Press

PR NEWSWIRE | 02.16.22

Columbia, Md., February 26, 2022 – Chiron Technology Services, Inc. was awarded two prime contracts with a combined value of $23M to provide specialized, advanced, technical OCO (Offensive Cyber Operations) and DCO (Defensive Cyber Operations) training to the Department of Defense. The company has proprietary technology and capabilities that enable them to offer this training virtual, in-person, and worldwide.

“Chiron has made significant investments in an integrated and innovative training infrastructure and a broad spectrum of cybersecurity curriculum and exercises. This has allowed us to scale to meet our customers’ increased training needs,” said Jeff Weaver, CEO of Chiron, “These awards are due in large part to our team of talented engineers and instructors and their commitment to developing the tools and training necessary to build an effective cybersecurity workforce.”

Chiron Technology Services, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity firm that provides training and customized engineering services designed to identify and solve our public and private sector clients’ most difficult challenges.

MARKETS INSIDER | 02.15.18

Columbia, Md., February 15, 2018 – Chiron Technology Services, Inc., a leading provider of advanced cybersecurity services and training to government and commercial clients, has been awarded a $12M subcontract in support of Department of Defense cybersecurity training missions in Pensacola, FL and San Antonio, TX.

“We’re excited to expand our presence at these two key locations and look forward to supporting our partners with highly qualified cybersecurity training professionals,” stated Jeff Weaver, Chiron CEO. “…We employ highly skilled instructors with intimate mission knowledge and skills, 80% having military experience in cyber operations. This award has enabled Chiron to increase our footprint in Florida and Texas enhancing our ability to serve our customers’ immediate training needs.”

About Chiron Technology Services, Inc. (www.chironcommercial.com)
Chiron Technology Services, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity firm that provides training and customized engineering services designed to identify and solve both public and private sector clients’ most difficult challenges.

NBC12 | 01.10.17

COLUMBIA, Md., Jan. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Chiron Technology Services, Inc. (“Chiron”) pronounced ‘Kai-ron’, an infosec engineering and training firm based in Columbia, Maryland, today announced it has been awarded a $50M prime contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD).

The five year, competitively awarded contract will deliver Chiron’s Information Operations (IO) Role-Based Training to DoD Information Operations Professionals focusing on Cybersecurity Operations, Incident Response, Threat Emulation, and Network Defense.

“Chiron is honored to be identified as a strategic DoD partner with this award. Our team of dedicated Subject Matter Experts fully understand the responsibility and critical need to develop a strong pipeline of skilled cybersecurity professionals,” commented Dave Pappas, President of Chiron Technology Services, Inc.

About Chiron Technical Services, Inc.
Chiron Technology Services, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity firm that provides training and customized engineering services designed to identify and solve our public and private sector clients’ most difficult challenges.

FOX45 | 10.22.16

COLUMBIA, Md. (WBFF) — A massive cyberattack left Twitter, Netflix, Paypal, Reddit, Spotify, and other popular websites at a standstill on Friday.

The outages are a result of a DDoS, or Distribute Denial of Service, attack, on the large-scale domain manager (DYN). These kinds of attacks are attempts to overwhelm websites with so much traffic that it impairs normal service.

FOX45 spoke with Rich Moulton, a security researcher and subject matter expert at Chiron Technology Services in Columbia. Moulton said the service provider DYN was able to handle Friday’s first attack in about two hours.

“So it can be done, it’s manageable. But honestly, the bigger part of this is prevention,” Moulton said.

Moulton said hackers today will be caught if they use their own computers to attack. So, they use other people’s devices. They hack into devices that have hardware inside it and can connect to the internet such as cell phones, baby monitors, smart watches, smart thermostats, treadmills, or even your car.

“Just the fact that you have hardware with an internet connection means that they can use what you have to get what they want,” said Moulton.

This means you should monitor your devices’ performance so you can stop attacks.

“[They] need to be able to recognize what constitutes normal behavior for the devices and what constitutes bad behavior for the devices. And they need to take action when they see things happen,” said Moulton. “You’re in your home and you’re watching Netflix, for example, it may be because one of the devices in your home is being used in an attack of this sort. At this point, call for help. Hopefully you’ve identified who you’re going to call for help beforehand. And then you can have someone come in, take a look at what’s going on, and stop it at the source.”

Another commonly-used technique to stop hacks, according to Moulton, is updating your software.

