A leading UK cyber security ecosystem

C Y B E RTech giants andinnovative SMEs

Collaborationacross the globe

I N T R O D U C T I O N

This is cyber security.This is Wales.

Protecting computer systems has never been more important. Last year, more than half of all British firms reported an intrusion attempt. As attacks become more numerous and sophisticated, it’s essential we develop the knowledge and technology to keep ahead of the criminals.

Wales is a leading hub in the fast-growing cyber security sector. We’re a nation where forward-thinking businesses can get the support they need to flourish –and produce the breakthroughs needed to fight back against the cyber threat.

Contents

04 –05Our cyber story

06–07Cyber Wales

08–09Profile: Wolfberry

10–11Centres of excellence

12–13Profile: Pervade

03

O U R C Y B E R S T O R Y

With leading expertise, multinational companies and a thriving SME community, Wales is home to one of the largest cyber security ecosystems in the UK – and the Welsh Government is committed to its continuing growth and development.

04

Wales is a nation where cyber secu- rity firms can thrive. It has a large and grow ing tech ecosystem, forward-thinking universities, and networks that bring together business-es, researchers and academics.

We have well-established cyber security clusters in North and South Wales – both part of the umbrella or-ganisation Cyber Wales.

Big players with a presence here include Thales, QinetiQ, Airbus and General Dynamics – and innovative young businesses such as Wolfberry and Pervade Software are the back-bone of our burgeoning cyber security industry.

We’re within easy geographical reach of the UK National Cyber Secu-rity Centre at GCHQ, Cheltenham, and the Ministry of Defence Security Con-trol Centre at Corsham.

What’s more, our universities are home to acknowledged centres of excellence, producing world-class research and talented graduates with the specialist skills the sector demands.

Research and development activ-ity in Wales is geared towards produc-ing breakthrough technologies. Growth areas include artificial intelli-gence, machine and deep learning, and user behaviour analytics.

Tech businesses can call upon a range of valuable assistance from the Welsh Government. They can ben-efit from a dedicated point of contact, and speedy access to decision-makers to agree a tailored package of support.

With the public and private sec-tors pulling together, Wales is a place where everyone sees the value of join-ing forces against the cyber threat.

05

Tech businesses can call upon a range of assistance from theWelsh Government

06—

C Y B E R W A L E S

It’s good to talk. With a membership that spans the whole country, Cyber Wales provides a focus and forum for everyone in the industry, helping businesses come together and collaborate both within Wales and internationally.

Cyber Wales was established in 2014 to give industry professionals a forum to discuss issues face to face. It began life as the South Wales Cyber Security Cluster, a monthly meet-up for anyone involved in cyber security.

The following year saw the start of a North Wales cluster, followed by subject-specific clusters for topics like intellectual property, education and training, and women in cyber.

All these groups now operate un-der the Cyber Wales brand. With more than 1,000 members, it’s the biggest UK organisation of its kind. It has two main aims – to share information and to encourage growth.

Cyber Wales maintains close rela-tions with the UK Government and security services, as well as 19 other cyber clusters in the UK. It can point

Information exchange:Left, a Cyber Wales cluster meetingat the University of South Wales

Knowledge without frontiers

South Wales is part of the Severn Valley Cyber Region, straddling the Wales-England border. It links us to the English cyber hotspots of Mal-vern, Cheltenham (GCHQ National Cyber Security Centre), Corsham (MoD Security Control Centre) and Abbey Wood, Bristol (MoD Defence Equipment and Support).

to numerous real-world successes, in-cluding six new companies that have grown out of meetings.

It’s helping inward investment: Cyber Wales is a founding member of GlobalEPIC, an organisation linking partners from as far afield as the USA, the Netherlands and Israel.

Overseas businesses have already used the programme to establish a presence in Wales.

The Welsh Government has been proactive in spreading the word about Cyber Wales, helping companies es-tablish themselves on the global stage and take part in large international trade fairs and expos.

Through collaboration and mutu-al support, it’s helping make Wales a globally recognised hub for cyber security expertise.

P R O F I L E

Almost everything in modern life is managed and operated by computer systems, from hospitals to nuclear pow-er stations – and because they’re all connected to the internet, they’re vul-nerable to cyber-attack.

“That’s where cyber security firms like Wolfberry come in,” says CEO Damon Rands. “We’re ethical hackers. We test systems to find their weak points before the bad guys do. We fix them, and we educate organisations to understand the threats that their busi-nesses face.”

