In the wake of WannaCry, US-based cybersecurity firm Anomali has chosen Belfast to be the home of its new cybersecurity R&D lab.
Despite fears over the negative effects of Brexit on the attractiveness of the UK as a place to open new international offices, Belfast has just received a major jobs boost in the cybersecurity sector.
US-based firm Anomali has revealed it is to open its new European R&D lab in the Northern Irish capital as part of a £38.5m investment, creating 120 jobs in the process.
Expected to be filled over the next three years, the jobs will be targeted at both graduates and experienced software engineers and sales representatives, among others.
Based in California, Anomali aggregates and optimises threat intelligence regarding malicious cyber actors, with the aim of delivering this information to organisations so that they can detect threats in real time.
Invest NI said that the new jobs will contribute £4.1m in salaries for the Northern Irish economy and will help bolster its place as a centre for cybersecurity research and companies.
Hugh Njemanze, CEO of Anomali, said: “As our customer base expanded globally, we looked for ways we can grow our own operations and serve the needs of the market.
“We are pleased to make Belfast the new base for developing new products and scaling our business in Europe and beyond.”
CSIT also funded
Meanwhile, the UK’s centre for cybersecurity research at Queen’s University, CSIT, has been offered £5.5m by Invest NI to support the next stage of its research strategy.
Invest NI CEO Alastair Hamilton said: “Northern Ireland is enjoying a growing international reputation as a region of expertise and knowledge in cybersecurity.
“Today’s announcement of both a new inward investor, the Anomali R&D labs, and a significant investment by CSIT will only see this reputation continue to grow.”
