After three consecutive years on the Inc. 5000 and back-to-back recognition as America's #1 MSSP, Ridge IT Cyber's founder is being recognized for a simple thesis: most companies are buying cybersecurity checklists when they need cybersecurity that works.
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Chad Koslow, CEO and co-founder of Ridge IT Cyber, has been named a 2026 finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Florida program — one of the most established entrepreneur recognition programs in the United States, now in its 40th year. Regional winners will be announced June 12, 2026. Florida finalists are evaluated by an independent panel of judges on entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, impact, and financial performance.
Ridge IT Cyber is a Tampa-based MSSP and managed IT firm that protects more than 2.5 million users across 160 countries, has delivered more than 1,500 Zero Trust implementations in the past three years, and has been named the Inc. 5000's #1 MSSP in America in both 2023 and 2024.
When a wave of SonicWall-related attacks hit earlier this year, Ridge IT Cyber's clients saw the intrusion attempts detected and contained automatically — identities locked down user by user before attackers could move laterally. Organizations without that identity-first architecture got breached.
That outcome — the difference between a contained event and a business-impacting one — is why Ridge IT Cyber co-founder and CEO Chad Koslow has just been named a 2026 finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Florida program, which includes entrepreneurs from both Florida and Puerto Rico. Regional winners will be announced June 12, 2026.
Most cybersecurity vendors sell products against a checklist. Ridge IT Cyber was founded on the opposite premise: the tools only matter if the architecture survives a real attacker. That conviction — forged supporting some of the most demanding government environments in the world — has grown into a firm that today protects more than 2.5 million users across 160 countries, has delivered more than 1,500 Zero Trust implementations in the last three years, and maintains a 99% client retention rate.
It's also why Ridge IT Cyber has stacked recognition most MSSPs never see:
The threat landscape moved faster last year than it has in a decade. Ransomware operators are compressing attacks from weeks to hours. Regulators — CMMC, PCI-DSS v4.0.1, FFIEC — are enforcing what used to be self-attested. And 68% of breaches still involve a human element, which means tooling alone is losing the fight.
"Security that works in 2026 isn't a product stack — it's an architecture. We built this firm because the companies who actually needed to be secure — defense contractors, banks, manufacturers running critical infrastructure — were being sold shelfware and audits. Our team wakes up every day thinking about one question: if a real attacker hits this environment tomorrow, does the client stay in business? Everything we build answers that question."
Ridge IT Cyber's approach — what the firm calls identity-first Zero Trust architecture — centralizes identity, continuously verifies every user and device, and removes the implicit trust that gets enterprises breached. Deployments complete in 90 days or less. Solutions are built around a vetted stack (CrowdStrike, Zscaler, Okta, Microsoft, Mimecast, KnowBe4, Qualys) that Ridge IT Cyber's own cyber range has stress-tested against thousands of reverse-engineered attacks annually.
"This recognition belongs to our team and our clients. We're just getting started."
For business leaders evaluating cybersecurity posture in 2026, Ridge IT Cyber offers no-obligation Zero Trust architecture briefings. Visit ridgeit.com or call (813) 839-2930 to schedule.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year® program is one of the most established entrepreneur recognition programs in the United States, founded in 1986. Below are answers to the questions we hear most often about Chad Koslow's EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 Florida finalist selection.
Founded in 1986, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® program is one of the most established entrepreneur recognition programs in the United States. Now in its 40th year, it has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and has expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally. Finalists are selected by an independent panel of judges — not by EY — based on entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, impact, and financial performance. The US program consists of 17 regional programs. Regional winners are announced each June, then compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November. Learn more at ey.com/us/eoy/florida.
Chad Koslow co-founded Ridge IT Cyber on a conviction that most organizations weren't getting cybersecurity that actually worked — just checklists and audits. That thesis, applied to some of the most demanding government and commercial environments, has produced a firm that now protects more than 2.5 million users across 160 countries, holds a 99% client retention rate, and has been named the Inc. 5000's #1 MSSP in America two years running. Independent judges evaluate EY EOY finalists on entrepreneurial spirit, growth, purpose, impact, and financial performance — Ridge IT Cyber's track record directly addresses each criterion.
