Sync NI Magazine Autumn 2016

AUTUMN 2016

Issue 22 Uber 08 CME Group 10 B-Secur 22

Bank of Ireland UK: Championing AgriTech

INSIDE Igniting Innovation

PwC’s Accelerator Backs Four Young NI Tech Firms

www.syncni.com

32 Upcoming Events The Latest Tech & Business Events in Northern Ireland

Latest technology and business news, jobs and events from Northern Ireland

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AT THE HEART OF INNOVATION We at Catalyst Inc believe that Northern Ireland has a community of innovators so powerful that its people can change the world. Our role is to provide the home, networks and the empathy to nurture this ambition and to support this talent to develop world leading products and services that will transform NI into one of the most entrepreneurial knowledge economies in Europe.

LET’S TALK. LET’S SHARE. LET’S CONNECT. We are passionate about our vision and your future! www.catalyst-inc.org CatalystIncHQ

facebook.com/CatalystIncHQ

linkedin.com/Catalyst-Inc-HQ

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Sync NI magazine

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About Sync NI Sync NI is the leading media outlet for Northern Ireland’s Technology and Business Industries.

The Sync NI website and magazine keeps readers informed on the latest technology and business news, jobs, and events from Northern Ireland, and abroad.

Content & Editorial Phil Hoey Editor Phone: 02890820941 Email: phil@syncni.com Marketing Caoimhe Caldwell Marketing Executive Phone: 02890820944 Email: caoimhe@syncni.com

Foreword

Stephen Wray

Director Cyber Risk Services, Deloitte

J

onathan Swift was almost certainly inspired by the bulging cliff face that overlooks Belfast when he penned Gulliver’s Travels in 1726. Perhaps the same sleeping giant inspired the City’s industrial might in the late 1800s and early 1900s when Belfast had large scale ambition and became a world leader in shipbuilding, engineering and textiles.

As commercial director at the ECIT Institute I would often ask international visitors to look out over Thompson Dock to ‘Napoleon’s Nose’ as I introduced the heritage of innovation and imagination that stood as the backdrop to the awakening in cyber security that was happening in our city.

This awakening took root in 2009 when the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) was established at ECIT. The continued development and emergence of the NI cyber cluster led to NI being number 1 in the world in 2016 for US foreign direct investment in cyber, with companies like Proofpoint, Alert Logic, Rapid7 and Whitehat establishing significant presence here. It produced numerous start-up companies like Titan IC Systems, Repknight, Cyberlytic, B-Secur

Advertising Nicole McErlean Marketing Executive Phone: 02890820944 Email: nicole@syncni.com Subscriptions Email: info@syncni.com Online: www.syncni.com/subscribe

and SaltDNA, and has supported the development of a talent pool in cyber that is the envy of Europe.

General Enquiries Sync NI Rochester Building 28 Adelaide street Belfast BT28GD Phone: 028 90820944 Email: team@syncni.com Website: www.syncni.com

Looking forward, I believe that Northern Ireland has the opportunity to become one of the world’s leading cyber economies and once again re-awaken the giant. We have the foundations in place, but we need to scale our ambition to a level unprecedented. We need a brave and ambitious plan that will drive the knowledge economy with smart specialisation in cyber; support market focused research; establish models of collaboration; invest in skills and talent and build the infrastructure and facilities to support business growth.

The plan will need to be focused on creating value, on innovation. Whatever way we look at the opportunity for cyber innovation we know that markets shift, are unpredictable and speed is the only competitive advantage. We also know new markets are winner-takes-all, small teams can create immense value and for every success there are a multitude of failures.

Foreword continued on page 4

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No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyholder and publisher. Sync NI accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed articles or statements appearing in this magazine and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Sync NI , unless otherwise indicated. No responsibility for loss or distress associated to e f any g h i j k l m nacting o p q ror s trefraining u v w x y z from person E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z acting as a result of the material in this magazine can be accepted by the authors, contributors, editors or publishers. Sync NI does not endorse any goods or services advertised, nor any claims or representations made in any advertisement in this magazine. The recruitment agencies listed are acting as employment agencies on behalf of their clients.

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

Foreword continuation An Innovation Model therefore needs to be focused on and informed by the market, on movements, on the ebbs-and-flows and user need should feed every step of the way.

My view is now no longer from ECIT, but from the Gasworks where Deloitte has a thriving Technology Solutions Centre and ambitious plans to grow our workforce in Belfast to 1,000 by 2020 with cyber as a key focus area. I meet clients every day and see a world with increasing challenges in cyber security. We have a full suite of products and services to help clients be secure, vigilant and resilient to cyber risk.

However, against an evolving threat landscape I am also delighted to be building a cyber innovation team in Belfast that can ‘innovate on demand’ in any gaps that currently exist.

I am convinced that Northern Ireland is the ideal location to establish this type of highly skilled market aware team of innovators.

Professional Services Firms like Deloitte are in a unique position as they are closely linked

to a global network of client need, but the strength of our offering in NI is also in our community.

It is fantastic to see all the groups that have built up over recent years. Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Belfast is one of the largest OWASP chapters anywhere in the world. The international AppSec Europe conference being hosted in Belfast by OWASP from 8th-12th May 2017 is testament to this. B-Sides Belfast, ISACA, CSIT Summit and numerous other meetups and events regularly take place as our community grows.

What is special about our community is that by in large we know one another across government industry and academia, or we are at least one degree separated. With the wider UK Cyber Security Strategy due to be published in the coming months, now is the time to plan how NI will lead the world in something we know that we are already very good at.

Stephen Wray Director Cyber Risk Services, Deloitte

Inside this issue

Driving Innovation in Transportation

Belfast & CME Group Fostering Talent

Sparking a Growth Mindset

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

Contents 03 06 07 08 10 12 14 15 16 18 20 22 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 34

5

Centrefold

Foreword from Stephen Wray New Developments at Sync NI Keeping the Future of Your Business Secure Driving Innovation in Transportation Fostering Talent in Information Security Turning a Big Idea Into a Business Meet Your Virtual Head of Cybersecurity AppAttic: Gamifying Healthcare UK Businesses and Cyber-Attacks Championing AgriTech Igniting Innovation A Secure Human Interface to Your Digital World Sparking a Growth Mindset Digital Natives: Victim to Identity Fraud Training the Next Generation of Digital Talent VCs Invest $290 Million in Blockchain Startups Startup feature: Bee VM Meeting Alyson Hogg Keeping NI Businesses Protected Technology & Business Events Logging Off

Championing AgriTech 18

Inside this issue | Cybersecurity Features

Meet Your Virtual Head of Cybersecurity

UK Businesses and Cyber-Attacks

A Secure Human Interface to Your Digital World

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New Developments at Sync NI As with the technology sector we know and love, in life there can be no progress without change.

S

o we’re delighted to announce that change has come to the Sync NI team, as we build out our in-house editorial and content marketing expertise by welcoming a new editor to the team.

Philip Hoey was born and raised in Northern Ireland, but he’s spent the last 12 years in London working in digital

Sync NI's Event Calendar

Philip Hoey, Sync NI

content roles for a number of startups and startup accelerators. From Caxton FX, a leading fintech startup that has grown to handle more than £1 billion in payments each year, to ENTIQ, the company that helped create and run the Level39 fintech accelerator and the Cognicity smart cities accelerator for Canary Wharf Group, Philip brings more than a decade of digital content experience to the Sync NI team.

He’s written for Tech City News in London, Alleywatch in New York, Tech.co in Silicon Valley and Irish Tech News in Dublin, he’s deeply passionate about the tech sector, and lives and breathes content marketing and SEO… the perfect combination for any of our clients that want to learn how they can fully capitalise on everything the Sync NI platform has to offer (his contact

details are included in this magazine’s masthead, just in case you’d like to bend his ear).

content section gives members the space they need to go lighter or go deeper.

Not to be outdone, change and progress have come to the Sync NI platform itself, as well, with the introduction of two new content sections: our Friday Features and our new Events Calendar.

Events Calendar Northern Ireland’s entrepreneurial spirit knows no bounds, and there is a growing array of tech, networking and business events across the province to keep entrepreneurs and technologists engaged and connected.

Our new Events Calendar will help to put these events on the map, ensuring any upcoming meetups, conferences, seminars and hackathons get the exposure, the publicity and the attendance they deserve.

Friday Features Many companies “dress down” on Fridays, and the Sync NI platform has decided to get a bit of that Friday feeling. Our Friday Features offer companies an opportunity to provide a more light-hearted, or a more handson, insight into their business, its technology or its team. From PiggyPot’s Q&A highlighting the technology behind their app and why the company is on a mission to change the way people save, to B-Secur’s Friday Feature demonstrating how the home-grown cybersecurity firm is a startup ahead of its time, to the recent article that explained why Northern Ireland’s digital sector was well and truly behind the HackTheHub hackathon that took place in Belfast in September, this new

If you’re a Sync NI member (or you’re interested in becoming one) and you’d like to learn more about featuring in an upcoming Friday Feature or getting your events promoted through our event listings, then get in touch with the Sync NI team today.

Email Sync NI

 team@syncni.com

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Keeping the Future of Your Business Secure Michael Conway, a Distinguished Engineer at Fujitsu, gives us an inside view of how he and his team work to help businesses effectively implement cyber risk management.

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yberattacks continue to feature prominently in the news. These breaches don’t just affect global organisations. Cybercriminals will target perceived weaknesses everywhere in an effort to monetise their attacks, from hacking individuals to targeting weaknesses in SMEs and larger organisations.

A report by accountancy firm Grant Thornton reveals that cybercrime is costing the Northern Ireland economy almost £100 million a year and should be a top agenda item for businesses.