“Service providers and software providers regularly watch the source of attacks that hackers are performing in order to take advantage of their devices. And when they become aware of these attacks they update their software to prevent them from working again in the future.”

Moulton said if you don’t update your software and your devices, you are left unprotected. He also recommends trusting your observations.

“When they start acting funny, find out why,” sad Moulton. “Don’t just dismiss it, because it may be that your device is being used in an attack.”

Moulton recommends these steps if you notice your devices slowing down:

1. Don’t panic

2. Disconnect to all and any networks you may be connected to. At this point, if you are being attacked, the attacker is probably controlling your device across the internet from the connection you have established, so you want to disconnect it.

3. Don’t touch or turn off the device. Anything additional you do on the device could distort evidence of the attack.

4. Write down all details you can remember about the attack.

5. Call someone who can help you, preferably someone with a background in cyber security or cyber forensics. Try to figure out this person beforehand.

A post on Hacker News first identified the cyberattack mainly affecting the U.S. east coast. There is no official word on who is responsible.

NewsChannel 10 | 09.26.16

Chiron Information Operations Training to Address Cyber Technical Skills Gap

COLUMBIA, Md., Sept. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Chiron Technology Services, Inc. (“Chiron”) pronounced ‘Kai-ron’, a security engineering and information operations security training firm has advanced its transition of providing US Government Information Operations (IO) Role Based Training Services to the Commercial Market by launching a new training focused website.

The new website highlights four key domain areas of IO and the Chiron professionalization methodology that includes evaluating, training, validating and sustaining technical skills needed as an IO Specialist. As part of the new website launch, Chiron also published a short white paper addressing the market confusion on what is “Cybersecurity” and the differences between Information Assurance (IA) and Information Operations (IO). The paper, “The Cybersecurity Human Capital Paradigm Shift Cyber Technical: ‘IA to IO’™” is available to download on the new site: http://training.chirontech.com/resources/whitepapers/

“The Chiron Training website is the transition into the commercial training market. With the new website, we want to share our knowledge, skills, and experience with the commercial sector and global community. We are in the migration process of over 18 Instructor Led Courses into both an asynchronous and virtual live class format. We will have additional learning tool product launches and announcements to follow,” said Chiron’s President, Dave Pappas.

For over seven years, Chiron has conducted IO Training for Government customers. This experience has allowed Chiron to mature and refine a proven and tested IO professionalization path organically with all development and training conducted internally at Chiron. The Chiron IO Training and Development Team has extensive work role experience which enhances the learning development process of new Domain Specific IO Specialists in their personal and team development.

Pappas added, “As the white paper highlights, we know there is a critical skills gap and we know the entry level to advanced level skills needed to be an IO Domain Specialist. Our mission is to bring innovation to the commercial sector and offer high quality relevant learning programs designed and developed by IO professionals who have performed in their respective domain.”

To learn more about Chiron Training, please visit: www.training.chirontech.com
or contact:

Dan Callahan
Sr. Director of Strategic Development
dcallahan@chirontech.com
443-561-4174

About Chiron Technical Services, Inc.
Chiron Technology Services, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity firm that provides training and customized engineering services designed to identify and solve our public and private sector clients’ most difficult challenges.

benzinga | 07.13.16

Chiron and Yyotta Partner on Next Generation Cyber Security Learning Management System delivered from Yyotta Cloud

Stafford, VA and Columbia, MD (PRWEB) July 13, 2016

Yyotta, LLC (“Yyotta”), pronounced ‘why yotta’, an emerging Internet exchange point (IXP), datacenter and cloud services company based in Stafford, VA and Chiron Technology Services, Inc. (“Chiron”) pronounced ‘Kai-ron’, an information operations security firm that provides government and commercial clients with focused role based training and skills validation, today announced a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) whereby both companies will collaborate creating a Quantico Cyber Center of Excellence, where Chiron will deliver its award-winning Cybersecurity Training Portfolio and Learning Tools and host its next-generation online Learning Management System from Yyotta in the Quantico Corporate Center in Stafford, VA. Yyotta will offer its IXP, connectivity, cloud and managed service solutions through its iFortressTM modular datacenter, a facility used by U.S. Army Corp of Engineers’ clients, focused on developing a cyber security “community of practice” serving the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“Chiron is excited to partner with Yyotta and enhance the State of Virginia’s Government, Commercial and Academic communities by offering cyber professionalization tracks focused on the relevant skill competency level to be an active member of a technical cyber operations team,” said Chiron President, Dave Pappas. “Our combined solution will develop the cyber workforce pipeline and will result in advanced protection and defense of the networks and assets of Federal, State, and Private Sectors. Yyotta’s vision and infrastructure will allow Chiron to expand training and sustainment programs by providing flexibility and scalability.”

