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Rapidly expanding digital risk protection company stamps out threats to major APAC business

Country: Singapore, Australia, Japan

A UK cybersecurity firm has brought its digital risk expertise to Singapore, Australia and Japan, helping some of APAC’s largest financial organisations defend themselves against the ongoing threat from cyber-attacks.

Established in 2011, London-headquartered Digital Shadows is an award-winning company offering advanced defence against cyber-attacks by providing a comprehensive assessment and understanding of a brand’s exposure on the open, deep and dark web.

The company was named a ‘Leader in Digital Risk Protection’ in The Forrester New Wave Q3 2018 report, which provides key insight into the world’s technology market.

Digital Shadows tailors its risk protection service to focus on each customer’s specific needs, delivering intelligence that is relevant to their business. Leveraging machine learning to adapt its protection as threats evolve, the company is a prime example of how the UK is bringing innovation to life.

Now a global business with over 180 employees, the former two-person start-up protects hundreds of companies, including some of APAC’s key financial service providers, from data leaks, online brand protection and infrastructure risks. With the ability to detect and deliver threats in over 40 languages, including Japanese, Russian, and simplified and traditional Chinese, the company’s service, ‘Digital Shadows SearchLight™,’ arms customers against digital attacks originating from all corners of the world.

Already present in Singapore and active in Japan, Digital Shadows opened an Australian office in January 2019 to upscale its business and cater to growing demand in APAC for more advanced cybersecurity protection. APAC is now one of the fastest-growing digital risk protection markets in the world, due to a surge in financial providers operating within the region.

From its APAC HQ in Singapore, the company partners with cybersecurity solutions provider M.Tech Pro and Dimension Data, both frontrunners in their fields. The collaborations are been replicated in other countries in Asia Pacific including Australia.

Since 2016, the company has worked with the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) to grow its profile across APAC and build its client list. The business is attending ConnecTechAsia 2019, where DIT will help it connect with new contacts across legal, manufacturing and even pharmaceutical industries.

Alastair Paterson, Digital Shadows CEO, said: “Our progress has been spurred on by booming demand across APAC for advanced cybersecurity protection, something that UK providers are renowned for. A lot of this business has come from the financial sector where data security is now one of the most important considerations, both commercially and legally.

“In this ever-advancing digital age there’s increasing need for accurate cybersecurity technology. That’s where Digital Shadows comes in, providing widescale protection across the deep, dark web. We aim to see our APAC services grow, one day mirroring the size of our US and European markets, which is why we’re now exploring opportunities in Thailand and Malaysia.

“With DIT support we’ve forged some essential cross-cultural business relationships. Pairing up with companies across borders serves both sides of a partnership and gives space for technological innovation to excel. From experience, we’ve noticed DIT-organised events are key to brand exposure and we’ve been struck by the APAC talent we’ve encountered when attending them”

Stanley Foo, CEO of M.Tech, said: “As an industry, digital security is a team sport in which it’s crucial to partner. As a UK business, way ahead of the curve in terms of global technology, Digital Shadows has a host of expertise that M.Tech and our clients can benefit from exchanging ideas with innovative organisations like this is vital to our development as it ultimately accelerates our growth.”

The UK Government’s Department for International Trade (DIT) helps connect international buyers with UK goods and services to meet their needs, supports overseas companies to locate and grow in the UK, drives both inward and outward investment, negotiates market access and trade deals, and champions free trade.