Security outfit NCC Group has reported a 94.5 per cent drop in operating profits in 2023 to £1.9 million despite two rounds of layoffs earlier this year.
The company saw a reduced trading performance in assurance (cybersecurity) and a loss before taxation of £4.3 million.
NCC said it had increased finance costs of £2.5 million due to increased borrowing after the IPM acquisition and an increase in base interest rates.
Jobs at NCC Group, a UK cybersecurity firm are proving to be less than secure with more layoffs announced.
NCC specialises in penetration testing and software escrow services, confirmed tthat a “small number” of staff would lose their jobs, but declined to say precisely how many would be cleaning out their desks.
A spokesperson said that a relatively small number of the company’s talented colleagues in consultation and some based in North America have already left NCC Group.”
NCC Group cut 125 roles, about seven per cent of its workforce, in February this year.
NCC Group is sprucing up its sales team to improve its UK business.
The cybersecurity VAR posted overall revenue of £250.7 million in its preliminary results for its fiscal year ending 30 May 2019. This represents a seven and a half percent rise on last year’s figure.
But its Escrow business witnessed a decline of nearly three per cent to £38 million, with a 10.7 percent increase in North America offset by a six and a half percent decline in the UK.
CEO Adam Palser said that the company has added 44 heads to its UK escrow sales teams in order to return it to growth.
Cybersecurity outfit NCC Group’s turnover for the first half of its fiscal 2019 rose eight percent, but the outfit is a little miffed at its flat UK sales figures.
NCC’s turnover rose to £126 million. Total operating profit jumped to £9.5 million from £6.3 million during its first quarter which ended on 30 November 2018.
Its revenue growth to its US Assurance business, grew 20 percent, but its UK business only increased by 1.1 percent and contributed £43.8 million of the final figure.
Cybersecurity outfit NCC Group has shared an interim first half update that exposes its problems finding those with security skills.
While everyone knows that there are problems with finding staff with the right stuff it has mostly been pitched as an “opportunity for the channel to fill the skills gap.”
The NCC report implies that even the channel is suffering too.
A three million strong botnet which filled the world with phishing emails has been shut down thanks to the efforts of the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU), police in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
The shut-down was co-ordinated through Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), which also shut down command and control servers used by the RAMNIT botnet.
Investigators believe that RAMNIT may have infected over three million computers worldwide, with around 33,000 of those being in the UK. It has so far largely been used to attempt to take money from bank accounts. Analysis is now taking place on the servers and an investigation is ongoing.
RAMNIT was one of the most prevalent botnets in McAfee Threat reports for some time and Europol was alerted to RAMNIT by Microsoft, after data analysis showed a big increase in infections.
Steve Pye from the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit said: “Through this operation, we are disrupting a cyber crime threat which has left thousands of ordinary computer users in the UK at risk of having their privacy and personal information compromised.”
“This malware effectively gives criminals a back door so they can take control of your computer, access your images, passwords or personal data and even use it to circulate further spam messages or launch illegal attacks on other websites. As a result of this action, the UK is safer from RAMNIT, but it is important that individuals take action now to disinfect their machines, and protect their personal information,” Pye said.
August 12th, 2024
August 12th, 2024
August 12th, 2024
August 9th, 2024
August 9th, 2024
August 12th, 2024
August 12th, 2024
August 12th, 2024
August 9th, 2024
August 9th, 2024