Japanese cyber security firm expands Belfast operation with new headquarters

Nihon Cyber Defence (NCD), a Japanese leader in cyber security, has responded to an increase in demand for its services by moving to new offices in Belfast to accommodate its growing team.

The move comes as NCD was awarded the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Cyber Incident Response (CIR) Level 2 Assured Service Provider status through CREST. NCD joins an elite group of companies that NCSC, part of GCHQ, recommends as providers of cyber incident response services.

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

Earlier this year NCD partnered with BT to become its supplier of Incident Management Services to the Northern Ireland Civil Service through the Public Sector Shared Network contract, a strategic partnership between the NI public sector and BT.

Since the start of this year NCD has opened offices in Manchester, Dublin and most recently in Virginia in the US. The company’s new European headquarters in Belfast, which is located at Law Society House on Victoria Street, includes a new Security Operations Centre for monitoring and managing cyber incidents.

NCD’s managing director for Europe, Dougie Grant, said: “The award of assured service provider from NCSC is further validation of the quality of NCD’s team and the services we provide to clients around the world. There has been an acceleration globally in the volume and variety of cyber-attacks facing all types of organisations, so there has never been a greater need for expert advice on how to identify and assess risks and to prevent and manage incidents. Our team in Belfast continues to grow and it is our intention to recruit up to 12 new staff in the year ahead.”

Rowland Johnson, CREST president, added: “As a delivery partner, we are delighted to congratulate NCD for gaining Assured Service Provider status for NCSC’s Cyber Incident Response (Level 2) scheme. This means NCD has been assessed as capable of supporting most organisations with common cyber-attacks, such as ransomware. It provides valuable assurance to buyers of the high quality of NCD's Incident response services.”

NCD’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 and detect 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 provides these proactive cyber services, network monitoring and incident management capabilities which enable organisations to prepare and respond to increasingly complex cyber risks and threats.