NightDragon Launches State and Local Advisor Consortium to Help Combat Rising Cyberthreats

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NightDragon, a dedicated cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy investment firm, today announced the formation of the NightDragon State and Local Advisor Consortium, a set of partnerships with leading advisors and government relations experts to help advise and provide technology solutions, policy advice and best practices to state and local government agencies in the wake of a rising number of cyberattacks.

The inaugural partners of the Consortium include the CalDorado Group in California, KWR Strategies in Texas, Lisa Aaron Consulting in Florida, Brown & Weinraub in New York and RG Group in New York City. The new Consortium represents the newest set of services to delivered through NightDragon Government Services (NDGS), a dedicated public sector advisory business unit led by Katherine Gronberg.

Attacks on state and local agencies have risen significantly in recent years, with multiple reports indicating a 50% or greater increase in the number of ransomware and other types of attacks in 2020 over previous years. NightDragon and the Advisor Consortium will help foster stronger collaboration between companies that offer cutting edge technologies and State and local partners, with the mission of helping them prevent and minimize disruption from increasingly serious and constantly evolving cybersecurity challenges.

"Cybersecurity threats are mounting higher every day against state and local governments. NightDragon is proud to partner with some of the best state and local advisors in the business to help guide these critical government agencies on how to better protect their digital and physical infrastructures against today's aggressive threat landscape," said Dave DeWalt, Founder and Managing Director, NightDragon.

"NightDragon has unparalleled visibility into the latest cyberthreats and innovative technologies to address them. We are proud to join this Consortium to deliver those insights to state and local agencies and collaborate to ensure they are leveraging the latest technologies to combat today's aggressive threat landscape," said Mike Hewitt, President of the CalDorado Group.

The Consortium partners will also be leveraged across the NightDragon portfolio for insights about market trends, technical needs and requirements and guidance on go-to-market, sales and business development strategies. Master partnership agreements established between NightDragon and the firms within the Advisor Consortium include accelerated onboarding and pre-arranged rates.

"While the market opportunity is significant, selling to state and local government agencies requires specialized expertise in State, county and city requirements, procedures and decision making. We look forward to working hand in hand with NightDragon's portfolio companies to navigate this important market and accelerate their businesses," said Lisa Aaron, Government Affairs Consultant at Lisa Aaron Consulting.

The Consortium joins additional NDGS advisors and partnerships to help advise public sector agencies, as well as help NightDragon's portfolio companies successfully grow their government businesses. Other existing advisors and partners include former National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers; former Commander of the U.K. Joint Forces Command Chris Deverell; former Commander of the Israel Defense Force's Technology & Intelligence Unit 8200 Nadav Zafrir; government IT solutions provider Carahsoft; and law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

"NightDragon is unparalleled in the resources and hands on guidance it offers to companies like iboss to improve our go to market efforts. We are excited to see those efforts expand with the new state and local Advisor Consortium and look forward to leveraging its resources to accelerate our business to new heights, as well as help state and local agencies better secure their critical environments" said Paul Martini, CEO, iboss, a NightDragon portfolio company.

About NightDragon
NightDragon is an investment and advisory firm focused on growth and late-stage investments within the cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy industries. Its platform and vast industry network provide unparalleled threat insights, deal flow, market leverage and operating expertise to drive portfolio company growth and increase shareholder value. The NightDragon team has more than 25 years of operational and market expertise and was founded by Dave DeWalt and Ken Gonzalez, who served as senior executives leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye.

About CalDorado Group
The CalDorado Group has been providing Public Sector Strategic Advisory Services to technology companies since 2006.  Whether a start-up or Fortune 100, our mission is to help bring exciting and innovative technologies to the attention of key decision makers. Since our inception, Cyber Security has been a key pillar of our focus.  We have helped dozens of companies accomplish their goal of understanding and successfully partnering with the State of California around their key technology initiatives. Our services include SLED specific "go-to-market" planning, business development, recruiting and training, contract development, and partner development.

About Lisa Aaron Consulting
Lisa Aaron Consulting (LAC) in Tallahassee, Florida is focused exclusively on information technology. With over 35 years of experience, LAC leverages first-hand state agency and legislative experience and relationships to provide strategic consulting services designed to facilitate growth for private sector technology companies wishing to do business with state government. LAC matches companies' strengths with state agency needs; advises sales and marketing teams; provides procurement and state contract expertise to ensure smooth procurements and provides budget analysis. 

About Brown & Weinraub
Brown & Weinraub, PLLC is the top lobbying firm in New York State representing a broad spectrum of companies from Fortune 500 to start-ups doing business or seeking to expand in New York.  Founded in 2001 by two lawyers who gained respect for each other's expertise and approach while working for Governor Mario M. Cuomo, the firm has grown to include more than 30 professionals with backgrounds in government and the private sector.  With a team of individuals previously employed by executive and legislative branches of state government, local government, regulatory agencies, the financial service industry, health service providers, higher education entities, business development and advocacy organizations, as well as elected officials, Brown & Weinraub is the go-to government relations and strategic advisory firm in New York. 

About RG Group
RG Group prides itself on being the "go-to firm" for technology companies doing business in New York. Our team serves its clients' public sector business needs by providing strategic advisement, procurement lobbying and government relations services. We represent clients before New York City and State government agencies. With expertise in all facets of technology, government operations, the political arena, and private and public sector marketing, RG Group develops and implements proven strategies that effectively address our client's short and long-term public sector business development goals. For more information, visit rggllc.com 

About KWR Strategies
Founded by the former CIO for America's second largest state, KWR Acuity Consulting exists to help state-level decision makers connect with the vendors uniquely suited to solve their IT challenges. Building on three decades of experience in state government, Karen Robinson has made herself indispensable to clients on both sides of the IT acquisition gap with her mix of old-school relationship building and new-school technology know-how.

KWR Acuity Strategies helps organizations achieve their goals by:

• Establishing collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships;
• Reaching across the aisles of both public and private business sectors;
• Combining and leveraging relationship competencies with precision; and
• Connecting technology solutions with innovative strategies for building cross-sector teams

Contact: Sarah Kuranda, [email protected].

SOURCE NightDragon