Smartphones have evolved, with people now easily accessing banking and retail services and staying connected to their workplace. Similarly, smart technology such as connected meters, boilers and mobile phone applications are transforming how businesses collect and use data to meet evolving consumer demands. Yet, as the use of smart technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) grows, so too does the potential for vulnerabilities in processes and systems to be exploited. Attackers are always hungry for data and it can be misused in multiple ways, including identity theft and extortion, as well as being sold to other criminals. The use of ransomware has also increased, with malware authors creating progressively complex variants including many that use end-to-end encryption.

While cyberattacks are on the rise, the cybersecurity industry here continues to innovate and businesses can avail of a range of preventative strategies and solutions. The first step for any organisation should be conducting an information security and risk assessment. Companies often undervalue the wealth of information they have. By analysing your

infrastructure through an audit, you can allocate resources according to the potential impact on your business, whether it’s upgrading your network, switching applications, improving storage or placing tighter controls on data access.

Cyber-threats are forever evolving; therefore, businesses should not treat this as a ‘fit and forget’ exercise.

Organisations can continually improve their resilience to cybercrime by applying security risk assessments to the people, processes and technology that need to be broughtup-to-speed and so help prevent gaps creeping in.

Cybercrime can often feel overlooked due to the invisibility of the attacks. However, businesses and individuals also need to be mindful of their physical devices. One forward-looking technology that Fujitsu has developed is an iris authentication system that ensures a screen can be unlocked only when the owner’s iris pattern has been scanned and recognised. As iris patterns are extremely difficult to forge this technology has incredible application potential across a variety of systems.

Similarly, our PalmSecure ID Match technology can prevent the misuse of card payments by scanning the unique patterns of veins in a user's hands.

NI has a vibrant cybersecurity sector with a number of companies, including Fujitsu, operating in key areas such as application security, fraud detection, security intelligence and compliance. According to the Matrix Digital Report 2016, NI is uniquely placed to become a cybersecurity powerhouse given our specialist research clusters and organisations operating in key cybersecurity domains. As society becomes increasingly digitalised, moving cybersecurity awareness to the top of the list is a good first step for businesses to take.

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Driving Innovation in Transportation

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ber, the global on-demand startup with a $66 billion valuation and a mission to revolutionise the world of transportation, has grown to serve more than 400 cities around the world – including Belfast. Kieran Harte, General Manager, Uber Ireland & Northern Ireland, offers Sync NI readers an insider’s view of the meteoric rise of Uber.

It was a cold, wet night in Paris when co-founders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp first came up with the idea that would change the way millions of people get around their cities. They had just been at a conference and, along with the rest of the delegates, were trying to get back to their hotel. Every taxi was full or not stopping. “Wouldn’t it be great if you could just press a button and a car would come and get you?” and with that thought the idea for Uber, or UberCab as it was initially called, was born.

Fast forward six years and Uber is in more than 400 cities across more than 70 countries around the world.

Not only is it helping people get where they need to go, it’s also helping over a million drivers that have partnered with Uber make ends meet every month. In the UK and Ireland Uber is in over 20 towns and cities, including Belfast.

Until the advent of apps like Uber, the taxi and private hire industries had remained largely unchanged for decades. However there is no doubt

that technology has had a profound effect on the industry. Technology has benefitted the drivers that have embraced it, people looking to get from A to B, and cities themselves.

For Drivers Uber has brought the same flexibility taxi drivers have always enjoyed to the private hire industry.

Unlike many traditional private hire operators Uber doesn’t set hours or shifts and drivers are completely free to log in and out of the app when they choose.

Furthermore, Uber’s dispatch is fair. Many drivers that have partnered with us have told us that in the past if they weren’t friends with the dispatcher they didn’t get the best trips. However, with Uber the nearest car to the passenger’s pick-up point will be offered the trip first.

Technology has also helped to decrease the costs of being a professional driver. Gone are the days of expensive obsolete taximeters, receipt printers and roof signs. Cashless payments are another key feature that technology has brought to the industry. We have heard stories of riders running from drivers without paying or even worse ones where drivers have had their night’s takings stolen.

This doesn’t happen with Uber, as the system is cashless with the riders pre-registering their payment method when signing up. This also means drivers don’t have to stop at cash machines when they are

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taking people home.

For Riders Riders have seen some huge benefits from the arrival of Uber. The most obvious one is the money they save from using the service. As drivers that use the Uber app only wait a few minutes between trips, it means they are able to do more trips in an hour. As a result, the cost of each trip can be lower for the rider, whilst the driver actually makes more per hour. This means that Uber can be around 40% cheaper than other options.

The other main advantages are the safety features that are included in the app. Upon booking a ride the rider will receive the driver’s first name, photo, registration plate, car make/model and rating—so you know who’s picking you up ahead of time. There is also no longer any need to stand outside in the rain and wait for your car, as it can now be tracked in the app as it approaches your location. It’s also possible to call the driver through the app – with our technology anonymising your phone number to keep contact details confidential. As a result, by the time your car arrives you know whose car you’re getting into.

When a rider is on a trip they are able to watch a live map of the journey as they travel, showing your route and how long until you arrive. They can also share this map with a friend or loved one anywhere in the world.

After the trip the rider gets to rate the driver so Uber can very quickly establish the quality of the trip and riders receive an emailed receipt. The receipt includes a map of the trip, so it’s easy to see if the driver has taken an efficient route. If not, Uber can adjust the fare accordingly – something that’s not possible with alternative options.

For Cities As technology advances, apps like Uber can have a hugely beneficial

Kieran Harte, General Manager, Uber Ireland & Northern Ireland

impact on cities. The benefits can range from boosting local economies – as it’s cheaper and more convenient for people to get where they need to go – to challenging people’s need to own their own private car. If a service can be affordable and reliable enough to always get a car within minutes at the touch of a button, then we believe that there is no need for people to own a car at all.

We’ve also seen huge benefits to the tourism industry. Uber’s app is universal and is the same in every city it operates in. As such for many international travellers it’s second nature to simply press a button and get a ride when they’re travelling in a new city. Many of these travellers can now travel freely without needing to speak the language.

In fact, since launching in Belfast we’ve seen visitors from over 80 countries take a trip in the city.

As Uber grows it’s able to create deeper and more profound changes in cities, such as helping to reduce congestion and pollution from emissions. UberPOOL, for example, is a feature that matches riders that are heading in the same direction and gets them to share a car. This is great for congestion, and one car is needed instead of two. It’s also good for drivers as they make more money, and good

for riders as they pay less. Within six months of launching UberPOOL in London riders had saved 52,000 litres of petrol and 124 metric tonnes of CO2 by choosing to share their journeys.

That’s the amount of CO2 released from burning 132,000 pounds of coal.

There is no doubt that apps and technologies like Uber’s is reorganising the transportation industry. Millions of people around the world have now used the app to make money, providing an income to support families, fund their studies or reach a financial goal.

The ability to tap a button and get a safe and reliable ride has also changed the way people travel and move around their cities. In Belfast, we have been blown away by the reception we’ve received, and we’re looking forward to expanding the service in Northern Ireland.

It’s been less than a decade and already Uber has come such a long way.

We’re hugely excited about the future and have only really started to explore how we can improve the way people move around cities – for both riders and drivers.

Follow UberStart NI Planet NI Visit online

startplanetni.com  @Uber_NI 

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Belfast and CME Group Fostering Talent in Information Security For those in the data-protection industry, the business of keeping information secure means that it is vital to keep abreast of the latest developments in technology and continue to invest in the information security space.

T

his has resulted in the industry continuing to look to more advanced technology techniques such as fibreoptic quantum key distribution networks and increased investment to ensure that the integrity of their systems remains intact.

With around 20 per cent of firms in Belfast alone now defined as digital technology companies, the city has edged ahead of comparable UK centres such as Edinburgh, Liverpool and Birmingham. Within Northern Ireland as a whole, the sector has seen a 33 percent increase in terms of information security roles due to significant inward and organic growth within 2015 (ref INI).

Home to the world’s leading derivatives marketplace CME Group remains the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, providing risk management solutions that help drive the global economy. Expanding its global footprint in information security has always been part of CME’s ethos, and its presence in Belfast is just a part of that story.

Not only does the city have a superb skill base that draws from a highly educated and experienced workforce, the easy access to the rest of the UK and Ireland, mainland Europe and a working day that overlaps with North America and Asia has made it a natural choice for CME Group.

“Belfast is a particularly important hub for us as information security professionals,” said Gil Vega, Chief Information Security Officer at CME Group. “The

geographic location and time zone allow us to monitor multiple regions at the same time, with a great level of specificity”.

“We have been extremely impressed with the quality of candidates, the broad financial services background those applicants offer, and how quickly we’ve been able to on-board them into our programme, he said.” The Belfast office is also engaged with the wider security community and believes the networking opportunities offered by local chapters of IT governance organisations such as ISACA and OWASP along with CSIT (the Belfast-based global innovation hub for cyber security) provide a great platform for understanding how the current threat landscape is changing and how companies in other sectors are dealing with issues of security.

The company’s information security infrastructure in Belfast spans areas as broad as Application Security, Cyber Defence, Identity & Access Management and Security Engineering, helping to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of CME Group's global assets.

Security is a prime focus for the company’s employees, from the development lifecycle to infrastructure and operations, and CME Group continues to instil a strong culture in this sector.

“We’re certainly fortunate to hire from a really deep talent pool in Belfast when we need to fill information security roles, but the culture internally once new joiners start is also a part of our success,” said Alison Hamilton, Head of CME Group’s office in Belfast. “We

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"We have been extremely impressed with the quality of candidates, the broad financial services background those applicants offer, and how quickly we’ve been able to on-board them into our programme" don’t just have internal training around security, it is part of our business every day and part of how we add value to our clients.”

“Security should be at the forefront of everyone's minds, it's not just the responsibility of the InfoSec teams. We really internalise that here."

