Why Are There No U.S. Offensive Cyber Unicorns? – The Cipher Brief

OPINION — I recently had a conversation with senior intelligence community leaders about their desire to build stronger partnerships with private-sector technology companies—the so-called “Silicon Valley” ecosystem. They were asking for advice on how to engage, build relationships, and ultimately establish strategic partnerships.

But the companies they were most interested in? They were largely consumer-facing platforms. Innovative, yes—but not mission-aligned. That conversation highlighted a broader, more fundamental gap I’ve been thinking about for a long time: Why are there no U.S. offensive cyber unicorns?

We certainly have defense contractors who do cyber work—on site, on contract, embedded with the government. And we have standout cybersecurity companies like CrowdStrike, Mandiant, and Dragos focused on detection, response, and resilience. But where are the startups building offensive cyber tools and platforms? Where’s the VC-backed innovation model we’ve seen in drones, hypersonics, and space?

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Companies like Anduril and SpaceX have proven that Silicon Valley-style innovation—product-focused, capital-efficient, fast-moving—can thrive in the national security space. So why hasn’t that approach been applied to offensive cyber? Yes, there are legal and secrecy constraints. But those same constraints haven’t stopped commercial companies from building weapons systems or highly classified ISR platforms.

Take a look at the NatSec100 – a curated list of top defense and national security startups. You’ll find companies working on AI, autonomy, sensing, and cybersecurity. But not a single one focused on offensive cyber. Why not?

Shouldn’t we want the best minds at CrowdStrike or Mandiant to spin off and build next-generation offensive platforms? Shouldn’t the DOD and IC be seeding these ideas and building an ecosystem that encourages this kind of innovation?

I believe we should.

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