2023 Wins and Momentum: Virtru Year in Review

So much has happened in cybersecurity in 2023. We’ve seen rapid and sweeping advancements in generative AI that stand to reshape our world. We’ve witnessed large-scale data breaches, at Microsoft and Progress MoveIT and beyond. We’ve also witnessed increased adoption of data-centric security products and practices across federal and commercial organizations.

The team at Virtru has been busy, building and releasing new software, connecting with our amazing customers, winning industry awards, and opening Virtru’s new headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. 

Here are some of the biggest 2023 highlights from Team Virtru.

Market Momentum: The Rising Tide of Zero Trust Security Drives Growing Demand for Data-Centric Policy Control

The concept of Zero Trust security was coined by Stephen Paul Marsh; then popularized in a 2010 paper by Forrester analyst John Kindervag entitled "No More Chewy Centers." The piece argued that traditional network security models based on hard perimeters were obsolete given trends like cloud computing and mobility.  Kindervag proposed a zero trust model centered on the philosophy of "never trust, always verify." Over the next decade, Zero Trust gained significant traction among cybersecurity thought leaders, culminating recently in the U.S. Department of Defense's November 2022 Zero Trust Strategy, which established a critical need to move beyond traditional security practices, and defend the data itself.

Today, as Virtru prepares to enter 2024, it’s plain to see how data-centric security (e.g. attribute-based access controls, encryption, rights management, data loss prevention, and other measures) has emerged a first-class citizen in every Zero Trust architecture – working alongside traditional practices including identity, endpoint, network, and application security.  Indeed, as more sensitive data is shared with third-party collaborators, and accessed from anywhere, securing that data is paramount regardless of identity or network location.

Gartner forecasts the global cybersecurity market will grow from $186B to $289B by 2027, representing a 11.9% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). Within the macro cyber market, cloud-native and data-centric security are projected to be the fastest growing subcategories at 22.3% and 15.8% CAGR, respectively, according to the Gartner Forecast: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide, 2021-2027 report.

As the inventor of Trusted Data Format (TDF), Virtru has long advocated for an open, standard-based, and data-first approach to cybersecurity.  Today we’re a cloud-native provider of data-centric security solutions for over 6,700 commercial and federal customers, and we are poised for exponential growth in this rising tide.

Celebrating Our Innovative Customers and Partners: The Virtru Vanguards

Despite macroeconomic headwinds, in 2023, Virtru added more than 1,000 new customers including McGraw Hill, Ohio State University, Century 21, Leidos, Aledade, and successfully expanded many others like Salesforce, Equifax, TripActions, VillageMD, National Geographic, and the State of Utah. You can view dozens of stories and video testimonials from our customers in the Virtru Resource Library. 

Virtru also announced the winners of the inaugural Virtru Vanguard Awards, which celebrate innovation and forward-thinking strategies in data-centric security. Winners represented Virtru customer organizations across industries, as well as key partners in making Virtru’s data-centric security available and accessible worldwide.  

Virtru customers are thought leaders in their own right, many of them securing nominations and wins for top security awards in their fields. These include:

• StateScoop LocalSmart Award Winner - Luke Mason, Senior Cyber Security Analyst, Columbia, MO
• EdScoop 50 Awards, University Technology Leader of the Year - Winner - Paul Drake, IT risk program manager at the University of Notre Dame
• 2023 Disruptive Tech Change Agent Award Winner - Dan Berrigan, Worldwide Research Collaboration Lead at Air Force Research Lab
• StateScoop 50 Award Winner, State Leadership of the Year - Ryan Murray, Interim Chief Information Security Officer, State of Arizona

A longtime Google partner, Virtru materially strengthened its relationship with Google in 2023.  For starters, Virtru SaaS services are now available on Google Cloud Platform, and available through the Google Cloud Marketplace. Working together in 2023, Virtru and Google won more than 700 new customers including Restoration Hardware, Plexus, and NYC Health + Hospitals. In 2024, Virtru and Google will further expand collaboration among field marketing and sales teams to amplify the adoption of data-centric security in Google Workspace, and extend policy and privacy controls across SaaS Applications and cloud workloads.

Government Data Security: Bold Initiatives and Zero Trust Strategies

In 2023, Virtru made significant advancements in its Data Security Platform, focusing on highly sensitive and secure government data flows. The company achieved remarkable year-over-year revenue growth of 200% in the public sector market. This expansion included collaborations with various U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, Combatant Commands, and Intelligence Community (IC) organizations, facilitating data sharing among mission partners. Virtru's international presence also grew as it provided support to the UK Ministry of Defense, Australian Defence Force, and the New Zealand Defence Force. Furthermore, Virtru actively participated in the Bold Quest interoperability exercises for the third consecutive year, strengthening its partnerships with U.S. government agencies, allies, and coalition partners.