Developing the next generation of talent Information security is just one of the departments that has experienced rapid growth in the four years since CME Group established a Belfast presence in 2012. With offices in the heart of the city, expert teams are involved in areas such as Development, Infrastructure and Operations, Architecture, Clearing, Finance, HR, Business Operations and Online Marketing.

As a leading technology company, employees benefit from challenging work that impacts global markets and turns ideas into real innovations.

They also have the opportunity to work alongside and learn from a team of leading experts, gaining deep sectorspecific understanding of every facet of technology and solving problems that can’t be found in any other industry.

CME Group offers multiple avenues to help its employees grow their expertise. Employees are encouraged to host internal 'Lunch n' Learn' or ‘Tech Chat’ sessions on a variety of topics ranging from development techniques

at company-sponsored Code Up sessions. These 36-hour programming competitions take place throughout the year, challenging employees to build solutions for business problems quickly and creatively using a rapid, fail-fast

"We don’t just have internal training around security, it is part of our business every day and part of how we add value to our clients." to leading-edge technology stacks, with many employees also driving local tech meet-ups within the broader business community to help promote the latest technology techniques.

Employees also have the opportunity to stretch their development and testing skills outside their daily roles

method.

The company continues to recruit for a variety of open positions in Belfast in 2016.

Visit online For open roles at CME

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wherefuturesaremade.com

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Turning a Big Idea Into a Business

Catalyst Inc is Northern Ireland’s biggest and most vital entrepreneurial hub, a technology and business cluster that serves as the home, provides the networks and offers the support that can help Northern Ireland’s community of entrepreneurial innovators change the world.

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he Catalyst Inc team took a moment out to offer Sync NI readers a fly-on-the-wall view of the programmes and initiatives that are helping to drive Northern Ireland’s entrepreneurial revolution.

At Catalyst Inc we’ve had a number of young people working on their business ideas through two of our programmes during the summer – Connect Young Founders and Invent for Students.

Connect Young Founders (CYF) exists to inspire young people to join a community of innovators so powerful they can change the world. Five of Northern Ireland’s most ambitious entrepreneurial young people have had a unique opportunity to develop their business idea, with the support of some of our most experienced entrepreneurs and businesses.

Based on Connect’s globally-proven personalised accelerator process, Springboard, the five benefited from business workshops, mentoring, presentation skills and exposure to some of NI’s most innovative businesses.

The winner was 18 year old David Hatton, from East Belfast, who secured £5,000 to help turn his innovative idea, ‘Hindsight’, into a successful business. Hindsight is a webbased platform utilising reminiscence therapy to stimulate a patient’s memory and improve quality of life for Alzheimer and Dementia patients, and their carers.

All five of the Young Founders were impressive, and the other business ideas were: q Dermot Savage, an 18 year old from South Armagh, is developing an AgriTech product to reduce mortality during lambing. q Megan Doherty, aged 17, has created an all-natural sunscreen that protects against UV without harmful chemicals. q Georgia Hamill, 18, is developing an app that uses musical

therapy to help individuals who suffer from mental illness. q Niall McGrath, 17, is developing an app to help teach languages to children.

Invent for Students is an annual event recognising the

student innovations with the greatest commercial potential.

During the summer a group of 16-18 year old student entrepreneurs received coaching from our Entrepreneurs in Residence, learning what it takes to make innovative ideas commercially viable and preparing them for a pitch competition at Ulster University. The finalists are:

q Eleso, whose product, Fuel & Drive, turns a vehicle into a

method of payment through the integration of a number plate recognition system at forecourt pumps. q EmBed manufactures and distributes cardboard, foldable beds packed with personal essentials (food, hygiene products, medical supplies) for people impacted by natural disasters. q Bardo is an app designed to connect students to a marketplace where they can buy and sell used university textbooks. q SnapIt is a smart wearable that empowers the user to break their habit by connecting to their smartphone and allowing them to track their progress. q KnoWho is a web-based platform that bridges the gap and enhances the collaboration between academic and industry research. q Copeland Spirits manufactures a range of flavoured gins, naturally infused with fruits and herbs. q Dilo is a digital loyalty platform, which replaces physical loyalty cards and allows users to carry them on a smartphone.

Merchants can view analytics and engage with their customers through a website.

Padsmarts is a customised, 3D printed horse saddle.

This year’s Connect Young Founder, David Hatton, also made it to the final.

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Halo is Catalyst Inc’s Angel PLUS

network, a next-generation angel network that sparks successful connections between investors and entrepreneurs. Today Halo has over 170 angels and funds, and has facilitated over £11m of funding into Northern Ireland companies.

Success The recent acquisition of PathXL

by Philips was a success for two Halo angels - Halo Business Angel of the Year, Stuart Harvey, and fellow angel, James Conlon. Both were investors in PathXL alongside Scottish venture capital group Par Equity, with whom Halo has a partnership.

James Conlon said: “Angel investing is correctly regarded as being highrisk, high-reward. I’m particularly pleased, and perhaps lucky, to be able to say that I have been successful on what was in fact my first angel investment. Encouraged by this, I am already expanding my portfolio of angel investments.”

PathXL, based at Catalyst Inc, was spun-out of Queens University Belfast in 2008. Their digital pathology systems detect, analyse, segment and catalogue tumours faster and more accurately than current methods, significantly improving cancer diagnosis rates. Alan Watts, Halo Director, commented: “This is the second successful exit for Halo angels. It is proof that, if done correctly, angel investing can generate returns in both cash terms and for the Northern Ireland economy as a whole”.

Pitch@Palace, established by The Duke of York, offers the chance for entrepreneurs to get their business idea in front of a global audience of influencers, who can catapult it to the next level. In less than three years Pitch@Palace has helped over 205 businesses grow.

For the first time, one of three

Paul Brewster, Pure Marine

regional “Pitch@Palace On Tour” events will be taking place in Belfast, supported by Halo. On Tour events enable entrepreneurs to connect to local stakeholders and receive mentoring to develop their business. Three entrepreneurs will be selected from this regional event to attend Pitch@Palace Boot Camp, with the potential to be selected as one of fifteen finalists for the Pitch@Palace event at St James's Palace on 2nd November 2016.

Paul Brewster of Pure Marine, a local entrepreneur based at Catalyst Inc, is an alumnus of Pitch@Palace, and was one of the winners in 2014. Paul said: “Taking part in Pitch@Palace was a unique experience that opened up new opportunities and introductions to some of the biggest players in the global energy industry. Our prize included a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and I was also invited to join HRH The Duke of York on a trip to Saudi, which provided the opportunity to meet a number of influential investors”.

Pure Marine, who has developed a wave energy converter capable of generating competitively priced electricity, has proven it is among the best in the world when it comes to wave energy. Earlier this year its DUO technology was selected as one of only nine finalists in the US Department of Energy’s Wave Energy Prize.

Alan Watts, Director of Halo at Catalyst Inc, who is supporting the event in Belfast said: “We are delighted that Pitch@Palace on Tour will be taking place in Hillsborough Castle on 29th September. While the funding is certainly central to Pitch@Palace, the access to top UK CEOs and influencers is what makes this experience unique.

Startups emerge with connections and prospects, which undoubtedly add significant value to the company. We know we have many world-leading technology startups in Northern Ireland and Pitch@Palace is a great opportunity that could catapult your business to the next level”.

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Meet Your Virtual Head of Cybersecurity

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assword database stolen; networks hacked to steal confidential company designs or documentation; an entire company’s encrypted data and backups held to ransom…all great storylines for an episode of Mr. Robot - but all this is happening now, all too often and right here on our doorstep.

Outsource Solutions NI explains why the future of cybersecurity is right here, right now.

The way we work and interact has changed dramatically in recent years.

Working from home, working on the move and working on different devices and hardware have allowed us to work from anywhere at any time: a mini-revolution in itself. However, the freedom to work like this has kept many IT system admins awake at night, hoping their security measures are still effective in deterring an attack or hack.

With the news full of stories about businesses that have fallen victim to cyber-attacks, it has left us wondering: should we turn off the internet? Drop off our computers and smartphones at the dump (all data securely removed beforehand, of course)? Go to the attic to gather up an old analogue typewriter? This may sound farfetched, but it’s something the German

government has considered in its efforts to prevent sensitive documents from falling into the hands of operatives in other countries. Let’s take Northern Ireland forward rather than back, though.

Data security is paramount. Microsoft and other vendors have worked closely with organisations to design solutions for Data Loss Prevention; preventing corporate data from leaving the organisation. This includes monitoring bandwidth, user activities and utilising content filtering to identify possible data breaches.

Outsource have been helping businesses secure their data, and their systems, for almost 17 years, and in that time the threat from cyber-crime has intensified, become more sophisticated and grown to affect every IT user in a way few would have thought likely. That’s why Outsource is more than an external service provider…Outsource serves as a “Virtual” IT Director for its clients, gaining a complete understanding of their business and its operations in order to best develop fully secure, and scalable, security solutions. In addition, Outsource Telecoms offers unified communications, allowing communication anywhere, at any time and on any device, while Outsource

Professional Services helps businesses to comply with legal, licensing and data protection requirements, as well as project management and staff training.

Outsource has also been engaging in educating customers and users on cybersecurity. Outsource Managing Director Terry Moore explains “Over the years we have seen a significant rise in cybersecurity incidents. With the developments and advances in technology, including the large uptake of cloud-based solutions, it has opened new forms of attacks. IT Security should never be treated as a given, but rather as a cornerstone to the success of any business, even something as simple as not enforcing a password policy could spell disaster for an organisation. “ Outsource has teamed up with academic institutes to develop research into the new types of cyber-attacks, security exploits and threats that are now circulating. Our systems have to be more of a “living” security system, with multiple layers constantly being updated, refined and enforced to prevent attacks and breaches. If you’re keen to have your own virtual Head of Cybersecurity, contact Outsource today.

