Glacier Cybersecurity founder Jeff Wilson started his business to ensure other small companies and solo ventures had their security needs covered.  

“They needed somebody to be able to advise them, to be able to help them through understanding what their requirements were and how to be able to make better informed decisions,” Wilson said.  

He provides an all-in-one package for solopreneurs that includes providing a program, security awareness training, a security review with recommendations, endpoint detection and response and identity threat detection and response. He started the business in 2021. “Think about it as active management of your computer and your Microsoft or Google account. The way I typically frame it is if somebody broke into your email today, would you know it? And would you know what to do to respond to it? So, we offer that service where it's 24/7, 365, protecting the clients,” he said.  

Wilson has provided IT services for companies with 25,000 employees, but one area where he found gaps was among the solopreneurs — independent law firms, CPAs, bookkeepers or real estate agents. He said the stakes are higher for these small companies because if they were hacked or held up by ransomware, that could mean shuttering the operation.  

His goal is to be able to guide them and provide these services, because “really nobody else does.” 

“Nobody wants to work with that small of an organization. Typically, in your IT companies, that's too small — there's not enough money,” he said.  

This threat has gotten more existential with the growing presence of artificial intelligence. Whether a company has one or 10,000 employees, he said “data is data” to people who want to scam.  

“There is no longer the Nigerian prince who wants to send you $25 million, they've gotten a lot more sophisticated, and their whole goal is to be able to steal as much information as they can,” Wilson said. “I have seen companies wrecked by it. Statistics say that 60% of small businesses that have a breach will go out of business within six months. So, when you look at the risk for the smaller solopreneur that could be life altering.”  

WILSON STARTED his career in IT at Shared Services Center in Florida, which worked with 35 different hospitals providing business office support functions. He eventually became the information security officer, where he found he liked working in cybersecurity.  

He made the switch to cybersecurity full-time, monitoring audits and compliance. This took him all over the world, working with 600 companies across 23 countries. Following that career move, he became the information security officer for a company in New York, where he worked for several years before starting Glacier Cybersecurity.  

Although he made the move to the Flathead Valley in January of 2023, his family had been looking at coming here since 2016 — taking two to three trips a year to the area.  

He recalls looking at the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce’s website at the time, which said something to the tune of “if you want to move here, bring a job.”  

“The reality is there's not many positions in the valley, so it comes down to being able to develop a skill set or have something you can bring to the area. But now, a lot of companies are coming here — we actually created a LinkedIn group called the Flathead Tech Collective,” Wilson said.  

The Flathead Tech Collective has around 120 members and has monthly meetings at Black Rifle Coffee Company. It's a group for people in the area who work in technology to get together and network and discuss business — to “talk about what's working and what's not.” 

Connections from the group include job interviews and mentorships.  

It’s just a part of what Wilson envisioned when starting his own business, which he said allows him to set his own standard for services and gives him freedom to manage clients as he likes.  

He remains passionate about making sure small businesses are covered when a cyber threat strikes.  

“If they don't have a plan in place or if they don't have confidence that they are protected, that is what we bring. We bring that confidence of being able to evaluate and protect them,” Wilson said.  

To learn more about Glacier Cybersecurity, visit glaciercybersecurity.com.  

Reporter Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or [email protected].