University Launches Incubator for Internet Security Technology Startups

The University of Texas at San Antonio Institute for Cyber Security has created an incubator for startups to develop and commercialize Internet security technologies.

The idea is to offer companies access to ICS labs and research as well as the expertise of ICS advisors and university staff to support everything from product development to marketing. ICS has selected San Antonio-based companies Denim Labs and SafeMashups to be the first to enter the ICS incubator.

The ICS is led by Dr. Ravi Sandhu, and was founded in June 2007. Financed through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, the ICS has three units: the incubator, ICS Labs and the ICS Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security.

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The incubator itself is led by Ravi Ganesan, founder of TriCipher and head of SafeMashups. SafeMashups seeks to provide better security for mashups using patent-pending technology.

Denim Labs meanwhile is working with the incubator on technology that helps protect PHP-based Web applications from application-level intrusion in real time without requiring any modifications to application source code. The technology is aimed at detecting and responding to a variety of attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

"Public and private investment in sponsored cyber-security research results in the creation of technology, inventions and ideas," Dr. Robert W. Gracy, vice president of research at UTSA, said in a statement. "By offering local entrepreneurs access to university resources and providing a forum for researchers to transform their research into marketable business ventures, we enable students, faculty and entrepreneurs to commercialize their ideas, produce successful, financially viable and freestanding businesses and create additional jobs in the community."