Belfast’s Cyber Security sector continues to grow
This week saw the arrival of US Cybersecurity firm Cygilant. The Boston based company plans to create 65 jobs and already has 25 positions filled. The new opening is the company’s first office in EMEA and will become a Security Operations Center. Citing Belfast as one of the world’s fastest growing technology hubs, Cygilant CEO, Rob Scott said “The city is also quickly becoming an innovation hub for technology companies including a growing cyber-security sector, so all the pieces just fit nicely together. We are thrilled to be here in Belfast and in the short time since we’ve started operations, we are already seeing the impact the team is having on our business.”
25 Fintech Jobs created with £1.5m investment
Vox Financial Partners has announced it is investing over £1.5million and more than doubling its workforce as part of ambitious strategic business plans. The Belfast based Fintech consultancy works with top-tier bank and broker-dealer clients in the US and Europe and are looking forward to accelerating the growth and development of the business in Belfast.
Local Tech company helping with Irish paediatric hospital communicate
Ireland’s largest paediatric hospital has selected Thrive for the creation of a new employee communication and engagement app for its workforce of over 4,000 people across five locations in Dublin. Thrive, the Belfast based company whose platform helps improve communication with front line staff, builds a stronger team and creates an employee community only started working with Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) just under a month ago. James Scott CEO, Co-Founder of Thrive said ‘During this time of uncertainty, effective communication is vital. We are so happy that the Thrive platform and app are genuinely helping people and organisations during this challenging time.”
Time to change those passwords?
Last week we reported the rise of cyber security attacks during the Covid-19 global pandemic and this week we have learnt that Easyjet has had over 9 million travellers details breached in what the company described as “originating from a highly sophisticated source”. The company also said that bank details of 2,200 customers had been accessed by hackers. It’s another blow to consumer confidence for the aviation industry who are already struggling in the face of a drop in demand for air travel.
Facebook and Instagram create Storefronts for retailers
With us all staying at home and large swathes of retail shuttered, Facebook and Instagram have upped their game in the eCommerce space. This week they launched the ability to browse and buy products directly from a business’ Facebook Page or Instagram profile. Whilst Facebook has had ecommerce capability for sometime, this new feature will allow merchants to create fully fledged storefronts. Facebook also said that popular 3rd party platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Woo and Channel Advisor would allow merchants to fully customise their Facebook storefront right from within the platforms.
Is the 9-5 grind no longer relevant?
The global pandemic has lifted the stigma of working from home and many commentators are suggesting a shift in how we approach our working life. Last week Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the work from home policy, implemented in response to the global pandemic, would become permanent. He has since announced similar plans for Square, the payments company where he is also CEO. Other tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft have also said that work from home policies would remain in place until the end of 2020 at least.
