New information security advisory firm launches in Dallas

by: Paul Wedding; the Dallas Business Journal's editorial intern.

Prominent names in the cybersecurity industry have come together to form Zyston, a new Dallas-based security firm advising organizations globally on how to best protect their company's information.

Zyston was funded by $3.7 million in Series A financing. The company has five separate investors and/or advisors on its board from Texas tech companies, including Gregg Webb, the Vice President of Sabre, and Rodney Rice, the co-founder and CEO of Waldo Photos Inc.


Craig Stamm, President and CEO of Zyston

When Zyston President and CEO Craig Stamm first started looking to build a company around Thanksgiving last year, he said he wanted to start in an industry with a compelling growth factor, and where he could grow a $100 million company without moving the market needle inside of that industry. And most importantly for him, he wanted to invest in an industry with room for consolidation over time. For him, cybersecurity filled all of those requirements.

"The market here is strong, the talent pool in information security is probably stronger than recognized nationally," Stamm said. "I feel very confident that given the geographical benefit and the talent that's here, we can reach our goals of building a leader in the industry from right here in Dallas."

Prior to founding Zyston, Stamm was the President of Addison-based Authentix, a company dealing with physical security by dealing with counterfeiting and providing security measures for accounting efforts. Stamm said he saw a parallel between this and the cybersecurity industry, which helped drive his foray into the sector.

What separates Zyston from other cybersecurity companies is not just its advising on software solutions, but its experienced talent pool.

"Even the big, very reputable, very credible consulting firms, such as McKenzie, they provide very high professional consulting advice," Stamm said. "But they don't have the capability to bring the talent pool into the organization in order to execute and implement an information security program."

Zyston offers two different services: consulting with companies on information security solutions and providing companies short in information security groups with employees for as long as they need to help them build a proper information security program.

There are currently 7 employees at Zyston's office in Dallas, as well as five at its office in Atlanta, but Stamm said he plans to double that number by the end of the 2016.

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Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.