Online security company Carbon Black now has a research outpost in Hillsboro.

The Massachusetts company said Tuesday that it has 20 people at its new Oregon office with the capacity to double that number.

Carbon Black said it wanted a West Coast hub and "realized there is a strong network of top cybersecurity talent" near Hillsboro. (The company already has a site in Silicon Valley, but says that's not an "official office.")

The Oregon site will focus on threat research and product development.

Online security company McAfee employs 350 in Oregon after spinning out of Intel last year. It plans to open a substantial Hillsboro office in March.

Another online security company, Tripwire, employs close to 200 people at its headquarters in downtown Portland.

Privately held Carbon Black, known as Bit9 until 2016, has raised about $120 million in outside funding. Online news site The Information reported last month that the company is preparing an initial public offering for the first half of 2018, but is also discussing the possibility of selling the company to IBM, Microsoft or VMware.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699