Black Box brings its Cybalt cyber security services to New Zealand

By systems On Aug 8, 2022

Sean van Deventer (Black Box)

Credit: Delivered

Black Box NZ is building from its base in customer experience, contact centre, digital workplace and unified communications to target cyber security.

Formerly known as AGC Networks, Black Box last year created a cybersecurity company called Cybalt after hiring several key people, including the company’s new CEO, Khiro Mishra, from NTT.

Black Box NZ company manager Sean van Deventer said the Cybalt brand was created to differentiate the unit’s services from those provided by Black Box.

Cybalt is now one of the world’s largest cybersecurity practices, he said, with security operations centers in the US, India and Australia and more in the Middle East, Singapore and the UK.

Black Box created Cybalt as a security play to meet the growing demand for full security lifecycle services, including cybersecurity consulting, security system integration and end-to-end managed security solutions.

The New Zealand startup’s strategy is to “think globally and act locally”, building cyber security services under the Black Box brand around existing areas of strength.

“Our security offering will be wrapped into our cloud contact center offering, and we will offer cyber security as a wrap-around or add-on service to that, as well as unified communications and digital workspace,” van Deventer told Reseller News.

“Many customers are moving from on-prem to the cloud, especially in the contact center. Wrapping cyber security around the cloud journey is a good addition and is probably something that all companies need to have in the future.”

Van Deventer described the strength and depth at Cybalt as “tremendous”. For example, Black Box was now Intel Security’s largest global managed services partner, offering live global threat intelligence.

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“The credibility is there now,” van Deventer said. “It’s about translating that into a real-world experience in New Zealand.”

The initial go-to-market would focus on raising awareness of Black Box and its cybersecurity capabilities. The new unit has already signed contracts with major global banks and suppliers of critical infrastructure.

The offering includes penetration testing and reporting and advanced services for zero-day threat defense, active response and integration with Intel security partners.

Black Box is playing up its cybersecurity after a period of investment, spurred by changing work patterns during the pandemic. The key to achieving profitability would be to make it easier for customers by offering a package that complements their existing services and makes it easier to transact, van Deventer said.

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For example, existing customers will be offered a free cyber security assessment. That engagement would continue with remediation to address gaps and vulnerabilities and then into a managed service or MSSP model.

The February buyout of Australian cyber security specialist Dragonfly Technologies would also strengthen Black Box’s presence in the trans-Tasman region and provide an additional opportunity for cross-selling between current Black Box and Dragonfly customers.

Black Box’s key relationships with local vendors included contact center and customer experience system developers Genesys and Nice, as well as Juniper and Palo Alto as they built on AWS, Azure and others, van Deventer said.

“Black Box is always looking for ways to add impactful and cutting-edge technology solutions to our portfolio,” he said.

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