Chiron specializes in advanced, information operations technical training that maintains currency with emerging threats and updated technology. Chiron’s Information Operations (IO) Department focuses heavily on the continuous development, research and testing of evolving techniques and tactics in specific domain areas pertaining to: Cyber Protection (Defense), Cyber Threat Emulation (Penetration Testing), Discovery and Counter-Infiltration (Hunt and Incident Response) and Developer (Tools and Capability Development).

“The Yyotta team combined with Chiron’s cyber training leadership will be ushering in a new era of Cyber Workforce Readiness. The synergy created by the team’s thought leadership, innovation, training, and technical prowess further positions the Quantico region as an epicenter of cyber education, training, and readiness,” said Don Goodwin, Chief Marketing Officer with Yyotta. “Collectively, we look forward to providing a high quality education and training experience that develops and delivers top tier cyber technical professionals that both US Government and commercial sector organizations need.”

Yyotta’s IXP and datacenter consists of two (2) secure data center computer rooms encompassing 2,480 sq. ft. of computer room floor and 500 kW of UPS power capacity. The first computer room is available today. The IXP is the only multi-tenant datacenter in Stafford, offering a highly compliant solution through a concurrently maintainable design. Yyotta’s Quantico Corporate Center customers have the option to choose from wide variety of connectivity, private cloud and managed services, delivered over private, low-latency networks to Washington, DC, Ashburn, Middletown and Richmond, VA.

For more information about Yyotta, please visit http://www.Yyotta.com.

About Yyotta®
Yyotta LLC focuses exclusively on regional acquisition, development and operation of premier edge Internet exchange points (IXP) and datacenter facilities powering next generation cyber security workforce development. The company serves the growing need for mission-critical Internet connectivity, cloud computing and IT services for industry, academic and Government research and development. Each IXP is highly secure, interconnected, carrier-neutral that serves commercial, government and service provider markets. A privately held company headquartered in Northern Virginia, Yyotta LLC currently owns and operates its first edge IXP and datacenter in suburban Washington, D.C metro area with plans to expand into additional markets late 2016. The company is led by industry veterans with significant experience in data center development, operations and marketing; IT managed services; market workforce incubation and development, cyber security education and training. For more information, please visit http://www.Yyotta.com.

About Chiron Technology®
Chiron Technology Services, Inc. (pronounced ‘Kai-ron’) has over 12 years of operational experience providing Information Operations domain professionalization career tracks for Government and Commercial organizations. Chiron, based in Columbia, MD, enables the Nation’s most advanced cyber teams to develop their technical skills through performance based skills scenario learning and validation exercise solutions. The Chiron Team is comprised of experienced information operators who create learning content and expand on skill competencies against roles within operation centers.

NewsChannel 10 | 12.07.15

COLUMBIA, MD. /PRNewswire/ — The Baltimore Sun Media Group recently recognized Chiron Technology Services, Inc., as one of its Top Workplaces for 2015. The Top Workplaces lists are based on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a leading research firm specializing in organizational health and workplace improvement. The survey measured several aspects of workplace culture, including Alignment, Execution, and Connection.

“I’m proud to say that Chiron was rated one of the best companies to work for in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area,” said David Pappas, President and Founder of Chiron. “To be named among the 1300 companies and 34,000 employees included in the survey is no small feat.”

“The Top Workplaces award is not a popularity contest. And oftentimes, people assume it’s all about fancy perks and benefits,” said Doug Claffey, CEO of WorkplaceDynamics. “…To be a Top Workplace, organizations must meet our strict standards for organizational health.”

“Time and time again, our research has proven that what’s most important to [employees] is a strong belief in where the organization is headed, how it’s going to get there, and the feeling that everyone is in it together,” Claffey added.