Follow Outsource Solutions Visit online Start Planet NI NI

startplanetni.com    @OutsourceNI

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AppAttic: Gamifying Healthcare AppAttic is an award-winning app development startup headquartered in Belfast. Sync NI recently sat down with Carley Morrow, AppAttic’s Head of Growth, to chat about the startup’s recent success…and its plans for bringing more gamification to the healthcare sector. q Why did AppAttic decide to focus on gamification? How

can gamification help to enhance user wellbeing?

Gamification has existed for years; think back to your chore charts at home, sales leaderboards at work, etc. Using game elements can make everyday tasks more fun and rewarding.

Our focus at AppAttic is on gaining insight into peoples’ health and wellness, to intervene early, change behaviour and personalise their healthcare experience. To do that we need them to engage with us, and the easiest way is through the technology they know and love: mobile phones, wearables, and games. By using game elements, we also have the opportunity to change behaviour for the better through game rewards. For us, it’s about the data collection, the intervention, and now the clinical validation. Ultimately, this insight can feed into the predictive and precision medicine of future generations, all from our mobile devices and games.

q AppAttic was named Belfast Startup of the Year in 2015, and also won Invent 2015 in the creative media category.

What have you been working on so far this year to build on 2015’s success?

Most of our 2016 work to date has been around refining our current offerings, clinical trials for validation and building towards commercialisation. A lot of time has been spent on our MediMerge platform, which is the clinical hub of insights for all the data we collect. Research, development and innovation never really stops, it just becomes more focused and at AppAttic that’s adding to the existing platform based on needs.

q We understand AppAttic is currently running clinical

trials with the NHS? Can you give us a little more information on how that’s progressing?

Yes, we’re running a randomized control trial (RCT) on our medicines management game/app currently code-named

MAGE (Medicines Adherence Gamification Experience) with South Eastern Health Trust. The trial is set to finish in March 2017 and we’re hoping to publish some early results at the beginning of the year. The product is primarily aimed at medicines management; helping you to adhere to your medication through game-play and gamification. Data is then sent to our MediMerge platform for review by the clinician. In the health and wellness domain, the validation is often the forgotten element. At AppAttic, this is a large part of what we have been focusing on, clinical trials of the technology within the NHS. In some ways, we have become a “guinea pig” ourselves, discovering how we can use traditional clinical trial models with rapidly evolving technology. Our next big leap in innovation is going to be around how we clinically trial low-risk medical apps and interventions.

q Are wellness apps moving away from the smartphone

and towards wearables?

No, they’re not moving away from the smartphone, but they are becoming more pervasive spreading across phones, tablets, pcs, IoT, wearable devices and clothing. ‘Apps’ of all descriptions will become more and more integrated into our everyday life. So much so, you won’t even notice they’re there.

q Do you see mass adoption of wearables in the future,

or are they likely to remain more of a niche device for most consumers?

Yes. Wearables will become the norm, much like the mobile phone. The market is forecast to grow from $15 Billion in 2015 to $25 Billion in 2019, with smartwatches and fitness trackers making up the majority of sales. It is these low-cost consumer products, such as Fitbit, on which AppAttic focuses its research and development; as the costs continue to drop and the technology and connectivity continue to improve, there is huge potential to have a massive impact on health (and the economy) globally.

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

50% of UK Businesses

Admit to Having Experienced a Cyber-Attack

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s Northern Ireland’s entrepreneurs and business leaders gear up for November’s Cybercrime Security Forum, which takes place at Crumlin Road Gaol and features Microsoft as headline sponsor, we sat down with the founder of CyberForumNI, Justin Bentley, to find out why this event is so important for Northern Ireland’s business community. This is what he had to say.

A new report from Juniper Research has revealed that as much as half of UK businesses have experienced a cyber-attack at some point in the past. Despite those first-hand experiences of cybersecurity threats, though, more than three quarters of businesses in the UK believe their current cybersecurity measures are sufficient to thwart a future hacker or prevent a malware attack… even when they don’t take simple precautions or fail to perform penetration testing on their own cybersecurity solutions.

While there has been increased concern about (and more IT budget allocated towards) cybersecurity in recent years by businesses throughout the UK, a worrying 86% of the British businesses surveyed by Juniper believe they are already doing enough to completely mitigate the impact of cybercrime.

87% of businesses reported having some form of continuity plan in place, which is a significant improvement on previous years and represents a surprisingly high proportion of UK companies. However, at the same time more than half of those businesses admitted they don’t have secure practice guidelines in place in order to ensure employees know how to keep

the business safe, and a third of all businesses are under the illusion that it’s only their IT departments that need to concern themselves with cybersecurity.

The research also found that one of the biggest problems when it comes to cybersecurity in British businesses is not that there are no security measures in place, but that they are inconsistently applied, rarely tested and rarely reinforced. Nearly 90% of respondents reported having a plan in place for when a data breach occurs, but just 31% take very simple precautions such as monitoring company emails for phishing attempts, and a mere 27% have conducted some form of penetration testing.

Good news for cyber-criminals, bad news for business leaders.

Reflecting on TalkTalk’s recent high profile cyber-attack, Kristine Olson-Chapman, General Manager at TalkTalk Business, said: “For us cybersecurity is no longer just a technology issue, it’s a business issue for the whole company. Any business that has ever had a cyber-attack will tell you that they never expected it, even with all the processes in place. Businesses need to ask themselves what they need to do now to plan and prepare.”

Kristine’s comment is relevant to all businesses, but somewhat alarmingly 27% of SMEs in the UK reported feeling secure from digital threats because they believe cyber-criminals are only interested in big companies like TalkTalk, Ashley Madison or Dropbox. This is certainly a misconception, and risks breeding a culture of complacency at smaller firms – making them an easy target for hackers and cybercriminals.

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The Cybercrime Security Forum

That’s why the upcoming Cybercrime Security Forum is so important for businesses, large and small, across Northern Ireland. Protecting a business from cybercriminals is not a task that can be ticked off once it’s completed – it’s a constant, ongoing process, and one that every business in Northern Ireland can benefit from committing more time and resources towards.

So if you care about cybersecurity, if you understand its importance to your future business success, it’s time to get with the cybersecurity programme.

Meet the speakers

Ahead of the province’s foremost cybersecurity event in November, we caught up with one or two of the keynote speakers to get their take on why businesses, large and small, should concern themselves with the risks posed by cybercrime, and what the experts see for the future of cybersecurity.

The Cyber Arms Race “Technology is developing at an amazing rate; this offers opportunities for business enablement and cyber defence, as it does for attack. The challenge is recognising them and learning from the past…”

Stuart Ashton, National Security Officer, Microsoft “Three of the key threats: q BEC (Business Email Compromise) q Ransomware q DDOS and extortion Business and industry in Northern Ireland are falling victim to these attack vectors on a daily basis, but it is the preparedness and incident response planning of the organisation that will determine whether the impact will be catastrophic or a mere nuisance.”

Douglas Grant, Detective Chief Inspector, PSNI Cyber Crime Centre

Cybercrime Goes Mobile “More than 85% of employees use their own smartphones at work, while more than 65% of employees use company devices for their personal matters. Accordingly, mobile-related Cyber Crime will continue to rise, becoming a serious risk for users and businesses.

Weak and unsecure mobile access, device theft or loss and mobile malware are just some of the risks and a flip side of

mobile devices’ obvious benefits.”

Sasa Kranjac, Cybersecurity, Azure and Windows Internals consultant and technical trainer

The Importance of Cyber Awareness “One of the biggest areas of concern is still poor user education/awareness. The average user almost inevitably uses the same password on multiple internet sites, and with sites being compromised on a daily basis passwords are also compromised. Companies should be looking at password alternatives and Multi-Factor Authentication”.

John Craddock, Leading identity and security architect

Penetration testing is critical “It’s very tempting to adopt business to the latestand-greatest, must-have technology, but unless it’s been thoroughly tested it's a vulnerability and should be treated as such.”

Andy Malone, Award winning writer, security consultant and trainer

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Championing AgriTech The global AgriTech sector is booming. According to recent figures from the Office of National Statistics the sector contributes £14 billion annually to the UK economy, and the industry is witnessing the emergence of sophisticated and highly-adaptable technologies designed to improve agricultural efficiency.

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ne such technology that is playing a key role in the agricultural revolution comes from Sixty-5, a Belfastbased software business. Its founder, John Arrell, and Bank of Ireland UK’s Debbie Cunningham reveal how their partnership is steering success and ultimately helping to ease the pressures on farmers across Northern Ireland and beyond.

John Arrell founded Sixty-5 in May 2014 to solve a problem no one else was addressing. Having spent more than twenty years working in the agricultural machinery industry, he grew frustrated at the complexity of existing technical products designed to help farmers achieve efficiencies. He says: "Everything that was available was geared towards large-

scale arable farming systems. I saw a gap in the market for innovative products that all farmers could adopt with ease, particularly grass-based farming."

John was joined by his technical co-founder, Colin Mitchell, in December 2014 and together they developed a GPS and cloud-based platform that helps farmers and agricultural businesses to optimise their resources and thereby enhance and increase productivity and profitability.

He says: "What we have developed is unique in the market.

It’s simple – you don’t need to be tech-minded to use it. We’ve used app-based technology so it won’t go out of date, and, being a cloud-based portal, the resulting data can be used to

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introduced to the team at Bank of Ireland UK. He says: "We explored what the bank could offer us as a business, and they ticked all the boxes. The single most important thing for me was being given a dedicated point of contact in our Business Adviser, Debbie Cunningham, who is always just a phone call away."

Bank of Ireland UK has local, experienced Business Advisers in every branch that provide a crucial link in giving business customers the right support at the right time as they develop their companies. That support includes the full range of business services and products, from working capital solutions to help with cash flow through to accessing expertise in the Global Markets team on trading successfully in the global marketplace.

help farmers comply with regulatory requirements around financial records, environmental traceability and a lot more."

