EY is investing further in New Zealand by launching two deployments of their globally recognised cyber security centres in Auckland and Wellington, with a potential third in Christchurch. The move comes off the back of a number of local market successes including pioneering work with Fonterra, as well as a continued rise in cyber threats.
The newly established capability will offer around the clock cyber security services, supported by Microsoft Azure Sentinel, and will leverage the deep relationship between the two businesses after EY was named Global Security Partner of the Year by Microsoft in June this year.
“New Zealand has experienced unprecedented levels of cyber-attacks in recent years. Businesses are now embracing hybrid work more than ever, and while that has been great for flexibility, it’s also increased workers exposure to cyber threats. Many of our clients are just too busy in the current environment to invest time and resource into detecting and responding effectively to a modern cyber-attack, let alone proactively working to reduce risk,” said Nicola Hermanson, EY NZ Cyber Consulting Lead.
The new cyber security centres will offer predominately enterprise and government customers access to the knowledge and experience of a large international network with world-leading cyber security, providing a significant uplift in protection. For EY, the importance of running the Security Operations Centre from Kiwi shores was pivotal.
“Too often we talk to clients whose cyber security provider runs everything from offshore or small onshore capabilities. However, a security provider based exclusively overseas will never understand the intricacies of the New Zealand market, or be fully across all of the threats we’re exposed to. By having local professionals, along with our capability across the globe, we’re able to keep our finger on the pulse locally and provide a personalised service. At the same time, having a global network to tap into means we can also be available at all hours of the day. We’re already working with some well-known New Zealand companies, and they really like having a local team,” said Nicola.
Thomas Willig, Chief Information Security Officer at Fonterra, agrees “EY has helped us pioneer some really innovative and creative cyber security solutions that put us at the forefront of protecting our data, people, partners and farmers. We’ve always felt like the EY cyber security team is an extension of our team, and we’re really excited about what the creation of these new cyber security centres will bring for both Fonterra, and other Kiwi businesses.”
Vanessa Sorenson, Managing Director Microsoft New Zealand, said “it’s great to see substantive investment by EY and the ongoing development of our relationship. In the rush to digitise and move to cloud, security continues to be an afterthought for many businesses, so having more experience and access to world-leading managed services would make a real difference to local businesses’ resilience.”
“Recent Microsoft research found just 12 per cent of Kiwi organisations had conducted an organisation-wide security transformation to protect customer data and ensure ongoing resilience. We’re excited about our ongoing work with EY because it will mean more Kiwi organisations have access to services that will help improve their security, protect customers’ privacy and data, and make New Zealand an even more attractive place to do business,” said Vanessa.
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