WIREDGOV

An IT consultancy that specialises in providing cyber security solutions to businesses and governments has opened an office in Australia and expanding operations in Cardiff to meet the growing international demand for its services.

Paul Thomas, Managing Director at NetConsulting (centre) along with Jonathan Ryan, Head of Marketing and Rachel Bonney, Sales and Marketing at their Cardiff offices

Net Consulting has moved from Cardiff Bay to larger premises on Greenmeadow Springs Business Park, Cardiff, where its new HQ accommodates a customer demonstration suite, software development facility and hosted and managed services. The expansion, which is backed by £135,000 business finance from the Welsh Government, is creating thirteen new highly skilled jobs.

Working across the private and public sector Net Consulting has seen consistent growth in all its markets with the Cyber Security element of the business driving expansion – in particular Cyber Security Risk Management which makes complex networks understandable and secure. Net Consulting provides Cyber Security Risk Management as-a-service to identify key points of attack and non-compliance.

Welcoming the expansion, Economy Minister Edwina Hart said:

“Net Consulting operates in one of our key sectors and I am pleased the Welsh Government is supporting its expansion in Wales. It  joins a growing cluster of  companies in the region with expertise in cyber security, an important and rapidly growing business area and one that the Welsh Government is keen to support.”

Net Consulting has developed its own bespoke Cyber Security software technology – BlueArmourTM which provides an intelligent and automated mechanism to identify, prioritise and respond to critical points of weakness and vulnerability in complex network infrastructure.

The company showcased BlueArmourTM - which is attracting considerable interest from multinational organisations - at CeBIT Australia 2015 earlier this month where cyber security was a major theme.

This global business technology event attracts around 20,000 visitors from thirty different countries and Net Consulting made the decision to open an office in Sydney after attending last year’s event with WG support.

Managing Director, Paul Thomas said it was an opportune time to establish a base in Australia.

“Australian Cyber Security technology spend is at present outpacing the rest of world which offers us real growth opportunities. The Australian government is also to conduct its first review into the country’s Cyber Security since 2008 - a consequent of the fast moving nature of cyber threats – and will explore how industry and the government can work together to make systems more resilient against attacks. We felt it was the right time to establish a presence and launch a cloud-based Cyber Risk Assessment Service from Sydney Australia.”

Cloud based cyber risk assessment services to Australian clients are delivered by Net Consulting’s Cardiff office through a cloud application portal hosted in Sydney. The expansion of this international business will have a direct impact on the growth of staff numbers in Cardiff.

On the subject of the increasing threat from cyber threats, Net Consulting’s Head of Marketing, Jonathan Ryan said:

“Creating a secure IT environment is essential for any organisation. The complexity of security challenges means no single piece of technology, no matter how competent, can handle the magnitude of security threats an organisation faces.

“Net Consulting’s approach ensures that our architecture stays adaptable enough to deal with the constant fluctuations in security requirements through a holistic security architecture. Time is of critical concern when an organisation has been attacked. The speed with which an organisation can contain and eradicate the incident will determine the impact and cost of a breach.”