From: Forbes

Six years after President George W. Bush signed dual directives spawning a sustained increase in federal spending on cybersecurity, a clear leader has begun to emerge from the scores of tech companies that surged into the field.  Lockheed Martin, the nation’s biggest military contractor, has gradually consolidated its dominance in the government market for network defenses, and is moving to leverage its expertise in dealing with “advanced persistent threats” in the commercial world.

(Disclosure: Lockheed Martin and many of its competitors contribute to my think tank.  The company is also a consulting client.)

The National Security Agency is a good example of the inroads the Maryland-based company has made, because it is the nerve center of military cybersecurity efforts, overseeing defensive efforts while also engaging in exploitation of foreign networks and occasional “non-kinetic” offensive actions.  When the surge in demand for cyber services began during the dying days of the Bush Administration, Lockheed Martin was the sixth-ranked contractor at NSA in dollar terms.  Today it is number two, and with two more wins recently it is destined to be number one next year.

The company has made similar progress at other federal agencies, wresting the top contracting role at the Defense Cyber Crime Center away from an incumbent competitor while establishing a major presence across the intelligence community and at key domestic agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (lead agency for cybersecurity measures within U.S. borders).  Lockheed’s growth of revenues and market share is doubly remarkable in light of the fact that it hasn’t made a single acquisition in the cyber business over the last six years, even as its rivals snapped up dozens of companies in the infant sector.  Instead, all of its breakthroughs have been accomplished using organic talent.

This commentary is about how Lockheed Martin has managed to break away from the pack in the federal cybersecurity market even though it appeared to be an also-ran only a few years ago.  It is based on conversations with a dozen senior executives in the company’s Information Systems & Global Solutions business (its main IT unit), numerous executives at competing companies, and various analysts who track trends in the sector.  In David Letterman fashion, here are the top ten reasons why Lockheed Martin looks destined to be the most powerful player in U.S. cybersecurity.

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