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Russian cyber security vendor Group-IB is set to move its global headquarters to Singapore by the end of 2018, after entering the Southeast Asian market only three years ago.
Disclosed by CEO Ilya Sachkov, the vendor's intellectual property will also be moved to Asia amid plans to invest $30 million into its Singapore-based cyber threat-hunting infrastructure until 2022.
“Singapore is a global financial centre, most favourable for running a global business,” said Sachkov.
“Singapore government aims to create a safe and secure ecosystem free of bureaucratic barriers for everyone - people, public and private companies, which is exactly what is needed for managing Group-IB’s global cyber threat-hunting infrastructure.
"Moving this infrastructure to Singapore allows to identify and detect advanced and previously unknown threats and new groups’ tactics and tools in order to protect private and public companies from state-sponsored and financially motivated hacker groups which have recently become more active in SEA and Singapore."
Overall, Southeast Asia accounts for more than 30 per cent of the organisation’s global revenue with a portfolio of clients across banks, financial and government organisations in Singapore, Thailand and the wider region.
The new Singapore office will follow the same organisational structure as its Moscow office accompanied by a strategy to boost its presence across global financial centres.
Furthermore, plans are afoot to create a digital forensic laboratory, cyber investigation department, GIB Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GIB) and a development department in Singapore with an estimated 90 employees expected to be hired in Singapore over the next two years, 15 of which are expected to be transferred from the vendor’s Moscow headquarters.
The security vendor has also been an official partner of the Interpol Digital Crime Centre located in Singapore since 2017.
Globally, Southeast Asia has been found to be the most actively attacked region according to the vendor’s annual Hi-Tech Crime Trends Report 2018, with 21 state-sponsored groups detected in just one year, which is more than in the US and Europe combined.
Furthermore, as a global financial powerhouse, Singapore is considered a major target for financially motivated hacking groups.
“Defence is an outdated strategy,” said Sachkov. “Hackers adapt their tools and tactics quickly.
“Private and public companies find it very challenging to keep up with rapidly evolving cyber threats. It is time to stop being victims and become hunters.
"This paradigm forms the basis of Group-IB’s approach to cyber protection and is being reflected in its adversary-centric detection and threat-hunting infrastructure — which Group-IB is planning to develop and manage in Singapore together with highly skilled Singapore specialists."
