IBM’s security division has moved into a sleek new Cambridge headquarters, part of a $200 million global investment in cybersecurity products and services this year, the digital giant said Wednesday.
The new IBM Security facility, adjoining the company’s Watson Health offices on Binney Street in booming Kendall Square, include a state-of-the-art war room that corporate executives can use to practice their response to cyberattacks.
The “Cyber Range,” expected to open in January, includes a dedicated network that will not be connected to the Internet and will be used to simulate malware, denial-of-service, and other attacks on a company’s digital infrastructure.
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IBM customers are likely to have priority to use the facilities, but the company also plans to make it available free of charge to other groups who would like to test their response to possible hacking attacks, IBM vice president Caleb Barlow said.
“Our intention, initially, is to not charge for this,” Barlow said. “We want it to be an open asset.”
IBM’s increasing focus on cybersecurity services comes amid continued growth of malicious hacking aimed at public- and private-sector targets, including the “botnet” attack that crippled Internet infrastructure provider Dyn Inc. and the thefts of e-mails from Democratic presidential campaign operatives, which federal officials have said were tied to Russia.
In remarks at the office’s grand opening Wednesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said her office was notified of 3,200 data breaches last year, an increase of one-third from the year before.
“This is an issue I lay awake at night thinking about,” Healey said. “You all know we have our work cut out for us.”
IBM’s security division generated $2 billion in revenue in 2015. The company’s $200 million in cybersecurity spending this year includes its February acquisition of Cambridge cybersecurity company Resilient Systems and the addition of a new cybersecurity incident response team.
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IBM has acquired several other cybersecurity companies in the region, including Trusteer, Q1 Labs, Guardium, and Watchfire.
Curt Woodward can be reached at curt.woodward@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @curtwoodward.