Northern Ireland is a world-leading cyber security hub.
Northern Ireland firms in the region deliver expertise globally on advanced persistent threats to national security, government, health, automotive, critical infrastructure, capital markets, legal, e-commerce, e-learning and child safety online.
Northern Ireland is a top European investment location for US cyber security firms. Proofpoint, Rapid7, Imperva, Anomali, Agio, Contrast Security and SilverSky all have operations in the region. It is also home to a number of international financial services companies such as Allstate, Aflac and CME Group, that have located their Cyber Security Operation Centres in Belfast.
Global professional services firms including Deloitte, PA and KMPG, and technology companies, like Microsoft, Nvidia and BT, all have significant security operations in the region and have developed cyber security solutions directly serviced from Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland also has a cluster of locally grown firms, such as Metacompliance, Angoka and Salt Communications developing innovative cyber security products and services which are being exported globally.
Northern Ireland is home to the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast. CSIT is the UK’s Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) for cyber security and a dynamic motor for research and commercial spin-outs.
Areas of expertise
Identification, authentication and access control
Area of sector expertise
- Software
- Access management
- User verification
- Facial/gait recognition
- Northern Ireland has developed deep expertise in this key cyber security field with firms Oosto, Core Systems, ESS Security, B-Secure, Salt Communications and LAVA Group making a name for themselves worldwide.
- Local firm Salt Communications is the first company to provide a solution for encrypted communications between devices with centralised control for the enterprise.
Risk, compliance and fraud
Area of sector expertise
- Data management
- Identifying & migating fraud
- Transactions
- Fintech
- Payment processing
- Solutions for identifying risk, ensuring compliance with cyber security standards
The sector includes global firms including Aflac, Allstate, Visa, Liberty IT, eBay and TSYS.
Local firms that are servicing clients globally include:
- Metacompliance provides customers with a fully integrated and multilingual suite of software that keeps their staff safe online, secures their digital assets and helps protect their reputation and brand.
- Ampliphae provides a cloud discovery and management platform which allows clients to monitor cloud usage to minimise risks, maximise business benefits and ensure compliance.
- AuditComply is a leading cloud-based governance, risk & compliance (GRC) management platform which unites risk assessments, controls and audit, offering market-leading enterprise GRC solutions under one roof.
Securing applications, networks and cloud
Area of sector expertise
- Application security
- Cloud infrastructure
- Network security
- Encryption
- Global names in this field include Alert Logic, BT, Cisco, Cloudsmith, Contrast Security, IBM, Microsoft, Puppet Labs, Rapid7 and Synopsys.
- In 2020, on the back of the growing level of cyber security expertise in Northern Ireland, Microsoft chose it as the location for a new Cyber Security Centre.
Threat intelligence, monitoring, detection and analysis
Area of sector expertise
- Information security
- Malicious software
- Network engineering
- Information security professional services
- Global companies Anomali, SilverSky, iManager, Imperva, Proofpoint and SAP are working in this cyber security field.
Operational technology (OT) security & connected devices
Area of sector expertise
- Monitoring and control of devices
- Processes
- Machine to machine communication
- Companies in this sector include ANGOKA, Camlin Technologies, CEM Systems (part of Johnson Controls), Cynalytica, Kigen, Mellanox Technologies (owned by Nvidia), Sensata and Thales.
- ANGOKA is a thought-leader in the field of cyber security for smart mobility and infrastructure, with firmware or retrofittable hardware solutions.
Managed security service provision and advisory services
Area of sector expertise
- Cyber security monitoring
- Network security
- Patching and remote device management
- Penetration testing
- Security and IT advice
- The sector includes international IT services companies such as Fujitsu, Telefonica Tech, Capita and Civica; global professional services firms PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and dedicated cyber security firms Nihon Cyber Defence and Cybit all delivering outsourced MSSP services from Northern Ireland.
- A strong cluster of locally grown firms such as Vertical Structure, Cybit, Ansec IA (part of the Outsource Group), Automated Intelligence and Loughtec are making a name for themselves worldwide.
Centre for Secure Information Technologies
Established in 2009, the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast is a global flagship centre for cyber security.
CSIT has a number of innovation programmes including:
- CSIT Labs: an incubator programme to engineer viable ventures in cyber security
- HutZero: the UK’s first bootcame for cyber security entrepreneurs
- Cyber101: business basics for cyber security SMEs
The London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA) is delivered by CSIT in partnership with Deloitte’s cyber team.
The UK Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE) at CSIT is one of four cyber security institutes in the UK and will be a global hub for research and innovation in hardware security.
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