NGS Software

Year end profits up 18% and dividend up 16%

ngsadmin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Six year earnings CAGR 21.9% and dividend 33.9%

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, “NCC Group” or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance, has reported its final results for the year to 31 May 2010.

Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive, commented:

“We have delivered a strong performance, despite the backdrop of global recession and continuing considerable uncertainty which has persisted for most of the last financial year.

“Over the last six years since listing, we have consistently delivered a combination of strong organic growth and cash generation. We have also acquired and integrated a number of businesses, which have considerably widened our capabilities, both in the UK and internationally.

“Overall this has resulted in the Group’s six year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6% for operating profit and 21.9% for earnings. Dividends have grown from 2.5p to 10.75p, a 330% increase or a CAGR of 33.9%.

“We have a very sound business model that will continue to evolve and develop. With high revenue visibility and over £35m of orders and renewals forecast for the current financial year, we are confident that our prospects continue to be very bright.”

Visit our corporate website for full details of our Final results for the year to 31 May 2010.

John Gittins appointed Finance Director

ngsadmin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 06:51:30 GMT

NCC Group plc has appointed John Gittins as Finance Director and he will take up his appointment on 20 September 2010.

John joins from Begbies Traynor Group plc, the specialist professional services organisation, where he was Chief Financial Officer for over three years. Before Begbies Traynor, he was Finance Director at Vertex Data Science, the UK`s second largest business process outsourcer, for seven years. From 1993 to 1999, he was Group Finance Director of Spring Group plc, the UK IT recruitment and training company.

For more information please visit our corporate Investor Relations pages.

IBM USB sticks 'malware-infected'

ngsadmin — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:38:57 GMT

IBM has been left red-faced after handing out malware-infected USB sticks at an information security conference in Australia.

Delegates at the AusCERT conference in Queensland were given the complimentary devices at an IBM booth but have since been contacted by the company after it emerged that they had been infected with two examples of malware: W32/LibHack-A and W32/Agent-FWF, according to security company Sophos.

"At the AusCERT conference this week, you may have collected a complimentary USB key from the IBM booth," IBM wrote to affected delegates.

"Unfortunately we have discovered that some of these USB keys contained malware and we suspect that all USB keys may be affected."

Sophos's senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, said outsourcing could have resulted in the error.

"My guess is that they didn't check the USB sticks before handing them out. Maybe they out-sourced the creation of the USB content to a third party, and they weren't careful enough," he said.

"After all, if an infected PC was used to create the "image" of the USB drive then it would have been easy for that disc image to be infected and copied onto every USB stick they handed out."

Copyright © Press Association 2010

New system for secure data sharing

ngsadmin — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:41:07 GMT

British researchers have devised a new system enabling secure sharing of online data at very high speeds and much lower costs than methods currently in use.

It is a fibre optics technology consisting of a 'beacon' which streams encrypted information along a loop that can be accessed only by users with a secret key.

According to the University of Hertfordshire's Bruce Christianson, one of the system's creators, its unique feature is an integrated error-correcting code which enables high-speed transmission without data loss.

He explained: "It is like using background noise to allow two users to share a secret that no one else knows. This development means that we can offer a high level of security for less than a tenth of the cost usually involved in buying specialised quantum technology for this purpose."

"Various people have proposed similar ideas in the past; but our system has introduced a novel error correcting scheme, which means we can use cheap fibre optic technology and make it work at amazingly high transmission rates."

Prof Christianson, his colleague Alex Shafarenko at the university's School of Computer Science and Sergei Turitsyn from the University of Aston have won a UK patent for the system and await an international patent.

Hacked US Treasury sites suspended

ngsadmin — Wed, 05 May 2010 09:57:39 GMT

The US Treasury department has shut down the website for its Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) after a cyber attack.

A BEP spokeswoman said the Bureau's home page and three associated internet domains have been suspended until further notice.

She explained: "The hosting company used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had an intrusion and as a result of that intrusion, numerous websites (BEP and non-BEP) were affected."

The internet addresses taken offline are - bep.gov, bep.treas.gov, Moneyfactory.gov and Moneyfactory.com.

A researcher for security vendor AVG first discovered that hackers had installed malicious software targeting visitors to the website. The attack code was traced to a site in Ukraine.

The Treasury Government Security Operations Center was notified about the breach on Monday.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Web security focus at IT conference

ngsadmin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:51:02 GMT

IT experts have used a major conference to set out how they see internet security changing in the next 10 years and beyond.

Verizon's top web-security expert, Peter Tippet, told London's Infosecurity Europe conference that IT security will become "more measured and more scientific".

The next decade could also see mobile platforms dominating user-end web interaction with some security services relocated to the cloud - offering increased safety for all across the net.

But web security will also become increasingly "mundane", he argues, ending up with set processes like those currently used in industrial safety and quality control.

