Nine months after announcing its $76.5 million acquisition of prime government contractor McDonald Bradley, ManTech has struck again with news yesterday that it will acquire Emerging Technologies Group Inc. (ETG), a provider of cyber security and mission critical services to the Intelligence Community and DoD. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Herndon, VA-based ETG is a spry seven years old, growing rapidly as a privately-held firm specializing in computer network operations and computer forensics - with specific expertise in SIGINT and COMINT analysis supporting the counterterrorism/counterintelligence missions around the world.

ManTech expects ETG to generate 2009 revenues of approximately $20 million with solid operating margins. The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and approvals and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2008. In the press release, Robert A. Coleman, President and COO, ManTech International Corporation says that the ETG acquisition “…adds depth to our cyber security operations and positions ManTech to capture additional work related to the Comprehensive National Cyber Initiative.”

Cyber security - always top of mind for intelligence agencies - is gaining increased attention and dollars. A government report released earlier this year found that the number of successful cyber attacks against federal government information systems and databases reported to the Department of Homeland Security rose to nearly 13,000 in 2007 – an increase of 152 percent. President Bush recommended that cyber security funding for the next fiscal year be upped 10% to $7.3 billion.

But it is in the area of computer forensics where ETG owes its roots. ETG President Tiffanny Gates founded the firm in 2001 at a time when there were few companies possessing critical skills in computer forensics and technical analysis. ETG hammered this opportunity, and enters the agreement with ManTech as a roughly 60 employee company with more than $12 million in annual revenues from clients that include the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Justice, as well as the intelligence community, among its clients.

Tiffanny Gates has come a long way since her early days as a signals intelligence officer with the Navy. In 2001, she started her own company, Emerging Technologies Group USA — this at a time when there weren’t many companies with critical skills in computer forensics and technical analysis serving the government or customers in the commercial and legal fields. Today, ETG has over 60 employees, with just over $12 million in revenue last year, and counts the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Justice, as well as the intelligence community, among its clients. In the following Q&A, Gates shares her tips for retaining top talent, and weighs in on hot trends in the field of data security.

What is your background and why did you start the company?

Tiffanny Gates: I’m a 1995 graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. In the Navy, I was a signals intelligence officer stationed in Florida, Hawaii, and Maryland, responsible for briefing the station commander on daily intelligence. I worked at the National Security Agency, in close contact with other agencies in the intelligence community, and after the Navy as a consultant on a range of information operation issues. We started our company in 2001, pre 9-11, when we realized there were not many companies with the needed critical skills in computer forensics and technical analysis serving the government or, for that matter, customers in the commercial and legal fields. I then ran the operations of ETG when we started; until elected President in 2004. I would have to say that my Navy background has significantly aided me in the corporate world. Hence our small business status today as a WO (SB), SDVO (SB).

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