NCD launches cyber security services with Belfast office and 10 new jobs

Japan-based tech business also announces senior local cyber industry appointments to its management team

Nihon Cyber Defence (NCD), a Japanese leader in cyber security, has announced its launch in Northern Ireland with the establishment of a Belfast office that will service private and public sector customers across the UK and Ireland.

Toyko-headquartered NCD provides robust, intelligence driven cyber defence solutions, services and support to governments, businesses and public sector organisations to proactively identify and protect them from all forms of cyber attack designed to cause financial, political or social disruption.

In response to the exponential growth in cyber threats, NCD plans to recruit a team of up to 10 core staff in Belfast over the next 12 months to work with UK and Ireland customers and support its existing operations in Japan and other regional Asia-Pacific hubs.

The company also formally announced the appointment of two experienced cyber security professionals to senior management roles.

Professor Ciaran Martin, former CEO of the UK’s prestigious National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) will be joining the NCD Board in Tokyo. Ciaran, currently Professor of Practice at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government joins many notable global cyber leaders on the NCD board to assist the Japan-based company deliver support to both the public and private sector in Japan.

In Belfast, Dougie Grant has been appointed as NCD’s managing director, EMEA to manage and deliver the European operations. Dougie has an impressive track record in cyber security having developed and led the coordination of cyber resilience and significant incident management in the National Cyber Security Centre based in London and Cheltenham. Dougie was previously responsible for building the law enforcement cyber capability locally for the PSNI and nationally with the law enforcement cyber community.

NCD already has a strong connection with Belfast through its CEO Cartan McLaughlin, who is originally from Northern Ireland. It also has longstanding relationships with local academia and has previously offered placements to several local cyber security Masters students in its overseas offices. With the establishment of the Belfast office, NCD will be seeking to develop this talent pipeline further.

Cartan McLaughlin, said: “The launch of the Belfast Office of Nihon Cyber Defence has always been our long-term ambition and it’s exciting to see this taking shape with the appointment of an outstanding local management team. With this experienced and capable team we will be able to build a safe and secure environment for our local and national businesses and industry. Belfast joins our head office in Tokyo and will lead NCD’s global incident management and response capability.”

Ciaran explained: “I’m delighted to be working with the team at Nihon Cyber Defence in Tokyo. We continue to see the devasting impact of cyber-attacks globally, but we recognise that early preparation is key if we are to respond effectively. NCD is at the fore-front of this capability delivering their expertise to the Japanese market and further afield.”

Dougie added: “It’s fantastic to be back in Belfast after delivering the national response to cyber threats and attacks in the National Cyber Security Centre. We will be expanding rapidly in NCD, protecting all sectors across the UK and Ireland, and supporting the global operations. Being based in Belfast ensures we can recruit talent locally, developing the local partnerships and support industry and infrastructure across Northern Ireland.”

The company’s businesses include: Protective Services - preparing companies for increasing cyber threats through incident response planning, cyber risk assessment and resilience testing; Monitoring Services - security monitoring to identify imminent attacks; and Incident Management - managing the response, investigation and recovery from attacks to protect victims’ systems, data, regulatory responses and reputational impact.

NCD in Belfast will be focusing its support in the legal, accounting, critical infrastructure and specialised sectors, providing proactive cyber services, network monitoring and incident management capabilities to enable organisations to prepare and respond to increasingly complex cyber risks and threats.

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