The company marked a quarter of a century this Thursday, December 28, 1998, when Hispasec began its mission to promote cybersecurity in Malaga and to raise Google’s attention to the city. This momentum is now reinforced by the opening of the main Security Engineering Center (GSEC) in Europe.
Malaga has become a hub for digital security, a product of years of effort by firms like Hispasec. Today it stands as a market leader, with a turnover surpassing three million euros, more than 60 professionals on the team, and operations spanning fifty countries.
One of Hispasec’s founders was Bernardo Quintero, the architect behind Google’s sustained commitment to Malaga. A computer engineer born in Vélez-Málaga in 1973, he left the company afterVirusTotal’s founding, and Hispasec was later acquired by Google in 2012, with its headquarters in the Andalusian city.
Quintero now leads Google’s Security Engineering Center in Malaga, the third center of its kind in Europe. The facility opened its doors in the Malaga Port area last November.
A leading company
Fernando Ramírez, Hispasec’s chief executive, describes the company as the seed that enabled a broader cybersecurity ecosystem to grow. The story began with Professor Manuel Enciso, director of the School of Informatics at the University of Malaga, who recalls Hispasec as Spain’s pioneer in cybersecurity. VirusTotal emerged from that environment, paving the way for Google’s investment in 2012.
Ramírez noted in a recent interview that Quintero is extremely intelligent and visionary, someone who enjoys collaboration yet can seem distant to some, while remaining closely connected to his team.
Quintero, who built his first antivirus at age 14, launched VirusTotal within Hispasec in 2004. A few years later he steered the company toward leading Google’s interest, which culminated in a 2012 acquisition.
VirusTotal has remained a fixture in Malaga, playing a pivotal role in Google establishing its European cybersecurity headquarters there.
Entrepreneur and visionary
Quintero has humorously described his early setup in social posts, noting how a few improvised items became the seed for Hispasec. The founders faced early hurdles, including misidentification with a dry cleaning business, which led to an adjusted company name, Hispasec Systemas SL.
He also recounts starting a cybersecurity newsletter called ‘Una a día’, a simple blog before the field was widely recognized. When VirusTotal began pursuing a Google acquisition, he recalls that moment as a clear sign of what lay ahead. In later years, team members working at Google even gifted him a T-shirt to mark his new role, jokingly calling him CTO, a playful nod to leadership within the company.
Quintero reflects on his long year with Google as a roller coaster ride, acknowledging that there is still more to tell and perhaps a future book to share the full journey.
Bet on Malaga
Today Quintero leads Google’s Security Engineering Center in Malaga, a facility that strengthens the city’s status as a technology capital and attracts global firms to the region. The presence has drawn international players such as Vodafone’s European innovation hub, Capgemini from France, NTT Data from Japan, and Quantexa from Britain.
The Malaga center stands as Google’s flagship cybersecurity hub in Europe. It sits alongside other global GSECs in Munich, focused on privacy and security, and Dublin, which emphasizes content stewardship. The Malaga center now hosts more than sixty staff members, with a capacity for around one hundred. The campus features the auditorium known locally as Moraga, and the Espeto room, a nod to the region’s famed sardine roasts.
During the opening, Kent Walker, Google’s head of global affairs, emphasized that teams with ocean views have a significant duty to make the Internet safer and more reliable for users worldwide.