Bank of Ireland UK has long been a passionate advocate for and supporter of businesses in the growing tech sector in Northern Ireland. For nearly ten years, it has championed the ambition of innovators through its sponsorship of the Catalyst Inc. INVENT Programme, which seeks to turn inventions into global businesses.

It is a highly successful partnership.

Bank of Ireland UK provides participants with expertise and insight into the commercial world, as well as making vital connections for those ideas with significant commercial potential – the businesses, in turn, are supported on their way into business.

With ambitions to grow and scale the business, John competed in the INVENT Programme in 2014 and was

It is support that is also awardwinning, with both the bank’s Small Business Growth account and Agri Business current account having recently been awarded 5 Star Ratings

by Moneyfacts, the UK's leading independent provider of financial information, noting in particular the ‘added quality’ features of the accounts – the only local bank to be included in the ratings.

Debbie Cunningham says: "Financing and supporting our business customers is important, but it’s only half the story. At Bank of Ireland UK we pride ourselves on adding real value. For example, we provide our business customers with appropriate networking opportunities and we provide profile and promotional opportunities through PR. In the case of Agri-based businesses we involve the bank’s Agri Specialist, William Thompson, to help the business create valuable connections in the market."

After launching in the UK and Ireland, Sixty-5 broke into the European market, initially in Scandinavia. With a system that can be applied to many crops, from vines to nuts, the company has

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completed a number of successful trade missions to New Zealand and Australia, where the app launches next. John says: "From the outset, the bank supported us with working capital to help fund our expansion, and they advised us on foreign exchange. We also needed an account in the Republic of Ireland to manage sales there; with the bank operating in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Debbie managed that for us with no need for me to leave the office.

"Debbie has also introduced us to the bank’s Global Markets team, who are helping us to manage the challenges of overseas trade. As we increase our global footprint their knowledge and proficiency in steering us successfully through exports will be an increasingly important element of the bank’s service to us, and we’re delighted to have that expertise readily available.

"Over the next three years we’re aiming to increase our turnover and export sales by developing new products and services, as well as growing our technological capability.

We’re currently a team of six, we’re actively recruiting for two more developers at the moment and expect to grow the team.

John concludes: "Growing a strong and successful business is not without its challenges, but from the outset Bank of Ireland UK bought into our vision as a partner and we could not be happier with the way things are moving - they understand our business needs and are very supportive of our ambitions."

Debbie Cunningham, Business Adviser at Bank of Ireland UK, says: “We are committed to being Northern Ireland’s ‘Enterprise Bank’ - that means investing in and building strong partnerships with our customers and taking the same enterprising, innovative and competitive approach to business as they do to support their growth ambitions.”

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Igniting Innovation

PwC’s Accelerator Backs Four Young NI Tech Firms 2015 marked the launch of PwC’s hotly anticipated Ignite programme. As the accelerator now prepares to enter its second phase, we caught up with the programme’s organisers to learn more about the next group of participants.

W

hen we decided to launch PwC’s Ignite technology accelerator we had a clear understanding of the potential of the sector, the significance of its contribution and the importance of the challenge.

Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy is growing fast.

The individuals and companies that create, develop and commercialise new and emerging ideas, technologies, processes and products and export them around the world are key to achieving the Executive’s objective of rebalancing the economy.

Last year, we saw four local companies win places on the inaugural Ignite accelerator programme, and this year four new young Northern Ireland technology businesses have been selected to participate. Cyberlytic, Funds-Axis, See.Sense and Yedup will spend a year accessing PwC expertise, advice and global networks, before travelling to Silicon Valley to mix with the heavyweights of the US tech and venture capital community.

Selecting four companies a year and exposing each of them to an intense programme of mentoring, development and export focus may not sound like much, but this is a sector where networking is intense, experiences are shared and the experience of one can influence the actions of many.

Cyberlytic, Funds-Axis, See.Sense and Yedup are all young

companies immersed in the local knowledge economy, which is vital in the battle for exports, wealth creation and sustainable employment. Around 10% of Northern Ireland’s gross value added (some £3.4bn annually) comes from the sector, which employs around 35,000 people.

But what sets the sector apart are things like average wages (around 1.5 times the Northern Ireland average), GVA per head of close to £60,000 (also twice the local average) and exports, where around 85% of sales are to customers outside Northern Ireland. Collectively these are factors that make the knowledge economy, and PwC’s Ignite programme, vital to the long-term prosperity of the region. Then there is the growth potential, where the most successful organisations can demonstrate awesome levels of growth. Facebook has a market capitalisation almost as big as the annual GDP of New Zealand, while the world’s top 10 technology companies have a combined market capitalisation bigger than the GDP of Canada, Italy and the Russian Federation.

Getting onto PwC’s Ignite accelerator is tough. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be in business for at least 2 years, have a strong product and/or service offering with proof of concept and a clearly identified export opportunity.

Add the potential to deliver an annual turnover of at least £1m inside the next two years and that narrows the field, but it certainly hasn’t stopped a record number of applications for the 2016/17 programme.

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Participants and PwC mentors at launch of the 2017 Ignite programme

So who are the companies paticipating in this year’s Ignite programme?

Belfast-based Cyberlytic has developed the Cyber Threat Profiler (CTP), which provides real-time risk and security intelligence. The CTP connects to existing security systems to analyse the underlying attack data. It prioritises cyber-attacks by using a unique patented classification approach to determine the capability of the attacker, together with the relative sophistication and effectiveness of each attack.

Funds-Axis is a regulatory technology company providing a suite of software, data, consultancy and training products and services to the global fund management industry. The main product is FundWare, developed with technology partner Miles, which is industry-leading regulatory software that enables clients to maintain and monitor their compliance with financial regulations such as UCITS, AIFMD and shareholder disclosure rules.

See.Sense designs innovative, connected products for cyclists, with

crowd-sourced sensor data that can be used to improve cycling infrastructure and create the smart cities of the future.

Products include high-technology cycling products, such as intelligent and connected lights and theft-tracking devices. Applications include crash and theft detection alerts and real-time monitoring of road surface, accident and near-miss, and temperature and light levels.

Yedup Limited is a Belfast-based startup undertaking primary R&D and commercialisation of artificial intelligence (AI) and adaptive machine learning technology to improve the ability of machines to understand human language, especially the non-standard language used on social media, in real time (i.e. at high throughput speed).

We’re delighted with the quality and innovative approach exhibited by each of our four companies, and confident that they, and the programme, will lead by example.The inaugural Ignite programme generated a great deal of publicity for the accelerator, but it also created opportunities for the companies, in the US and other

markets. One particular factor that motivates applicants is the importance of developing new international markets beyond the EU, something that is especially vital given how the UK looks towards exiting the EU. In addition, the first Ignite group has praised the structure of the programme.

A trip of a lifetime to Silicon Valley, combined with extensive learning around the challenges faced by US companies, ultimately equips each of the four participating companies with the knowledge and confidence to successfully exploit new markets and growth opportunities.

Last year’s report on Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy found that, for the second year running, the region was the second fastest-growing knowledge economy amongst the UK’s 12 regions. But despite the speed of growth, we’re only catching up; in terms of absolute size, Northern Ireland still ranks tenth out of the 12 regions.

For that reason alone, accelerating Cyberlytic, Funds-Axis, See.Sense and Yedup to grow and look beyond Northern Ireland, is justification for Ignite.

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Take Heart

There’s Now a Secure, Human Interface to Your Digital World

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ync NI recently had an opportunity to sit down with Alan Foreman, CEO of the highly innovative Northern Irish cybersecurity startup, B-Secur. Alan brings a wealth of highlevel technology and management expertise to the biometrics company he now leads, having spent 19 years at Accenture, where he headed up the firm’s emerging technologies division.

From a personal perspective, Alan was drawn to the increasingly critical cybersecurity sector when he realised that, although most of the world had gone digital, the security protocols that secured and protected those digital technologies were being left behind by the rapid pace of change. B-Secur is working to correct that imbalance – here’s how.

According to a market forecast from Juniper Research there are currently 13.4 billion web-enabled devices in the world, and that number is expected to balloon to an extraordinary 38.5 billion connected devices by 2020. The Internet of Things is fast becoming the Internet of Absolutely Everything.

While digital connectivity is being integrated into a vast array of “things”, from cars to home appliances to entire houses, airports and government facilities, in many cases the cybersecurity technologies that underpin and secure those devices have struggled to keep up with this digital revolution.

For instance, passwords and PINs are essentially analogue cybersecurity solutions – they served their purpose during the web’s early years, but as hackers become ever-more sophisticated those outdated security credentials could represent an exploit-in-waiting.

First-generation biometrics Early biometric authentication technologies, such as fingerprint readers and facial recognition, offered a much more secure response to the cybersecurity threat when companies began integrating them into digital devices a few years ago. They also had the added benefit of being readily available (at the touch of a button or the blink of an eye, so to speak), and didn’t require web users to remember a series of complex passwords or four-digit PINs. That said, firstgeneration biometrics are far from perfect. If a hacker is able

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to get hold of a user’s fingerprints, for instance (perhaps by hacking into a police database…or more simply, by piecing together the partial prints from an individual’s computer keyboard or smartphone screen) then those copied authentication details could be used to gain access to the user’s digital devices and online services.

If only there was a biometric authentication credential that wasn’t so easy to copy…and a biometric reader that offered the inherent ability to confirm whether the user is providing a live biometric reading or attempting to use a copied identifier.

Luckily, there is. It’s time you met the Northern Irish startup that was recently

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algorithm and verify the individual’s identity.

