India, June 2 -- Back in 2007, Brian Murphy made a life-altering decision. He quit his comfortable job in corporate accounting to start his own IT firm, ReliaQuest. But just weeks after taking the leap, the global financial crisis struck. In a span of 40 days, nearly every deal he had lined up disappeared. Murphy and his team of eight were left with a single government sub-subcontract focused on cybersecurity for overseas satellite terminals-and a steep uphill battle to keep the business alive.

For the next nine years, the company faced constant turmoil. But instead of giving up, Murphy doubled down on his belief that the rise of the digital era would lead to a surge in demand for cybersecurity services.

"At some point, you're far enoug...