Our core belief was bold: if humans and machines could work together—like first responders and their tools—then organizations could finally turn the tide in cyber defense.
Engineering the Future of Incident Response
The idea for CyberSponse took root in 2012, drawing inspiration from my early experiences in fire services, where rapid and coordinated incident response was life or death. When I entered cybersecurity, I realized how broken incident handling was—most organizations had no response plan, and no tools that communicated with each other.
So I built one.
After validating the concept with industry leaders like Kevin Mandia (Founder/CEO of Mandiant), we launched our platform in late 2014. The CyberSponse platform connected dozens of disparate cybersecurity tools through API-driven orchestration, layered with automated playbooks that handled detection, triage, and remediation—all in real time.
We didn’t just build automation—we standardized it.
Our tech quickly earned trust across:
(fbi, dhs, dod)
NSA Collaboration and
Reactivation of Top Secret Clearance
As CyberSponse matured, our capabilities attracted national attention. We partnered with the National Security Agency (NSA) on critical cyber warfare initiatives—specifically, designing automated cyber countermeasure frameworks.
My Top Secret Clearance was reactivated to support this work.
These efforts were instrumental in shaping how modern cyber warfare response is automated, from battlefield-level threat containment to zero-day exploit defense. Our collaboration validated what we always believed: automation is the future of both enterprise defense and national security.
Industry Firsts, IP Protection,
and the Rise of SOAR
Our journey was paved with innovations that transformed the cybersecurity industry. I became a named inventor on multiple U.S. patents that now underpin many foundational SOAR workflows:
Our tech quickly earned trust across:
Security Incident Response System and Method
Automated Security Workflow Integration
Incident Analysis and Decision Framework Using Scoring Systems
View USPTO Patent Listings for Joseph Loomis
These patents protect the core architecture of our automation platform and reflect years of engineering and domain expertise.
Acquisition by Fortinet: A Powerful Exit
On December 12, 2019, CyberSponse was acquired by Fortinet—one of the world’s largest and most respected cybersecurity companies (NASDAQ: FTNT).
The acquisition was a strategic validation of everything we built: our platform, our team, our mission, and our impact. It was one of the largest SOAR acquisitions to date and solidified automation as a central pillar of modern cyber defense.
Fortinet Acquisition Press Release
This exit also marked a proud moment: from a whiteboard idea inspired by public safety, to a platform trusted by elite federal agencies, top defense contractors, and global enterprises.
The IRC: Strenghtening the Cyber Warrior Community
To support the human side of cyber defense, I launched the Incident Response Consortium (IRC)—a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and educational community hosted at:
In September 2017, we hosted IR17 at the Ritz-Carlton in Arlington, VA. With 400+ attendees, 40+ workshops, and a keynote by Governor Terry McAuliffe, we empowered frontline defenders and security operators to share tools, playbooks, and strategies for operational excellence.
The IRC continues to support operators with training, mentorship, and open-source collaboration to arm the next generation of cyber warriors.
Reflections: A Legacy of Impact
CyberSponse wasn’t just a business—it was a mission. It was built for those on the front lines: the overworked analyst, the SOC manager drowning in alerts, the CISO under siege.
We helped rewrite the rules for incident response. We showed that detection without action is failure. And we proved that automation, when done right, isn’t about replacing humans—it’s about supercharging them.
Looking back, I feel immense pride in what we accomplished:
We pioneered SOAR when no one believed in it.
We brought automation into the core of national defense.
We exited to Fortinet and joined forces with one of the most powerful cybersecurity ecosystems on Earth.
We changed lives—of analysts, teams, and ultimately the customers they protect.
For more about my journey, patents, and ventures, connect with me on LinkedIn.
