CyberArk inaugurates new cybersecurity R&D center in Beersheba
Firm says it plans to hire over 200 people in Israel this year, half of them programmers, in Petah Tikva and Beersheba
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
CyberArk, the second largest Israeli cybersecurity firm, with shares traded on the Nasdaq, inaugurated a new R&D center in the southern city of Beersheba this week.
The center is located at the Gav-Yam Negev Tech Park, which is situated close to the Israel Defense Forces’ new C4I technology base and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate’s CERT center and 70 other development centers and startups are situated in the technology park.
CyberArk plans to recruit over 200 employees in Israel this year, the company said in a statement on Monday, of which 100 will be programmers for its development centers in Petah Tikva and Beersheba. The new center will be run by Shai Saffer, a former director at PayPal.
The new R&D site will allow CyberArk to make “Israeli innovation available to our global customers from Israel’s capital of the Negev,” said Udi Mokady, CyberArk’s CEO and founder, in the statement.
The proximity to the IDF’s technology corps and Ben-Gurion University will bring a “considerable edge” to CyberArk and its employees as it will enable the firm to become part of a “unique ecosystem of government agencies, academia, and industry” in Beersheba, said Chen Bitan, general manager of CyberArk Israel and the company’s chief product officer. The southern city, which is the capital of the Negev region, is repositioning itself as a national focus point for cybersecurity activity.
CyberArk specializes in identity security and in protecting privileged accounts on corporate servers against external attackers and malicious insiders. The firm’s customers include over 6,700 global corporations, of which over 50 percent are Fortune 500 companies, the statement said.
The Gav-Yam Negev Tech Park’s 65,000 square meters (700,00 sq. feet) are home to some 3,000 employees and hold one of the nation’s largest concentrations of cybersecurity know-how. Upon its completion, the NIS 1.5 billion tech park is planned to expand to 200,000 square meters and over 10,000 people, the statement said.
“The arrival of CyberArk to our ecosystem not only adds another major magnet for employment talent, but also increases the possibilities of interaction with researchers from BGU, and internship opportunities for our students,” said. Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, president of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, at the inauguration of the center on Sunday.