Richard Zwienenberg, from Norman Data Defence Systems, meanwhile, said updating knowledge on malicious software, or malware, is key for companies, experts and other bodies to enable them to analyse threats quickly to keep systems running.

He warned: 'If you had something new and you had to wait for your security company to actually tell you what it is doing it could take a long time.

"And if information is being sent out you need to know as soon as possible whether you can keep your system open or not [and] whether you will have more damage."

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Internet 'puts businesses at risk'

ngsadmin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:06:34 GMT

The increasing use of the internet for business is a source of concern for many IT security managers, a report has revealed.

The study presented at Infosecurity Europe 2010, hosted by Webroot, claimed 25% of senior IT personnel were worried about new online risks, particularly in the area of home-based remote access.

Also concerning was the number of companies using web 2.0 applications and internet-based collaboration programs.

Speaking before the conference, Con Mallon, product marketing director for Norton products at Symantec, said spam and malware were the threats to looks out for.

His argument was backed up by Webroot chief technology officer Gerhard Eschelbeck, who claimed companies had to do more to protect themselves against cyber attacks.

"Employees are unwittingly putting their employers at risk of the growing threat of web-based malware, as they increasingly turn to the internet to do business," he said.

US study on improving web security

ngsadmin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:07:57 GMT

Research is under way to make web security systems less susceptible to attack.

Silicon chips could be made more reliable after scientists found varying voltage to key parts of a computer's processor compromises its ability to keep data secret.

Lots of websites taking payments scramble credit card and other data using systems based on public key cryptography, for instance RSA authentication.

Two keys - one public and one private - scramble data and "if data is locked with a public key, it can only be unlocked with the corresponding private key," says Professor Todd Austin, from the University of Michigan's electrical engineering and computer science department.

"It's the kind of algorithm you use when you go to a website and you see the little padlock in the lower right-hand corner to indicate a secure connection," he said.

Fake values will be used in new versions of the system to confuse attempts to copy a private key, in what Prof Austin describes as an "ongoing process of hardening RSA".

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Acquisition of leading testing services business for £15.0m

ngsadmin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:13:57 GMT

NCC Group plc has acquired SDLC Solutions Limited (SDLC), a testing services provider for a maximum consideration of £15.0m in cash.

Based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, SDLC employs over 70 full time staff, most of whom are testers and over 60 associates. It will be managed autonomously within the Group’s Assurance division by SDLC’s existing management team and will trade as SDLC Solutions, a NCC Group company.

Over the last five years NCC Group has secured a leading position in security research, testing, advice and forensics as well as web site performance and load testing through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth. The earnings enhancing acquisition of SDLC complements the Group’s existing information security and testing capabilities within its Assurance Division.

The acquisition of SDLC widens the Group’s assurance capabilities by providing a complementary range of software testing services, including business analysis, project management, test resourcing, network and application performance analysis, functional and non-functional testing, test automation, software testing and tools training.

SDLC will benefit significantly from access and exposure to NCC Group’s client base and the opportunities to grow its business as part of a much larger and well established listed group.

This acquisition also complements the Group’s recent purchase of Meridian Services, a card services auditing and assurance company, that specialises in conducting payment scheme logical and physical security audits, as well as offering global strategic advisory services for card manufacturing, data preparation and card personalisation.

Rob Cotton, NCC Group Chief Executive, said:

"SDLC is one of the UK’s most respected testing services companies. Its addition to the Group will enable us to provide a total assurance service by including functional testing. We are now able to offer our clients the ability to mitigate risk throughout every stage of their IT infrastructure, software and information security decision making.

“Introducing our information security services and clients to SDLC’s extensive expertise will further strengthen our position, whilst we will be able to provide a wider range of services to SDLC’s client base. We are confident that the management team will continue to maintain their excellent track record of revenue and profit growth, supported by our resources and the Group’s wider client base.”

For more details of this and other aquisitions, please visit the Investor Relations area on the NCC Group website.

Data breach fines 'underestimated'

ngsadmin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:12:02 GMT

IT security experts have called for greater awareness about data protection rules after a survey found more than four out of 10 employees were unaware of the extent of fines for a breach.

A poll of office workers in Canary Wharf found 42% believed that lost data would lead to a fine of less than £10,000.

Under new legislation, the Information Commissioner's Office has the power to impose fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of data.

The research carried out by BlockMaster, also found that 18% of employees had lost a portable device within the last three years.

More than six out of 10 said they valued personal items such as mobile phones over portable work devices because of the cost of replacing them if lost.

BlockMaster's Anders Pettersson said: "It isn't too surprising that employees were unaware of the implementation of the ICO data fines. However, it is shocking to learn that employees only consider there to be a cost involved in replacing a physical device, such as a laptop or USB drive.