About Chiron Technology Services, Inc.
Chiron is a leading cybersecurity firm that provides government and commercial clients with customized training and services to prevent, detect and respond to cyber-attacks. It offers a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services and products to help its clients respond to rapidly advancing threats. The Chiron team is comprised of highly experienced and accomplished veterans who have years of real-world experience fighting cyber-attackers on the frontlines. With a “train like you fight mantra,” Chiron’s Cybersecurity Model provides products and services in five key areas that address core cybersecurity needs: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover, helping to eliminate the worry for clients so they can focus on running their business.

About WorkplaceDynamics, LLC
Headquartered in Exton, PA, WorkplaceDynamics specializes in employee feedback surveys and workplace improvement. This year alone, more than two million employees in over 6,000 organizations will participate in the Top Workplaces™ campaign-a program it conducts in partnership with more than 40 prestigious media partners across the United States. WorkplaceDynamics also provides consulting services to improve employee engagement and organizational health. WorkplaceDynamics is a founding B Corporation member, a coalition of organizations that are leading a global movement to redefine success in business by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business.

Baltimore Business Journal | 08.06.15

Columbia government contractor Chiron Technology Services, Inc. is expanding its cybersecurity services to the commercial sector, a move that will diversify the company’s revenue streams and draw in a new kind of client.

Since launching in 2004, Chiron has focused on providing customized training and cybersecurity services to the U.S. government. But as the list of breaches at large private corporations grows, Chiron sees an opportunity to expand its business model.

“Usually you reach out to organizations such as us after a breach,” said Chiron President Dave Pappas. “Our goal is to reach companies before, so they have organic capability to defend against the breach.”

More private businesses had been reaching out to Chiron lately, so the company decided to make the leap and target commercial businesses – instead of waiting for them to seek help.

Pappas expects commercial clients to bring in between $1 million and $2 million in revenue this year. He declined to discuss the company’s overall revenue projections, but said he expects Chiron’s commercial business to account for a relatively small portion of the company’s overall revenue – at least at first.

Based on early interest, Pappas expects commercial business to grow by up to 50 percent a year for the next few years. Eventually, he thinks commercial clients could account for as much as 40 percent of Chiron’s overall business.

Chiron is targeting commercial clients in finance and health care, two industries that have been hit hard with security breaches.

As Chiron expands its client base, the company also plans to grow its physical presence. Chiron plans to open in the next 18 months two regional centers where it can train new client groups.

Pappas said the company often brings its training services directly to clients, but can offer a more robust training at its own centers.

Chiron is headquartered in Columbia and has a second research and development center in Maryland. The new regional centers will be modeled after Chiron’s 20,000-square-foot training center in Augusta, Ga.

Washington Technology | 06.26.15

Chiron Technology Services of Columbia, Md., has won a $10.7 million with a government agency to provide secure collaboration space on the agency’s network.

The company declined to name the agency citing confidentiality requirements.

Chiron will use virtual machines and network resources to create what it calls a “secure enclave” for the agency’s corporate network. The network will provide a secure development environment for analytic applications and host sensitive data repositories.

The company has been supporting this customer for five years.

Chiron is 10 years old and specializes in helping agencies with cyber training, critical infrastructure protection, responding to cyber-attacks and mitigating threats.

DCInno | 06.19.15

On Wednesday, Columbia, Md.-based cybersecurity firm Chiron Technology Services secured a federal contract in excess of $10.7 million to help prevent and better detect cyberattacks levied against the U.S. government. Chiron, however, unlike a cohort of other federal cybersecurity software contractors and larger IT corporations, focuses on a different aspect of the security dilemma-the training of security personnel.

The multi-million dollar contract was specifically for the development of a secure IT system for the government.

Chiron’s training program is part of a growing segment of the cybersecurity industry that, while talked about less, remains immensely important in reacting to data breaches like that of OPM. In the OPM attack, which reportedly breached the network in March 2014, the agency originally believed it had completely inhibited the attack.

Though Chiron offers some software services, one of the company’s main focuses is on creating the next class of top-flight cybersecurity professionals. It offers specially tailored, multi-discipline off-site and on-site security training classes. At a base level, Chiron believes that software and hardware innovation can only go so far and that the skill of individual technicians will further dictate whether a hacker can successfully disrupt a network.

The company claims that its clients include the NSA, Department of Defense, U.S. Cyber Command and multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Training over tech

“There needs to be a proactive, not reactive approach to cyber security and that begins with relevant, operationally-focused training…Expensive hardware, software, tools won’t do the job alone, it takes a human. A human with intimate knowledge of the adversary and their techniques, and most of all experience in head to head battle with them. That’s what Chiron believes in…that’s what we do. We train personnel to combat today’s and tomorrow’s threat,” Chiron Technology Services Senior Partner Chad Carroll.