Unsurprisingly, a person’s heartbeat is generally much more difficult for hackers and cyber-criminals to copy than a fingerprint. And should a hacker get hold of a recording of a user’s heartbeat signature, B-Secur’s machine learning capabilities will ensure the recording won’t be mistaken for a live heartbeat – a feature known as ‘liveness detection’.

B-scalable B-Secur’s ECG technology has a vast array of potential applications – from securing financial services products, to handling physical access control at airports and government facilities, to

Alan Foreman, CEO B-Secur

secure wearable devices, such as a smart watch that features integrated biometric authentication, and is collaborating with a FTSE-listed construction and facilities management company to develop highly secure physical access controls for commercial buildings.

recognised by Gartner as a Global Cool Vendor: B-Secur.

Next-generation biometrics B-Secur’s innovative cybersecurity solution leverages a biometric identifier that’s much harder to steal or duplicate than fingerprints – an individual’s unique heartbeat signature. The Belfast startup’s technology employs medical-grade ECG (electrocardiogram) to read a person’s unique heartbeat algorithm, and uses Big Data analytics and machine learning to analyse that

using heartbeat signatures as the basis for ‘fuzzy extractors’, which can be used to secure electronic patient records.

B-deployed In fact, the startup is already working with one financial services company to develop biometric ATMs, and is partnering with another banking firm to launch the world’s very first ECGsecured smart debit card.

Beyond finance, B-Secur is working with a company in the US to develop

B-ahead In many ways B-Secur is a startup ahead of its time – some companies, even huge multinationals, are only now beginning to incorporate firstgeneration biometrics into their products and services – witness, for instance, HSBC’s recent announcement that it will allow business customers to verify their identity by taking a selfie, aka by using facial recognition.

B-Secur is a home-grown Northern Irish startup that is demonstrating to businesses around the world why they should take a quantum-leap right over those already-outdated biometrics, and get on board with the real power of second-generation biometric authentication.

Follow B-Secur

 @bsecurtech

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Sparking a Growth Mindset U

lster Bank’s Entrepreneurial Spark hatchery, based in the heart of Belfast, is a business accelerator with a difference. It is part of a major international movement to encourage and support startup and scale-up businesses, and can host (and accelerate the growth of) up to 80 startup businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs at any one time. Lynsey Cunningham, Ulster Bank’s Entrepreneurial Development Manager, gives Sync NI readers an insight into how this revolutionary business accelerator is helping to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland.

Working with early-stage entrepreneurs, day-in-day-out, has given me real insight into what is truly required to build a business that will thrive. The Entrepreneurial Spark Hatchery, powered by Ulster Bank, has been in existence for just over six months, and I can already see the positive impact it is having on the culture of business in Northern Ireland – largely down to the calibre of people that it has been able to support.

We hear about the blood, sweat and tears associated with entrepreneurship, but these entrepreneurs have let me into the secret that building your own business is actually also good fun – something that’s easy to lose sight of! There are unique stresses and challenges to overcome, but the longterm satisfaction of taking an idea from inception to fullyfledged business creates a degree of engagement and sense of achievement that is hard to beat. The businesses that we see in the Hatchery have an infectious enthusiasm for what they do, and my job is to ensure that that is allied to the right support and guidance to channel it into business success.

We do this is by encouraging a culture of innovation – helping our people see that innovation isn’t a single ‘eureka’ moment when you come up with a new idea for a business, but rather a lean way of approaching all decisions to strip out the baggage, making you more agile in responding to fast-

Lynsey Cunningham, Ulster Bank changing market trends and customer preferences.

It better prepares startup and scale-up businesses for the unpredictability of the real world, and means that they are more equipped to deal with change while still meeting sales targets and marketing their business.

That is our ethos in action – focusing not just on the idea but the people who will deliver it. We aim to build the people who build businesses – helping them put in place the skills and processes that they need to make themselves credible, scalable and backable to outside investors, so that they can articulate their vision productively.

Entrepreneurs might only get one chance at turning their ideas into successful reality - and they might not know that moment until it has passed. The approach I take is to encourage them to 'go do' – done is better than perfect and so much early-stage entrepreneurship is based around finding out what doesn't work as quickly as possible, rather than spending time constructing plans that are sophisticated but fragile.

Since working with Entrepreneurial Spark, I've come to see that much of what determines success is a growth mindset.

It is about learning aptitudes, being brave enough to admit when you have reached your limits, and strategic enough to find the partners and sources of information that can help you overcome those barriers and grow a sustainable business in the long-term.

As we open applications for our next cohort of ‘Chiclets’, I look forward to seeing the new and diverse sectors and people that will be represented. There is support out there for people with a good business idea, or a business that is looking to take it to the next level, and I’d encourage anyone who feels that they could benefit from this support to find out what we’re all about: www.entrepreneurial-spark.com

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Meet two Entrepreneurial Spark Chiclets Evan Wagner Evan Wagner set up Bua Ltd to bring a new hurling helmet to the market, combining aesthetics and safety for players in what is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous field sports in the world.

The 29-year-old from south Belfast has spent four years developing the helmet. The traditional hurling helmet design is based on the helmets used by ice hockey players. Having an interest in ice hockey as a result of spending his early childhood in Canada, Evan decided to look into developing the hurling helmet into a piece of safety equipment that looks good and also meets the needs of players as much as possible.

padding, and are designed in such a way that they do not have to be attached to the chin, so the jaw does not absorb the impact if a player is hit in the face.

In addition, the material used inside the helmet does not absorb sweat, meaning it is more hygienic.

Evan also worked closely with hurlers to find out how they would like the traditional helmet to be improved. Bua Ltd’s helmets feature several layers of

Looking to the future, Evan wants Bua Ltd to design and create equipment for GAA sports. He plans to supply directly to the customer and hopes that

he will eventually sell his helmet as far afield as Australia and the US. For now, however, he just wants to see his helmet on the market.

"Hurling is a fantastic sport and there is great potential for growth," Evan said.

"I will be happy when I see one player in the All Ireland final wearing my helmet; I couldn't really ask for much more than that."

Gary McDonald Gary McDonald is a Northern Ireland businessman who is working to bring to market a technology-based data solution that will help customers get the best out of the shopping experience, while simultaneously helping retailers better understand and target their customers through increased profiling.

Gary set up Limitless, which is based in Belfast city centre, just over six months ago with a plan to help retailers and customers by drawing on his two decades of experience working with one of the biggest supermarket chains in Northern Ireland.

His technology, which tracks shopping habits, will be available to use both online, and in store using mobile triangulation. Retailers will be able to monitor where customers went online

or in premises, and can collect data about which products customers looked at and what goods were purchased.

It will even be possible for retailers to create a typical shopping list and send a text message to a customer before they leave the shop to remind them they have forgotten something they usually buy. Another component of the Limitless technology will alert

retailers to the presence of a customer in an area when there are no staff in the vicinity. Marketing material can also be specifically targeted to individual customers.

Gary is currently concentrating on building the best possible team for the launch of Limitless, and will initially target Northern Ireland before expanding to a global market.

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Digital Natives

are the Most Likely to Fall Victim to Identity Fraud

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s business people across the UK and Ireland prepare for the upcoming Cybercrime Security Forum, due to take place in Belfast in November, new data from Experian has revealed that cybercrime should not only represent a growing concern for corporate web users – it should be a top-of-mind issue for consumers as well.

Somewhat ironically, Experian’s research highlighted that it is the UK’s digital natives (the 7.7 per cent of the population that are the most prolific users of mobile devices and social media platforms) that are most at risk of becoming the personal victims of cybercrime.

Digital natives accounted for almost a quarter (23 per cent) of all identity fraud victims in the UK in 2015. They also saw the biggest increase in ID theft last year, with a 16.7 per cent increase for this group over the previous 12 months – a finding that suggests many web users may not be security conscious even when they are digitally adept.

This tallies with the findings of the latest Fraudscape report from Cifas, which found that there were more than 169,000 cases of identity fraud in the UK in 2015…and that young adults (under the age of 30) accounted for a

growing share of those cases.

Nick Mothershaw, a fraud prevention expert at Experian, stressed: “It is vital that those embracing technology also embrace protecting themselves online. Using the latest device doesn’t necessarily mean full protection, and being complacent about the risk of ID theft makes for a tempting target for ID fraudsters.”

There are a number of fairly basic, but absolutely critical, measures a web user can take to reduce the risk of becoming a personal victim of cybercrime:

and avoid using proper words or names within the password, since this can result in a ‘brute force’ attack deducing the password in a matter of seconds.

Software updates: Installing antivirus software on any device that connects to the internet, and ensuring the software is up-to-date, will help to protect users from spyware and malware.

Updating desktop software and mobile apps when new versions are released will also ensure that any exploits the software provider has discovered can be plugged.

Social media: A growing number of cybercriminals are harvesting user data from social media platforms, including email addresses, names, dates of birth and other information that could be used to gain access to digital services.

In order to thwart these cybercriminals, private information should remain private, particularly if it forms any part of a user’s security credentials (such as a mother’s maiden name or children’s birth dates, which are often used as password reminders).

Mobile security: Failing to lock a mobile phone could result in much more than a prank text message sent by a friend or colleague…a growing array of personal information can be readily accessed through a mobile phone’s email app, messaging app and other applications, as well, meaning an unlocked mobile phone poses a significant cybersecurity risk. Many new smartphones are beginning to integrate biometric verification into the unlocking procedure, a feature that should be enabled if it’s available.

Online passwords: It is crucial that internet users have unique, secure passwords for each online account.

It’s also important to consider the strength of each password: always use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters,

It goes with saying that anyone can become a personal victim of cybercrime…but as much of our lives takes on a digital hue, it’s clear that the more time a person spends online the more vigilant they will need to be.

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

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Knowledge Tree Training the Next Generation of Digital Talent

®

Training designed to plant a seed

Knowledge Tree, a London-based training startup that recently expanded to Northern Ireland, has a plan to bring a fresh approach to Project Management and Technical IT training.

