F-Secure South Africa splits from F-Secure Group

Issue 1 2022 News & Events

Finnish cybersecurity company F-Secure has announced that it divested from the African market through a local management buy-out of the South African consulting business.

On 14 February 2022, the local management team acquired the majority stake in F-Secure South Africa and to reflect the new company’s direction, are rebranding to MWR.

The full local management team has remained in place and will keep operations mostly the same, along with the vision and mission that the team had as F-Secure South Africa.

MWR CyberSec will tailor its consulting services to the African and Middle Eastern markets and will continue to provide security expertise through its talented local team, as well as becoming the B2B partner for F-Secure in these regions to continue to provide ongoing local support for enterprise customers of F-Secure's managed services.

MWR CyberSec CEO, Gabriel De Sousa, explained, “We are excited about the prospect of providing local customers with tailored support targeted towards finding solutions best suited for the unique cybersecurity needs of the African market.

“The ability to control the focus and investment of the local entity, unencumbered by the standardised operating procedures required by a global corporate entity, will allow us to focus our attention on the real-world challenges that our customers are facing and to support them through personal customer relationships and a high-quality customer experience.

“The local focus and control are believed to be the best way to drive targeted engagement and attract new talent.”

He continued: “The South African market is filled with bright minds and over the years we’ve built our business around attracting those bright minds into our organisation and providing them with the platform to learn and grow in the cybersecurity field.”

MWR CyberSec will achieve its business goals by providing customers with two key commitments aimed at addressing their clients’ security challenges:

African-centric approach

MWR will review its current service offering and ensure it is tailored to the specific needs of the African market and ensure that the right questions are being asked and answered through its consultancy. This will involve prioritising its understanding of local trends and challenges and tailoring service-offerings to the real needs of clients. This will help the company work towards making the African cybersecurity landscape safer from threats.

F-Secure partnership

In order to ensure that disruptions experienced by current local clients are minimised, MWR CyberSec and F-Secure have entered into a transition partnership, with the mutual goal of a continued B2B partnership in the long-term. MWR CyberSec and F-Secure are committed to partnering on managed services (including F-Secure Countercept and Incident Response services) for current and new clients. The two entities will also support and collaborate with one another to capitalise on a global pool of knowledge across all former teams and to ensure the continued growth of the security community across multiple continents.




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Highest increase in global cyberattacks in two years
Information Security News & Events
Check Point Global Research released new data on Q2 2024 cyber-attack trends, noting a 30% global increase in Q2 2024, with Africa experiencing the highest average weekly per organisation.

Read more...
The rise of AI-powered cybercrime and defence
Information Security News & Events AI & Data Analytics
Check Point Software Technologies launched its inaugural AI Security Report, offering an in-depth exploration of how cybercriminals are weaponising artificial intelligence (AI), alongside strategic insights defenders need to stay ahead.

Read more...
From the editor's desk: We’ve only just begun
Technews Publishing News & Events
The surveillance market has expanded far beyond the analogue days of just recording and/or monitoring screens. The capabilities of surveillance technology today extend to black screen monitoring with ...

Read more...
SAFPS issues SAPS impersonation scam warning
News & Events Security Services & Risk Management
The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) is warning the public against a scam in which scammers pose as members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and trick and intimidate individuals into handing over personal and financial information.

Read more...
Strong industry ties set Securex South Africa apart
News & Events Training & Education
Securex South Africa, co-located with A-OSH EXPO, Facilities Management Expo, and Firexpo, is a meeting place of minds, where leading security, safety, fire, and facilities professionals come together, backed by strong ties with the industry’s most influential bodies.

Read more...
Connected commercial drone market to reach US$37.3 billion
News & Events Commercial (Industry) IoT & Automation
The global market for connected commercial drones is forecast to grow from US$18.6 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% to reach US$37.3 billion in 2029

Read more...
Phishing attacks through SVG image files
Kaspersky News & Events Information Security
Kaspersky has detected a new trend: attackers are distributing phishing emails to individual and corporate users with attachments in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files, a format commonly used for storing images.

Read more...
Fully-integrated browser AI
News & Events
Opera Mini now provides all its smartphone users with its own free built-in browser AI, Aria, including AI chat, Ask Aria and image generation. According to an Opera survey, 80% of South Africans want AI tools integrated into their browser.

Read more...
Amendments to the Private Security Industry Regulations
Technews Publishing Agriculture (Industry) News & Events Associations
SANSEA, SASA, National Security Forum, CEO, TAPSOSA, and LASA oppose recently published Amendments to the Private Security Industry Regulations regarding firearms.

Read more...
Local innovation driving excellence in FM
Securex South Africa News & Events
As organisations seek cost-effective, sustainable, and high-quality solutions, home-grown facilities management innovation is proving to be a critical driver of operational efficiency and long-term success.

Read more...