In Northport: cybersecurity for the U.S.

Outside Frank Zinghini Jr.'s window a sliver of Northport village's historic Main Street is visible, including the famous Shipwreck Diner. Outside other windows in Zinghini's building there are splashy blue views of Northport Harbor.

So it seemed somewhat askew when Zinghini, in an interview in his office Thursday, said by way of introducing his topic, "It's a dangerous world."

But the reality is few would disagree, which may explain why the company Zinghini started in 1987, Applied Visions Inc., located in a 140-year-old building off Northport's Main Street, is thriving. Much of the privately held company's business these days is helping the U.S. military and homeland security officials prevent cyber-attacks. Annual sales are "north" of $5 million, and the company has 38 employees, many of them software engineers.

"It all started off with me in my basement," Zinghini, a Stony Brook computer science graduate, said. "It grew slowly, over time."

While other Long Island companies are also engaged in preventing cyber-attacks -- Islandia-based software giant CA Inc., most notably -- there are few other small businesses here that do what Applied Visions does. As far back as 2000, Applied Visions started a division, Secure Decisions, to handle the cyber world. Now Secure Decisions makes up about 60 percent of the company's business. Some of the work is classified and done in a windowless room.

Earlier this week the Long Island Forum for Technology held a meeting to determine if a cybersecurity industry could be organized here. Applied Visions is already there.

The software products Applied Visions has sold to the military and Department of Homeland Security have names such as Wildcat and SecureScope. They help organizations keep their computer networks safe from cyber criminals and terrorists, said the division's director, Anita D'Amico.

D'Amico, who has a PhD in experimental psychology and once worked at Northrop Grumman Corp. on the space station program, explained her job this way: "I create something from nothing. I work with people who know a lot more about a topic than I do. I find out their problems, and I imagine a solution."

Could there be a cybersecurity industry on the Island?

"I'm optimistic," Zinghini said. "I'm hoping other companies on Long Island get into this."