OUR STORY

Expert cybersecurity doesn't have to be expensive

Founded by two Lockheed Martin Fellows on a mission to make enterprise-grade security accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Two questions that lay the foundation to the future

In 2021, in the heart of Fort Worth, Texas, two Lockheed Martin Fellows — Dr. Aaron Estes and Ethan Puchaty — recognized a fundamental problem in cybersecurity. The best offensive security expertise was locked behind expensive consulting engagements that small and medium businesses couldn't afford.

1. How do we catch ransomware that can evade traditional behavioral techniques used by existing antivirus solutions?

2. How can we enable teams to get A-team level cybersecurity assessments at a fraction of the cost?

These questions led to the founding of Ironwood Cyber.

Over the years we built Enlight™ — an autonomous continuous penetration testing platform that brings the expertise of elite security professionals to organizations at every scale. No consultants. No scheduling calls. No waiting weeks for results. Just continuous, intelligent, automated offensive testing.

OUR JOURNEY

Milestones & Accomplishments

Our foundation was laid by elite security experts. That DNA lives on in every line of code.

2021

Ironwood Cyber Founded

Dr. Aaron Estes and Ethan Puchaty establish Ironwood Cyber in Fort Worth to do ransomware detection using side-channel analysis.

2021

Private investment backing

Secured backing from private investment firms, validating our vision and providing resources to scale Firethorn and CyberRx.

2022

First enterprise customers

Successfully onboarded initial enterprise customers across healthcare, energy, and government sectors. This validated the product-market fit.

2022

DEF CON 30 badge debut

Launched our first custom hardware badge at DEF CON 30 with the Tron Badge. If you know, you know.

2023

Wild West Hackin' Fest - 1st Place

Team Ironwood clinched first place at the Wild West Hackin' Fest 2023 CTF competition, proving our team's elite offensive security capabilities.

2023

DEF CON 31 - Arc Reactor badge & black badges

Released the Mark II (Arc Reactor) badge at DEF CON 31. Team members won black badges in CTF competitions, demonstrating world-class hacking skills.

2023

Enlight™ rebrand & launch

Relaunched CyberRx as Enlight™, our reimagined autonomous penetration testing platform with AI-driven Catalyst decision engine for continuous security assessment.

2024

Partnerships

Announced strategic alliances with companies such as Zivaro, Cetrec, Tier One to bring managed cybersecurity services to industry and other providers.

2023-2024

TSA BAA and ITF winner

Won the TSA BAA and validated the solution with the ITF, recognizing Ironwood's innovative approach to securing critical transportation infrastructure.

2025

New leadership

James Cao, research lead for Firethorn development and engineer for Enlight™'s offensive tooling, is chosen as CEO to transition and rebrand Ironwood's focus on platform excellence.

Experience the platform difference.

See how autonomous pentesting delivers enterprise-grade results, without the overhead.

Try a demo today