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he startup’s founder and MD, Christopher Lamph, has spent a number of years perfecting the company’s training model for multinationals, individuals and SMEs in London, and now brings the benefit of that experience to businesses in Northern Ireland. We sat down with Christopher to discover how his company plans to train the next generation of digital talent by delivering its accredited training courses to individuals, large corporations and the public sector in NI.

q Christopher, what do you hope to achieve with Knowledge Tree in Northern Ireland?

We want to enable professionals in Northern Ireland to maximize success in their careers by providing them with well-designed, accredited training courses that are affordable and set them apart in the workplace. The job market is competitive here and the best way to set yourself apart is through training and accreditation. We use a combination of classroom-based and online methods to achieve this, as we know it can be hard to find the time for training in people's busy lives. q What training courses do you offer?

We specialise in Project Management and technical IT training courses. This ranges from accredited PRINCE2 Project Management Training Courses, to technical subjects such as SQL or Java training. We also do training in MS Excel and business applications. Essentially anything tech-related. We run public training courses, which are open to anyone, or we can also do in-house training – so if you have a team that needs training we can come to you.

q How is Knowledge Tree different to other training

providers?

I think our biggest differentiator is the use of technology to increase the flexibility of the learning process, and unique content to keep delegates engaged. No more ‘death by

PowerPoint’. We’ve spent a great deal of time developing our own Learning Management System that we call our 'e-learning Zone'. Delegates can easily access all the content they require here, view test results, do mock exams and engage with course tutors as well as other delegates on the course. It is a one stop shop for anything course or learning related. It is used to strengthen communication and collaboration outside the classroom.

q What are your plans for the future?

We want to be the leading provider of professional tech training in NI. Some of the larger training providers are expensive because they have large overheads and staffing costs, which means they have to charge a lot to keep the lights on. We run a lean company and leverage technology to keep our overheads low and pass the savings on to our customers. We work in a flexible, agile manner and as such are highly adaptive to changes in the market.

q Why NI?

I think there is a lot of opportunity for growth here and with the ever-expanding tech cluster I think it's a great place to expand, as tech job creation will increase the need for people to up-skill. I also grew up here, so I have quite a lot of local knowledge.

q How do you ensure the quality of your courses?

We are very customer-centric and focus heavily on customer engagement and satisfaction. Our Course Director spends a lot of time designing the courses and working with our creative teams to create engaging and unique content. We seek feedback from delegates on areas we can improve and have an excellent internal review system for new courses. We treat customers how we would like to be treated and as such we get a lot of referral business.

Visit online Knowledge Tree

   knowledgetreetraining.com

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

VCs Invest $290 Million in Blockchain Startups in just 6 Months A

s the growth of the global fintech sector continues at full pace, recent analysis

by Juniper Research has revealed that venture capitalists invested $290 million in blockchain startups in the first half of 2016 alone.

Juniper’s research highlighted how blockchain deployments have begun diversifying away from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with more recent deployments ranging from services for identity verification to tools designed for use in asset management.

That said, although the blockchain is no longer confined to digital currencies, the banking sector remains particularly proactive in this space, with several large multinational banks already embracing the Ripple blockchain protocol, while others are piloting similar blockchain solutions. Many fintech experts have also suggested that even when a major global bank isn’t trialling blockchain technologies publicly, it is almost certainly doing so behind closed doors.

Smart finance The reason is that, in areas such as the settlement of financial transactions, the introduction of a distributed, blockchain-based financial ledger could substantially reduce both the risk of error and the time taken for error checking for banks and other financial

institutions. In addition, it is widely agreed that blockchain technology could allow new challengers to enter the growing market for cross-border remittances, enabling them to offer payment services to consumers at significantly lower cost.

The global remittance market is one of the biggest financial markets in the world, amounting to $583 billion a year, so if the blockchain can open this up to new competitors, including those in developing countries, this represents an enormous opportunity for startups around the world – and a potential threat to the global incumbents.

Smart alternatives A growing number of startups are also beginning to leverage blockchain technologies in alternative business sectors, far removed from finance. For instance, the blockchain could be used to create cryptographically-secured digital assets, such as title deeds for properties.

There’s also scope to harness the distributed ledger to create a decentralised, anonymised voting system, which could eventually usher in an era of e-voting (while ensuring the votes cast in an election remain anonymous).

Smart contracts The blockchain deployment that a growing number of startups are

beginning to focus on, though, is smart contracts. However, in its recent report Juniper Research warned that if smart contracts employ blockchain technology then the technical aspects of those contracts, including any potential bugs or flaws, are visible to all the users of that blockchain.

As an example, it cited the recent case where a flaw on the DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) network was exploited by hackers, resulting in the theft of cryptocurrency worth nearly $80 million.

According to the author of Juniper’s analysis, Dr Windsor Holden, “while blockchain technology offers the potential for increased speed, transparency and security across an array of verticals, there has to be rigorous and robust road-testing in each unique use case before any decision is taken.”

Smart future It’s still early days for many types of blockchain deployments, but while smart contracts may require businesses to tread particularly carefully, and while demand for bitcoin could turn out to be something akin to ‘tulip mania’, it’s clear that venture capitalists believe the blockchain’s distributed ledger technology has the potential to disrupt (and disintermediate) a wide range of sectors and business models. Watch this space.

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

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M V e e B : e r u t Startup fea n Valley o ic il S f o e c ie p le tt A li t right here in Belfas

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orthern Ireland’s entrepreneurial revolution is in full swing, and the province is developing an impressive reputation on the world stage thanks to its vibrant tech community, its growing pool of digital talent and its supportive organisations and initiatives, including Invest NI and Catalyst Inc. Sync NI recently had an opportunity to sit down with Bill Ricardi, founder and CEO of the cloud automation startup, Bee VM, to find out why he’s committed to scaling up his business right here in Northern Ireland, and how his startup is helping to bring some of Silicon Valley’s most ‘agile’ qualities to our very own capital city.

As the world of analogue gave way to digital, sysadmins and network admins played a vitally important role in keeping computer systems (and digital networks) up and running, stable, and secure. Yet as those same digital technologies increasingly move to the cloud, many smaller, less technologically-minded businesses believe they can simply pay for a cloud service (such as Office 365, for instance) and leave it at that: no administration required.

More experienced companies, on the other hand, know it’s not as simple as that. As with earlier digital technologies, cloud services need to be managed, they need to be serviced, they need to be integrated to ensure interoperability, they need to be automated if their full value is to be realised.

Cloud administration Bee VM is the service every cloud-enabled small business didn’t know they needed – the sysadmin for the cloud generation.

Bee VM’s cloud administration solution does more than babysit a company’s servers…it provides a full suite of system administration services, set up by real system administrators with decades of experience.

Bee VM can automate a plethora of cloud processes for

businesses, large and small, reducing the administrative burden for time-poor companies. It can do performance monitoring to improve the efficiency of cloud services and minimise downtime, and can provide a security dashboard to ensure a business’s cloud platforms remain safe and secure.

Agile development And in order to reduce costs for clients, and improve efficiency, Bee VM takes a leaf out of Silicon Valley’s book by employing an agile development methodology.

Agile means the startup has the power, and the flexibility, to react quickly to new market demands, while also helping to reduce development costs by leveraging open source and committing to a process of incremental, continuous improvement.

Talent The future is bright for cloud technologies, but the biggest obstacle to the growth of a cloud automation startup like Bee VM is its access to talent. And that’s an obstacle that is not limited to Northern Ireland – every tech cluster, including Silicon Valley and Tech City, faces a significant talent shortage when it comes to the specific skills (such as Puppet, Chef and Ansible) that are required for cloud automation.

That said, Bill Ricardi, who grew up in Massachusetts but cut his teeth in Silicon Valley, has a very global (and very inclusive) approach in the war for talent – find the very best cloud automation specialists, wherever they are in the world and wherever they learnt their craft, and convince them to move to Belfast.

Northern Ireland’s growing reputation as a tech cluster, and the province’s passionate and welcoming tech community, will serve Bee VM well as the startup works to attract those talented cloud specialists to work and live in our capital city.

Visit online Bee VM



beevm.net

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

Meeting Alyson Hogg Founder and CEO of Vita Liberata

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lyson Hogg, founder and CEO of Vita Liberata, shares with Sync NI the many hats of entrepreneurship, charting her brand’s early days to how far it has come since its conception back in 2003.

q Now established as the world’s leading non-toxic and organic tanning company, were there any specific challenges you faced in building the brand’s foundations?

There are challenges everyday in business, but one of the biggest I’ve faced so far was when I had an order from a huge retailer that I knew would open doors to others. I had the order and I just needed the funding in order to fulfill it. I arranged a meeting with the bank and was joined by my 85- year-old father (whose business had been with the bank since the bank started), along with my accountant and a business development expert.

The manager dismissed the plan for funding, declaring the business should have been closed long before. I was furious. Mostly because of the way he spoke to my father, who believed in the potential of Vita Liberata, and my ability to make it succeed. So I sought financial expertise, pulled together my first investment plan, got three offers, found a partner in Broadlake Capital, and got the order made. It goes to show - don’t ever take no for an answer!

q Achieving success and recognition on a global scale is obviously no mean feat. In what ways have you had to adapt your branding to fit external markets?

The vision of the company has always been, to combine the purest organic botanicals with the smartest technology to make the best performing and cleanest possible skin care products. People need a viable alternative to sun damage - with a product that is dependable and results driven, takes up almost no time and is as pure and non-toxic as possible. Of course, we have had to be flexible with things like packaging as there are many global inconsistencies, but other than that our brand’s vision has remained the same. q There is the perception that

entrepreneurship is all-consuming, how do you strike a healthy work-life balance?