"We need to get the message across to organisations and employees that data is more than just a file stored on a device, it has a monetary value and could seriously harm an organisation if it got into the wrong hands."

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Telegraph website hit by hackers

ngsadmin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:58:50 GMT

Hackers have managed to infiltrate a section of The Daily Telegraph's website and replace its holiday and food and drink pages with a picture of a Romanian flag.

The media group came under fire from hackers who were said to have been motivated to launch the attack after the Telegraph referred to Romanians as gypsies, according to The Guardian.

The site's short breaks and wine and dine sections were replaced with the flag, claiming to be for "Romanian National Security", and there were several other comments in Romanian. The post also linked to a Russian site that plays an audio recording called The Lonely Shepherd.

The only text in English read: "Guess what, gypsies aren't Romanians, morons."

The embarrassing security breach comes about a year after a partner website of the Telegraph Media Group was hacked, exposing the email addresses of registered users on part of that site.

Internet forum Hackersblog, which has exposed the ease with which several prominent websites can be hacked, claimed all databases at the Telegraph are vulnerable to SQL injection attack.

Tony Osborn, a security expert at Symantec, said in order to protect websites from such attacks, companies must ensure web fronting systems are secure.

"Simple measures include applying basic information risk management, prioritising web-facing systems and ensuring patches are always up to date," he said.

Interim Management Statement

ngsadmin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:00:02 GMT

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC or “the Group”), the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance Testing, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement, covering the period from 1 December 2009 to 14 April 2010.

NCC Group’s trading performance remains in line with the Board’s expectations and on course to deliver the anticipated levels of growth and profitability. Whilst the economy has not materially picked up, both of the Group’s divisions are trading well ahead of last year.

Visit the NCC Group site to access the full Interim Management Statement today.

Report reveals UK piracy habits

ngsadmin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:55:42 GMT

A third of computer users in the UK have confessed to using pirated software, according to a new report on illegal downloading.

Microsoft's 'Attitudes to Piracy' report shed light on the secret habits of the UK's computer users with London emerging as the UK piracy 'hotspot' after 14% of people said they used pirated software at work.

However, more than half (57%) of people said they thought their boss would turn a blind eye to the practice despite the legal ramifications of using illegally downloaded software in the workplace.

Julian Swan, director of compliance marketing at the Business Software Alliance (BSA), said: "Businesses have many excuses for not managing software effectively. Cost cutting, ignorance and changes in IT personnel are often cited during legal action.

"But the cost of being found using unlicensed software far outweighs any perceived savings. Businesses expose themselves to the risks of fines, reputational damage and data loss if they allow software to be duplicated or downloaded from illegal websites. It may seem like a cost saving but it's a likely cause of major regret."

A general disregard for the risks involved in using pirated software such as computer viruses, data loss and identity theft was also apparent after only a third of respondents said they had a good idea of what could go wrong when using illegal software.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

Vietnam refutes 'malware' claims

ngsadmin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:57:00 GMT

Google and McAfee's claims that Vietnam had used malicious computer programs to hack websites and spy on political opponents have been dismissed as "groundless" by the communist country.

The cyber attacks had targeted "potentially thousands of people", according to Google, who said the "malware" software had apparently been used to spy on opponents of a controversial bauxite mine planned for Vietnam's Central Highlands.

Chief technology officer of McAfee, George Kurtz, said the perpetrators "may have political motivations and may have some allegiance to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam".

However, Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswomen Nguyen Phuong Nga said the comments on Google and McAfee's security blogs last week were "groundless".

Facebook has been blocked in Vietnam since late in 2009, but the government has not acknowledged directly blocking the social networking website, though workers at two state-controlled internet service providers said they had been told to block it.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

100,000 can view NHS medical records

ngsadmin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:13:05 GMT

Data released under the Freedom of Information Act has shown more than 100,000 non-clinical staff working at the NHS can gain access to private medical records.

Campaign group TaxPayers' Alliance, which put in the request, received responses back from 140 acute hospital trusts across the UK.

It had asked for information to be provided on the number of staff not directly involved in the treatment of patients who have access to the confidential records.

And having analysed the data, the Big Brother Watch group, part of the TaxPayers' Alliance, believes NHS workers such as porters, IT staff and hospital administrators can gain access to either paper or online versions.

Immediate access was defined as staff who could see at least a patient's name, date of birth and most recent medical history without needing the consent of the patient or the signature of another member of staff.

Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, said the Government needed to address the problems as a matter of urgency.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "This report is awash with inaccuracies and manages to claim quite falsely that detailed medical records will be shared nationally - they won't.

"The authors are also confused, muddling the distinction between paper files, which allow any member of staff to see confidential information, and new electronic systems which strictly control access to those directly involved in a patient's healthcare."