About

Sphyrna Security: A Pioneer in Information Security Since 2000

For over 20 years, Sphyrna Security has forged an esteemed reputation as an innovative leader within the security community. Our track record speaks for itself, with a multitude of impactful information security projects successfully delivered to clients from both the private and public sectors.

Our technical leadership team is comprised of highly experienced enterprise architects, networking specialists, and former military and defense specialists.

As a Canadian trailblazer, we continuously push boundaries by developing cutting-edge advanced security solutions that consistently yield proven results.

Leadership Team

Alan Magar, President

Alan is a seasoned cybersecurity expert, beginning his career as a CELE Officer in the Canadian military before advancing to a leading security vendor in the UK. During his overseas stint, he earned a Masters degree in Information Security at the Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2000, he founded Sphyrna Security, a firm initially offering professional services to the Government of Canada but later evolved into a cybersecurity vendor specializing in cross domain solutions and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC).

Paul Dufresne, CTO

With vast telecommunications experience since the late 20th century, Paul has successfully implemented large-scale projects across diverse sectors, including enterprise, government, and small businesses. He excels in understanding business needs, rapidly mastering technologies, and delivering solutions. Since joining Sphyrna Security in 2020, he transitioned from adapting products for cloud-based delivery to managing product development for flagship offerings like Verity and the Unidirectional Gateway.

Peter Whittaker, Director, Special Projects

Peter is a veteran in the cybersecurity field, starting in the late 1980s, with a rich background in Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM), Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), security governance, risk management, and data-centric security (DCS). His experience encompasses software development, standards creation, and high-level management roles.

Since joining Sphyrna in 2020, Peter has focused on the development of Verity’s enterprise workflow management engine and overseeing the security architecture on the Unidirectional Gateway (UGW).

Brent Nordin, Director, Research & Development

Brent has spent decades designing and building custom, one-off solutions for a range of industries. For most of the past couple of decades, Brent has been involved with cyber security projects, primarily in the areas of Data Centric Security (DCS), Zero trust security, and Cross Domain Solutions (CDS).

Brent has worked with Sphyrna since 2016, initially in the CDS space and more recently in the design and development of a new guard product.

Natasha Magar, Director, Finance

Prior to joining Sphyrna Security in 2004, Natasha worked in tech finance for a leading IT company and obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa.

As Director of Finance, Natasha is responsible for shepherding the company through many years of continuous growth.

Charles Zaloom, VP, US Operations

Charles heads up Sphyrna’s US operations, concentrating on applying Sphyrna’s products to security gaps in command and control systems, streaming video, payment systems, industrial supply chain, maintenance access and log/historian transfers and is familiar with NIST, DoD, NERC-CIP, and other regulated industry guidance. He has helped secure elements of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, nuclear power plants, oil & gas facilities, credit card and national funds transfer systems, and DoD messaging systems.

Ian Wells, Business Development (UK)

Ian leads Business Development in the UK for Sphyrna Security, leveraging his three-decade experience in cybersecurity infrastructure and risk management. He has held business development roles in major companies like Racal, Entrust, and IBM, managing multi-million pound projects across Europe. His skillset includes project management in network infrastructure, CoBit, ISO27000, and GDPR compliance programs.