The 2026 EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Florida regional award winners will be announced on June 12, 2026, during a special celebration in Florida. The Florida program includes entrepreneurs from both Florida and Puerto Rico. The 2026 Florida judging panel includes leaders from organizations such as Miami Herbert Business School, Toorak Capital Partners, and Sonobi. Regional winners then compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November 2026.
Ridge IT Cyber's identity-first Zero Trust architecture centralizes identity as the control plane, continuously verifies every user and device, and removes the implicit trust that traditional network perimeters assumed. Rather than trusting anything inside the network boundary, every access request is authenticated, authorized, and encrypted — regardless of where it originates. Ridge IT Cyber has delivered more than 1,500 Zero Trust-related projects in the past three years, with deployments completing in 90 days or less. The firm builds around a vetted partner stack: CrowdStrike for endpoint detection, Zscaler for secure access, Okta for identity, and Microsoft for cloud infrastructure.
Ridge IT Cyber offers no-obligation Zero Trust architecture briefings for business leaders evaluating their cybersecurity posture. To schedule, visit ridgeit.com or call (813) 839-2930. There's no obligation, no pitch — just a frank conversation about whether your current architecture would survive a real attacker.
Yes. Ridge IT Cyber's CMMC compliance practice is one of the firm's core competencies — built from the same government-environment expertise that defines Chad Koslow's founding thesis. Ridge IT Cyber has mapped 106 of 110 CMMC Level 2 controls through its managed enclave model, helping defense contractors achieve and maintain compliance without building a full in-house security operation. The team supports organizations through CMMC Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 requirements, including System Security Plan (SSP) development, SPRS scoring, and C3PAO assessment preparation. For DIB companies facing CMMC Phase 2 enforcement, Ridge IT Cyber's enclave approach is one of the fastest paths to a defensible compliance posture.
Financial services organizations face some of the most aggressive regulatory and threat environments of any sector — FFIEC, PCI-DSS v4.0.1, state privacy laws, and an attack surface that includes core banking systems, online portals, and third-party processors. Ridge IT Cyber's banking and financial services cybersecurity practice aligns FFIEC CAT maturity expectations with the firm's identity-first Zero Trust architecture — giving banks, credit unions, and FinTechs a compliance-ready security posture without the overhead of building it in-house. Ridge IT Cyber's managed SOC covers continuous monitoring, incident response, and the audit-ready documentation that regulators and examiners expect. If your institution is preparing for an FFIEC examination or a PCI-DSS v4.0.1 audit, the right time to assess your architecture is before the examiner walks in the door.
Ridge IT Cyber is a Tampa-based cybersecurity and managed IT firm delivering Cloud, Zero Trust, and Cybersecurity Architecture solutions to commercial and federal organizations worldwide. Founded by Chad Koslow and his partner, the company was built on expertise developed through work supporting highly demanding government environments. Ridge IT Cyber serves clients in 160 countries across six continents, protects more than 2,500,000 users, and has delivered more than 1,500 Zero Trust-related projects and architectures in the past three years.
Additional recognitions include Inc. Regionals: Southeast in 2024, 2025, and 2026; Inc. 5000 in 2023, 2024, and 2025, including recognition as the No. 1 MSSP in America in 2023 and 2024; and CRN MSP 500 in 2025. Ridge IT Cyber helps organizations align compliance requirements — including CMMC, HIPAA, FFIEC, and PCI-DSS — with resilient, real-world security performance.
Founded in 1986, the Entrepreneur of the Year program is one of the most established entrepreneur recognition programs in the United States. Finalists are evaluated by an independent panel of judges based on criteria including entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, impact, and financial performance. The 2026 Florida judging panel includes leaders from organizations such as Miami Herbert Business School, Toorak Capital Partners, and Sonobi. Sponsors include PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh USA, SAP, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Florida, regional Silver sponsors include ADP and Selective Insight.
No obligation. No pitch deck. Just a frank conversation about whether your current architecture would survive a real attacker — and what it would take to change that answer.
Inc. 5000 #1 MSSP in America — 2023 & 2024 · 99% client retention · (813) 839-2930
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