Good question! I typically wake around 4am and try to catch the last of the USA day, as they are 5 to 8 hours behind. Then I go back to sleep until around 6.30am before I start to deal with their answers. Then I’m on the go all day on calls, in meetings, answering emails - or I’m travelling which means flights, car journeys and lots of emailing on the go! I think by ‘work life balance’ people mean that one must make time for life outside of work. But to be honest, for the ‘entrepreneur’ in me,

it would just not be practical to wait for life to start when work is finished, because work is never finished. I prefer to integrate life and more particularly joy into my work.

And so, at Vita Liberata, we positively discriminate for happy positive people.

Surround yourself with positive energy.

Given all the things you will have to struggle with on the way through life, nay sayers do not need to be one of them.

q Locally, you provide business advice to budding entrepreneurs, notably with Entrepreneurs Exchange. Are you involved in any upcoming talks or workshops?

My schedule is so busy nowadays that I’m very rarelyback home, and when I am my time is divided between being at the office, planning with the team and catching up with family.

I would love to do more but in the meantime I would urge any budding entrepreneurs to take action if they want to make their idea happen. What i have learned is that to achieve success you must be humble and open to learning. Pay attention to the detail, embrace the joyful and remember to be brave.

Follow Alyson Hogg Visit online Start Planet NI

startplanetni.com    @alysonhogg

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

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Keeping NI Businesses Protected from Growing Cybersecurity Threats

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ard Solutions, a leading information security provider, recently revealed the results of a survey of senior IT decision makers in Northern Ireland and Ireland, which highlights the growing threat of cybercrime for businesses here in Northern Ireland.

One startling finding is that one third of businesses have suffered a data breach in the past 12 months. In addition, almost half (46%) of those surveyed admitted that they would not disclose a data breach to affected third parties, including customers and suppliers. As well as reflecting the day-to-day realities of doing business in an ever-evolving threat landscape, the survey emphasises the need for a more proactive and co-ordinated approach to information security management. Ward Solutions has some vital advice to offer in this area.

Focus on the basics first Ensure that the critical elements of your information security strategy are performing well and then work towards the continued improvement of your security posture through refinement of those practices.

Risk assess, mitigate, verify, trust and then verify again Particular information systems pose particular risks, and businesses need to identify those risks and implement the appropriate technologies and controls to mitigate them.

They then need to verify that these controls are in place and effective, and then regularly reassess the risks, mitigations and controls.

Spend wisely Information security budgets are small; typically around 5% of the overall IT budget. Budgets therefore need to be spent where they will have maximum effect and areas of investment should reflect the priorities jumping off your risk register.

Close the knowledge and communication gap IT departments need to work closely with the board and communicate the importance of information security issues in a clear and constructive manner. One tried and tested approach is to continuously report over time how certain investments have improved the business’s risk profile, how lack of investment in other areas is causing increased risk and what the potential (or actual) impact to the business is.

By Pat Larkin, CEO, Ward Soutions Implement a holistic information security model Finally, businesses need to work to implement a holistic security model which will help them to more effectively tackle the sophisticated security attacks being employed by cybercriminals. Traditional approaches to information security have tended to focus on prevention, but Ward’s research indicates that this is flawed and organisations need a much more comprehensive approach.

Ward Solutions has developed a more proactive information security strategy, based on five key stages: q Identify - Identify key information assets and the risks facing them. It’s important at this stage to establish the likelihood of certain risks occurring and assess the impact on the business that such an event would have. q Protect - Put appropriate business and technical controls in place to stop incidents from occurring. This can help your organisation to deploy its preventative resources in a much more meaningful way. q Detect - Allocate additional resources to detecting security incidents. Prevention is not 100% effective and effective detection and incident response solutions can significantly mitigate the damage done by a breach. q Respond - Given the current cybersecurity climate, it’s possible that your organisation will experience a significant security incident at some point. As such, it’s essential to implement pre-rehearsed incident response processes to determine what has been affected and how it can be resolved. q Recover - Following initial incident handling and response, roll out well-developed incident response strategies to minimise the impact of a security incident.

This cycle should be continuously repeated, helping your organisation to learn from previous incidents to consistently improve its information security strategy, and manage and reduce risk.

For more information about Ward Solutions’ comprehensive range of information security services, visit the website below.

Visit online Ward Solutions

   wardinfosec.co.uk

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

Event Spotlight 

Visit today

syncni.com/events

Immersive Tech NI Hackathon 5th November - PwC Google Innovation Labs, Waterfront Plaza

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he 12-hour Hackathon is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, giving you access to all the tools you need to design and build exciting applications for virtual and augmented reality. It will take place in Europe’s first Google Lab at PwC in Belfast, giving you the chance to experience working in this dynamic environment.

The Hackathon is open to software developers, designers, project managers, and other technologists or creatives. You don’t have to be technical to attend – in fact, diverse teams typically have more success at hackathons. So if you’re interested in design, a confident presenter, or just have an amazing idea around the theme, you’re very welcome to attend.

You’ll get hands-on experience of the creative and technical possibilities presented by immersive technologies like Unity, HTC Vive and Microsoft HoloLens.

jobs

For further information about this event and tickets Visit online Immersive Tech NI



Immersive Tech NI

APPLY DIRECT TO EMPLOYERS THE JOB BOARD WITH NO MIDDLEMAN

VISIT TODAY SYNCNI.COM/JOBS

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

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Visit today

Upcoming Events 

syncni.com/events

OWASP Meetup

Digital Transformation Tactics

Start up and Grow show

Ulster Bank Hatchery Tour

Web Summit

Immersive Tech NI Hackathon

Workshop - UX Design

Internet of Things Workshop

Meet the Buyer

What is Marketing?

NI Enterprise Awards

NIC President’s Banquet

WHEN 16th Oct 2016 WHERE QUB Ashby Building, Belfast  @OWASPBelfast

WHEN 25th Oct 2016 WHERE Lombard House, Belfast  @ESparkGlobal

WHEN 9th Nov 2016 WHERE 25-51 York St, Belfast  @CIConnect

WHEN 30th Nov 2016 WHERE 25-51 York St, Belfast  @CIConnect

WHEN 19th Oct 2016 WHERE Windsor Park, Belfast  @Xperiencegroup

WHEN 7th Nov 2016 WHERE Lisbon, Portugal  @WebSummit

WHEN 10th Nov 2016 WHERE The Hive, Belfast  @BelfastDesignwk

WHEN 1st Dec 2016 WHERE Hilton Hotel, Belfast  @EnterpriseNI

Promote your events to Northern Ireland’s technology & business community

By featuring on our website and in our magazine, your event will reach tens of thousands of local technology and business professionals.

WHEN 20th Oct 2016 WHERE Clayton Hotel, Belfast  @EnterpriseNI

WHEN 4th Nov 2016 WHERE PwC Waterfront Plaza, Belfast

WHEN 17th Nov 2016 WHERE Europa Hotel, Belfast  @NiChamber

WHEN 1st Dec 2016 WHERE Waterfront, Belfast  @NiChamber

Email team@syncni.com or call 02890 820 944 to find out more

34

SYNCNI MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2016

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi:

“a nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people”

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his very sentiment sets the tone for every edition of the Sync NI magazine, and this issue in particular highlights the wealth of talented people working to strengthen the Northern Ireland economy, and cement its reputation as one of Europe’s hottest technology hubs.

As Stephen Wray reiterates in his foreword, Northern Ireland’s cyber cluster is blooming due to the level of dedicated expertise that exists here, and also because of a rich and enduring enthusiasm to make our country a credible leader in the global cybersecurity industry. Stephen points to Northern Ireland’s natural landscape, Belfast’s in particular, and the advantages it provides in relation to attracting and retaining worldclass companies. However, he also emphasises the need for a more solid strategy going forward, one that allows us to “lead the world in something we know that we are already very good at”.

Part of this strategy can be found in the upcoming Cybercrime Security Forum, which will take place, rather fittingly, at Crumlin Road Gaol in November. We all understand the importance of collaboration, and this

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event will see the coming together of thought leaders and the invaluable sharing of knowledge to assist in the global fight against cybercrime.

The vital work being done by Fujitsu NI, Ward Solutions, Outsource Solutions NI and CME Belfast demonstrates that the expertise needed to protect and fuel Northern Ireland’s role in this fight is well and truly present.

The art of entrepreneurism is one that is being mastered by many Northern Irish people. Alyson Hogg’s refreshing account of establishing a worldrenowned brand serves as a source of inspiration for budding entrepreneurs.

In the same light, this year’s participants in PwC’s Ignite accelerator and The Hatchery’s most recent batch of Chiclets prove, once again, that there is no shortage of impressive, passionate business-minded people who have the determination to take their products or services from conception to fruition.

Add to the mix Catalyst Inc’s host of ambitious go-getters and it’s safe to say that Northern Irish people are taking control of their future, ever mindful that the society and job roles that exist today will continue to evolve and that in order to stay ahead

everyone must learn to embrace the inevitable wave of change that comes with each generation.

In exploring B-Secur, Uber, Bee VM, AppAttic and Sixty-5 we see not only the technological prowess possessed by the people behind these innovations, but also an acknowledgement of the support and teamwork that is required to effectively push these technologies onto the world stage.

Whether it is cybersecurity, the future of transportation, cloud administration, gamification in healthcare or AgriTech, these companies are defining innovation, taking it from buzzword to materialisation.

Essentially, this is the core purpose of Sync NI: to support and showcase Northern Ireland’s vibrant technology sector, celebrate the people behind the products and services and help drive Northern Ireland’s reputation as an exciting place to work and live.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our readers for their continued support and we look forward to our next winter edition, due out in January 2017.

Join the conversation!

Tweet @syncni with your tech & business news and you could feature on the Sync NI website! #syncni

Follow Sync NI  @syncni

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