Carroll declined to comment on both the structure of the contract and if specific agencies would receive any training as part of it, saying, “the details of the contract are highly confidential.” He only added, “we [Chiron] are utilizing virtual machines and network resources [to] create a secure enclave on the customer’s corporate network.”

When I asked Carroll about the curriculum that his company instates to train individuals, he described an eclectic system where students would face “real world attack scenarios utilized by attackers today.” Rather than presenting static and designed cyberattack simulations, however, Chiron offers what may be considered a draconian approach where students are divided into two groups, attackers and defenders, and pitted against one another in high stress breach scenarios.

In these cases, the students – individuals that may be security personnel from the same agency – work from opposite ends with dynamically different goals to overcome their adversaries. Sometimes this will mean playing the assailant and other times it could mean becoming the defender, but the system is nevertheless created to efficiently and effectively prepare technicians to deal with real world attacks

By stacking realistic human-engineered cyberattacks in realtime, the idea is that personnel will be become better aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of individual actors.

Carroll told DC Inno that the scenarios are valuable in terms of “understanding how the attackers infiltrate the network and maneuver throughout.”

“Defenders need to understand the depth of these attack techniques in an effort to prevent future attempts…and penetration testers and vulnerability assessment analysts work to emulate these attacks,” he said.

Chiron Technology Services currently employees about 100 cybersecurity professionals and has a presence in Maryland, Georgia and Florida. “We have been a long term consultant for the government and this contract win further strengthens that relationship,” Carroll said.

Baltimore Business Journal | 06.17.15

A Columbia cybersecurity firm has been awarded a federal contract worth up to $10.7 million to help the government prevent and better detect attacks.

Chiron Technology Services did not specify what government agency the contract is with.

The veteran-owned company will help the agency block hackers from getting into government networks, detect when cyber attacks occur and take action quickly. The system is designed to address insider threats, threats that come from within the company.

On June 4, it was announced that 4.2 million federal employees may have had their personal information compromised when the Office of Personnel Management’s information systems were hacked. The hack, which went undetected for more than a year, has further fueled a national debate on cybersecurity.

Chiron was founded in 2004 and is a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense. The 11-year-old firm provides government and commercial clients with cybersecurity services and training, cyber analytics, information assurance, systems engineering and software engineering.

Baltimore Business Journal | 05.21.15

A cyberattack that affected more than 1 million CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield members did not compromise their most personal details, such as Social Security numbers, medical claims and credit card numbers. But that does not mean those members are in the clear.

Secondary personal information, such as the email addresses, birth dates and member ID numbers stolen from CareFirst, is often used to trick people into giving up more personal details or is sold on black markets to organizations that piece it together into clearer profiles of individuals, said Chad Carroll, vice president of information operations at Columbia cybersecurity firm Chiron Technology Services Inc.

“The data they claim to have exfiltrated, although it’s not what you would consider critical, sensitive, identifying information, it’s still valuable. It’s still useful,” said Carroll, whose company specializes in prevention and early detection of cyberattacks.

CareFirst on Wednesday said a June 2014 attack compromised a database that stores information members use to create online accounts with the insurer. About 1.1 million members, former members and a small number of insurance brokers who registered with CareFirst before June 20, 2014, are affected.

CareFirst responded the right way, by offering free credit monitoring and sending personal notifications to affected customers, Carroll said. But members still need to be careful in the weeks and months ahead.

A common phishing scam is to send an email to customers notifying them of the breach and asking them to click a link in the email to confirm other details about their account. Their member ID number and birth date at the top of the letter adds legitimacy to the note that is designed to steal even more information.

Data breaches are becoming increasingly common, especially among health care companies, which collect lots of personal data that is valuable when sold on a black market. CareFirst is the third major health insurer to announce a breach this year. A breach at Anthem affected about 79 million people; hackers stole information on 11 million members from Premera Blue Cross.

Carroll warned that cyberattacks are not just for financial and health care companies. Anyone with an online presence can be a target, which is why it is important for companies to have a strong cyber security system that includes a human element – people who are specialized in thinking like cyber criminals and combating them. Companies also need to have a plan for handling a breach when it happens.

“If an adversary has enough money, enough time, enough resolution, they will get in,” Carroll said.