global cybersecurity and technology company headquartered in Spain, with deployments spanning Europe and markets worldwide. With a strong track record in critical infrastructure and large-scale implementations across multiple sectors, Nunsys brings proven enterprise expertise to every engagement. As we set our sights on the US market, we are proud to have found a home at the Maryland Innovation Center, a Howard County-funded technology incubator dedicated to helping start-ups and small companies build roots and thrive in the local ecosystem. We are excited to become an active part of the Maryland technology community and to bring our portfolio of proprietary solutions to American organizations.

https://en.nunsys.com/

Phanium's Quantum-Safe Data Storage Technology (QSDST) enables unhackable, quantum-resistant data protection across all devices—from USB drives to enterprise servers. QSDST replaces traditional encryption with architecture-level security, achieving "Secure by Default" protection that requires no future upgrades.

https://phanium.com/

River is a workflow optimizing tool for students that computes their course of work into understandable, traceable, competency-oriented and motivational sequences or patterns that guarantee results. It does so by managing assignments, deadlines and academic progress across their course, through series of programs like the central assignment dashboard, visual progress tracking, smart notifications, priority-based task organization, grade and GPA monitoring and workload management tools to name a few. River enhances how students interact with school as it reveals a clear and doable route to success.

Vigil Vector is a Drone Security-as-a-Service (DSaaS) company built on a simple but powerful premise: operators protecting our most critical assets deserve to see the full picture in real time. At the center of that capability is limiting the noise and putting the decision advantage back in the hands of the operator. Vigil Vector offers proactive, intelligent security solutions, ranging from rapid-response surveillance to the full integration of aerial security operations. First responders, including military and law enforcement, need near real-time, on-demand access to critical information for protection or direction.

https://vigilvector.com/

Bolt Technologies is a startup developing four new cybersecurity products focused on digital risk management, AI-driven detection, and automation for secure business operations.

https://boltechnologies.com/

Insight Cyber Solutions is a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) delivering real-time monitoring, threat detection, and cybersecurity strategy for small and mid-sized businesses.

https://insightcybersolutions.com/

Mimir Security builds BrunnrDB, a privacy-preserving graph database that uses advanced encryption to protect sensitive relationships and metadata while maintaining performance for cybersecurity analytics.

https://www.mimirsec.com/

MKJHA Consulting provides specialized services in artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, and cybersecurity strategy to help organizations modernize their digital defense posture.

https://www.mkjhaconsult.com

Omegus Prime sits at the intersection of cybersecurity, digital trust, and infrastructure resilience—bringing PIAM to sectors where passwordless, certificate-based identity is not just ideal, but imperative.

https://omegusprime.com

TandT provides cybersecurity compliance and advisory services specializing in federal and defense contracting standards such as CMMC 2.0, NIST 800-171, and DFARS.

https://tandtllc.com

ThreatShareAI is an AI-powered cybersecurity intelligence company automating threat analysis, sharing, and response orchestration across enterprises and government networks.

https://threatshare.ai

RDO19 developed by Bourg Labs is the first Counter-AI (C-AI) platform, designed to sense, analyze, and respond to AI-generated attacks in real time for the Defense & Intelligence communities. RDO19 will ensure you can take control of the AI battlespace.

RDO19 eliminates the risk of weaponized AI in critical decision workflows by providing real-time detection, analysis and response to adversarial generative AI, ensuring trust, accuracy, and operational integrity across defense and intelligence missions.

https://rdo19.com/

Hopr's Workload Security Proxy (WoSP) is the 'building block' by which Zero Trust, quantum-proof, application networks can be built across all cloud environments. WoSPs enable "Secure by Default" enterprise applications. Hopr's Cloud Native Automated Moving Target Defense (AMTD) uses Runtime Microsharding™ to shrink and animate the attack surface seen by threats.

https://www.hopr.co/

RansomGuard™ uses advanced deception techniques to lure attackers and detect threats, and will appear differently on every host you protect. It is designed to blend into existing hosts, and all deception content is generated dynamically. Deploy lightweight agents then monitor tailored decoy files.

https://legiox-cyber.com/

Outsourcing your technology infrastructure to Precise IT, letting us take on the role of your company’s IT department while avoiding the mess of hiring IT staff yourself, frees you up to pay attention to the tasks that most need your attention so you can succeed in your business objectives.

https://preciseit.com/

Qerberos is building QRTrust to detect and neutralize QR code-based phishing attacks (Quishing) before they cause harm. But more than that, they're building an AI-first security company that empowers people first, where trust and relentless innovation are core to everything they do. They're on a mission to make digital trust accessible, automatic, and invisible—starting with the square at each scan.

https://www.qerberos.com/

Sentinel Forge Technologies was founded in 2021 with the goal of bringing cybersecurity to individuals, businesses and industries, protecting them from ransomware and cyberattacks.

https://sentinelforgetech.com/

Automating underwriting for small businesses using AI with automated data aggregation, AI-driven risk assessment, and real-time decision support.\

https://www.bloomlog.com/