It’s an exciting time to be working in this field in Wales, he believes. “We’re very lucky to have the Cyber Wales clusters, and we’re recognised internationally by GlobalEPIC.

“We now have access to clusters in Dubai – where Wolfberry has an office – and Japan. We can collaborate effec-

tively with other businesses on projects that previously would only have been viable if carried out by large compa-nies. Likewise, we’ve had great support from the Welsh Government.”

As to the future, the sky’s the limit. “We’re planning to at least treble our workforce,” he says, “but we’ll be stay-ing in Wales. I’m proud my company is based here.

“It’s a wonderful place for cyber security because everything is on your doorstep, from fantastic broadband services to world-class universities – not to mention a wonderful quality of life.”

Security service:Left, keeping critical IT systems safe

WO L F B E R R Y

LocationNewport, South WalesFounded2017

Experts in ethical hacking, Wolfberry can help firms secure their computer systems by trying to breach their defences. The company’s success has been aided by the opportunity to collaborate with other innovative Welsh firms.

09

10

C E N T R E S O F E X C E L L E N C E

Throughout Wales, cyber security centres have been established to carry out research and training at the highest level. They include university departments with a global reputation, and ambitious collaborations between government, business and academia.

01. 03.

02. 04.

National Cyber Security Academy Cyber Threats Research Centre

Centre for Cyber Security Research Information Security Research Group

An initiative of the Welsh Government and the University of South Wales (USW), the National Cyber Security Academy is train-ing tomorrow’s cyber experts. Students work on real-word projects set by part-ners including Thales, Airbus and Cisco.

Swansea University’s Cyber Threats Re-search Centre (CYTREC) is a new multidi ciplinary school, bringing together ex-perts from law, criminology, political sci-ence, linguistics and psychology to count-er online threats.

The Centre for Cyber Security Research at Cardif f University is developing cutting-edge machine-learning algo-rithms and artificial intelligence to detect cyber threats. It has been designated an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by the the National Cy-ber Security Centre (NCSC).

The Information Security Research Group at USW has an international reputation in network security, computer forensics and threat analysis. It’s one of only a few cen-tres able to carry out network forensics for the UK government.

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05. 06.National Digital Exploitation Centre Airbus Endeavr Wales

The National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) is a new £20million Welsh Govern-ment partnership with global tech compa-ny Thales. Its research labs will enable SMEs to develop new cyber security prod-ucts and services. It will also include an Advanced Cyber Institute, partnering with USW, and a Digital Education Centre to train SMEs, schools and individuals.

Airbus Endeavr Wales is a Welsh Govern-ment/Airbus joint-venture company to fund research proposals in priority areas: protecting the factory of the future; indus-trial internet of things; next-generation cyber defence; human factors of cyber security; and security of big data and the cloud.

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P R O F I L E

Like many start-ups, Pervade owes its existence to a specific technical chal-lenge – and a “eureka” moment when its founders realised how it could be solved. In their case, it was the fact that many businesses needed multiple piec-es of software to keep their computer systems safe.

Managing director John Davies says: “The problem is that you need to monitor very different types of data, so you needed separate databases. My business partner said, ‘I think there’s a way to solve that, and create a database that can include all data types in one.’”

This formed the basis for the com-pany’s first offering, OpView. Now de-ployed in more than 80 countries by clients including BT, Hitachi and JCB, it allows security managers to cor-relate all data types in one system.

It has been joined by two more products. OpAudit is a tracking tool that allows businesses to manage com-pliance in a single system. OpIndex can sniff out threats in the Dark Net – parts of the internet beyond the reach of search engines – and has recently at-tracted the interest of the military.

The business remains 100% self-owned. Davies says: “We’ve never tak-en finance – we wanted to grow organ-ically. It gives us total control over what we do next.

“We’re doing what we want to do. We’re making a difference, creating some really cool stuff and enjoying ev-ery minute of it.”

P E R VA D E

LocationNewport, South WalesFounded2009

With three award-winning products, Pervade Software has applied fresh thinking to the processes of cyber security – winning the company a large and varied client base, from multinational tech firms to law enforcement agencies.

12

Tackling the threat:Right, managing director John Davies

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LondonAmsterdam

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Paris

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Cardi�

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Bristol

Oslo

Stockholm

Helsinki

Vienna

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