As a result of this traction, Virtru materially increased its investment in DOD/IC GTM and deployment capacity and hired two executives: Dr. Carrick Longley, Senior Vice President of Global Public Sector, and Jason Green, Vice President of Federal Sales, to further scale its public sector business.

In 2023 Virtru was an active participant in developing global data protection standards and proudly served as a core technology contributor to the NIST NCCoE Data-Centric Security and Classification Consortium.  Capping off an impressive 2023, Virtru’s platform received a new FedRAMP authorization, and was also added to the StateRAMP Progressing Product list.

Product Innovation: Advancing Secure Email, File, and SaaS

Customers love Virtru because it integrates seamlessly with the apps they already use every day. This year, Virtru expanded its product portfolio with several milestone product releases and developments: 

• March 2023: Google CSE for Privacy-Enhanced Cloud Collaboration
• March 2023: Virtru Private Keystore Enables Customers to Host Their Own Private Keys for Advanced Security 
• March 2023: Obtained FIPS 140-2 validation for its JavaScript cryptographic library
• September 2023: Data Security Platform for Bold Quest MII
• September 2023: Received FIPS 140-2 validation for multiple products, including Virtru for Gmail, Virtru for Microsoft 365 Outlook, and Virtru Secure Share.
• October 2023: Data Security Integration for Zendesk
  

But that's not all: View all Virtru Product Updates from 2023.

Connecting the D.C. Cybersecurity Community

In Summer 2023, Virtru unveiled its new headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown D.C. Known as The HUB, Virtru’s headquarters serves as a connecting point for Virtru customers, team members, partners, and the broader cybersecurity community to gather and collaborate. Virtru hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to celebrate the new space in September, and to announce Virtru as the first recipient of the D.C. Vitality Fund. 

In this new headquarters space, Virtru has been hosting events to bring the community together. Together with co-sponsors Dragos, Flashpoint, GDIT, Palo Alto Networks, Sonatype, Brown Advisory, Data Tribe, King and Spalding, and Morrison Foerster, Virtru hosted the inaugural DMV Rising event on September 13, bringing together cybersecurity experts from throughout the DMV. In October, Virtru and its partners Sada, Onix, Carahsoft, Daston, and Dito hosted Above and Beyond the Cloud alongside the Google Public Sector forum. Both events brought thought leadership panels and deep discussions of security trends shaping the tech landscape. 

Team Virtru Wins Big: Best Encryption and Cybersecurity Solutions 

In 2023, Virtru was named a Washington Post Top Workplace for the second consecutive year. Internal surveys also show that Virtru team members feel a strong sense of belonging, with an average score of 4.8 out of 5 on this metric.

Virtru is dedicated to fostering an environment of diversity, inclusion and belonging, especially as minority groups have historically been underrepresented in the technology industry. Its employee-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion council ensures employees have a voice among executive leadership.

As an organization, Virtru had a star-studded 2023, with wins across several industry awards. These include: 

• Winning an Inc. Power Partner Award for the second consecutive year, based purely on customer feedback
• Named ‘Encryption Solution of the Year’ in 2023 CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards for the second consecutive year
• Winning a spot on the Washington Post 2023 Top Workplaces list for the second consecutive year, based on employee survey data
• Recognized as 2023 NVTC Cyber50 Awards Honoree
• Winning Gold in the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards for Best Data Security Company and Best Client-Side Security, plus a Silver award winner for Data-Centric Security. 
• Virtru’s Paul Flynn, senior software engineer, named to Technical.ly DC’s RealLIST Engineers 2023
• G2 Award for Best Security Software 2023 in Data-Centric Security
  

Looking Ahead: Virtru’s Road Map for 2024

Virtru’s team built strong momentum in 2023 thanks to diligent work, industrywide collaboration, and a thirst for excellence. As 2024 approaches, we hold fast to our commitment to building products and solutions that provide powerful, granular, data-first controls over sensitive information. 

What does that look like? For Virtru, it means:

1. Continued investment in developing the Virtru Data Security Platform, which will provide federal government agencies and coalition partners with more granular data access controls, seamless policy enforcement, and faster sharing and decisioning around sensitive data.
2. Strengthened partnerships with Google, SADA, SixWorks, Booz Allen Hamilton, GDIT, SoSi, Leidos and Virtru’s many channel partners and customers, with the goal of bringing advanced data security and compliance to commercial and government use cases globally.
3. Strengthening and expanding partnerships across the Zero Trust ecosystem for enhanced interoperability and velocity in bringing data-centric security implementations to life.
4. Continuous delivery of the easy-to-use, data-centric security that Virtru’s customers love.  

As we close out 2023, we on Team Virtru extend our gratitude to our industry partners, our colleagues, and our exceptional customers — many of whom are on the cutting edge of data-centric security and privacy, doing powerful work to protect the data entrusted to their care. We look forward to working together across the private and public sectors to create a more secure, data-centric world in 2024.