Pittsburgh cybersecurity company Qintel inks deal with Pentagon - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Leaked data. Dark web crimes. Hackers. Drug trafficking. Every day, threat intelligence company Qintel fights threats across the globe from its North Shore headquarters, nestled in plain sight between Bar Louie and Southern Tier eateries on North Shore Drive. Now, the U.S. government is using Qintel’s software and data sets for national security — from tracking fentanyl precursor chemicals across borders, to hackers from overseas, to leaked credentials on the dark web. “Our solution really gives depth and breadth to our federal partners globally,” said Damon Mathews, Qintel’s senior director of national security operations. “Think of us as like a haystack of needles, and you just take out the needles you need, and then if those needles change, you come back, you get different ones.” Chloe Jad Gecko Robotics gets up to $71 million in U.S. Navy deal Qintel secured a four-year contract worth over $84 million with United States Cyber Command in March to provide services in data, analytics, tracking, offensive/defensive cybersecurity and other areas. “It says a lot for a homegrown Pittsburgh technology company to beat out a lot of the traditional defense, big contractors in that space, who have made-up amounts of money to throw at things and divisions-worth of people,” Mathews said. Pittsburgh-native William Schambura founded Qintel in 2009 after working at the Postal Inspection Service. Mathews, like many of his colleagues, came to Qintel after serving in the military, he said. He was a marine intel officer for more than 20 years. Others come from law enforcement, the government, and South Oakland’s National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance. What each of the three men repeated time and again: Pittsburgh itself is central to Qintel’s success. “You have CMU, you have the NCFTA, you have great institutions here, like PNC, and down the road, just 90 miles in West Virginia, is the Internet Crime Complaint Center, where all the internet complaints come in,” the company’s Chief Global Ambassador Keith Mularski said. “So Bill was like, ‘Look, we have something really unique here in Pittsburgh.’” First Published: June 12, 2026, 10:56 a.m. Chloe Jad is a business reporter focusing on retail, tech and artificial intelligence. She’s a 2025 graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication.   cjad@post-gazette.com   @JadChloe   chloejad.bsky.social RELATED Chloe Jad Site of former beloved race track sold for $50 million, community members brace for possible data center Chloe Jad Manufacturing ambitions get a boost with latest Neighborhood 91 groundbreaking Chloe Jad McCormick sets dates for defense tech summit in Carlisle Chloe Jad Sen. Dave McCormick and Colorado Democrat introduce national robotics commission Join the Conversation Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.