NGS Software

Interim profits up 19% and dividend up 17% with forward visibility remaining very strong

ngsadmin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:34:00 GMT

NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, "NCC Group" or "the Group", the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance Testing, has reported its interim reults for the six months to 30 November 2009.

Highlights

Financial Highlights

Group revenue up 22% to £25.4m (£20.8m in 2008)
Group adjusted operating profits* increased by 16% to £6.3m (£5.5m in 2008)
- Group Escrow operating profits up by 9% to £6.0m
- Assurance Testing operating profits up by 33% to £1.6m
Group adjusted pre tax profits* up by 19% to £6.2m (£5.2m in 2008)
Adjusted diluted earnings* per share up by 21% to 13.3p (11.0p in 2008)
Interim dividend up by 17% to 3.5p (3.00p in 2008)
Ratio of cash inflow from operating activities before interest and tax to operating profit up to 127% (119% in 2008)
Group orders and renewals now totalling £30.9m (£30.4m in October 2009)

Operational Highlights

Escrow UK has seen continued good growth in new contracts in spite of continued pressure on verification delivery
Assurance Testing Division has seen strong growth as information security issues continue to become increasingly critical to all businesses
The Group is on track to be debt free by the expiry of the current banking terms.

* Adjusted earnings measures: A reconciliation of adjusted operating profit, profit before tax and diluted earnings per share measures to reported adopted IFRS measures is set out on page 6. The Directors consider that the adjusted measures better reflect the ongoing performance of the business.

Rob Cotton, NCC Group Chief Executive commented:

“A 19% increase in our profitability and 21% increase in earnings is a very credible performance given the overall trading environment. We also continued to generate cash strongly with both divisions showing robust growth.

"Our confidence in the future, reinforced by our strong order book and renewals, has enabled us to increase the interim dividend by 17%. We remain on course to deliver another good year."

To view the Interim Results in full, please click here

Enquiries:

NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive 0161 209 5200

College Hill

Adrian Duffield / Rozi Morris 020 7457 2020

NCC Group wins prestigious government IT tender

ngsadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:20:00 GMT

IT assurance specialist, NCC Group, has been selected for a prestigious government framework agreement covering the provision of ICT consultancy services to the public sector.

The independent IT security specialist was one of only five suppliers selected across all four security consultancy & delivery services Lots in the Buying Solutions ICT Consultancy & Delivery Services framework agreement, which comprise of planning and design, penetration and security testing, ICT investigative services, and analysis and consultancy.

138 organisations submitted valid pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs), with 24 accepted onto the framework across seven key service Lots.

The win enables NCC Group to offer independent ICT security consultancy and delivery services to government departments, the NHS, local authorities, emergency services and other public bodies.

“This is a fantastic win for the group which will help strengthen our position as a trusted advisor to the public sector,” comments John Redeyoff, commercial development director at NCC Group plc.

“Public sector contracts are always well contested, particularly during a downturn. We’re absolutely delighted to have been selected and look forward to working with a wide range of public sector bodies on some exciting projects. The framework will give public sector customers much easier access to our services and the benefits of standard terms and conditions”

Buying Solutions, an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce in the Treasury, issued a contract notice inviting bids from vendors earlier this year.

NGSSQuirreL ‘Highly Commended’ at the SC Magazine Awards 2009

admin — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:45:00 GMT

The software development team at NGSSoftware are very happy to have been ‘Highly Commended‘ in the ‘Best Vulnerability Assessment‘ category at the SC Magazine Awards 2009.

The NGSSQuirreL range of Database Security Solutions were recognised at the European Awards ceremony which was held on the 28th April 2009 at the Hurlingham Club in London.

“The SC Magazine Awards Europe have been created to reward excellence and innovation within the IT security industry.“

Database Hacker’s Handbook Published

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:55:00 GMT

NGS consultants, experts in database security, have authored an essential guide to securing all popular commercial and open-source database systems. The Database Hacker’s Handbook (ISBN 0-7645-7801-4), published by Wiley, steps through the risks to systems running Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, PostgreSQL, Sybase ASE and MySQL - and clearly details how to protect against these threats. This is a vital reference for both security professionals and database administrators.

“This book is simply amazing … if you are a DBA of any of the major databases, you need to pick up this book sooner rather than later.” - Amazon review (Read the full review)

“Any database admin should have a copy of this on their desk.” - About.com review (Read the full review )

NGSSoftware to assist Kaspersky with Web Attack

admin — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:45:00 GMT

“Code on Kaspersky’s Web site is typically subjected to an internal and external audit. Kaspersky has hired database expert David Litchfield to investigate the incident and expects to be able to report more on the hack within 24 hours, the company said

In an e-mail interview, Litchfield said that he has done this type of investigation before. “Typically there are no problems with investigations of this type. Of course, an attacker can attempt to hide their tracks, which makes things more difficult — but by no means impossible.””

Read the full article at PCW.

The official press release from Kaspersky Lab can be found here.

NCC Group Interim Report

ngsadmin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:23:00 GMT

NCC Group plc

Strong organic growth supports 13% increase in profits and dividend up 33%

22 January 2008. NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, “NCC Group” or “the Group”), the independent information security assurance group, has reported its interim results for the six months to 30 November 2008.

Financial Highlights

» Group revenue up 27% to £20.8m (£16.4m in 2007) - organic growth 18%

» Group adjusted operating profits* increased by 17% to £5.5m (£4.7m in 2007) - organic growth 9%

» Escrow Solutions operating profits up 19% to £5.5m

» Assurance Testing operating profits up 25% to £1.0m

» Consultancy operating profits up 71% to £0.2m

» Group adjusted pre tax profits* up by 13% to £5.2m (£4.6m in 2007)

» Adjusted diluted earnings* per share up by 13% to 11.0p (9.8p in 2007)

» Interim dividend up by 33% to 3.00p (2.25p in 2007)

» Ratio of cash inflow from operating activities before interest and tax to operating profit up to 119% (118% in 2007)

» Net debt of £11.9m following acquisition of NGSS Limited (£0.2m net debt in 2007) and payment of deferred consideration payments

Operational Highlights

» Acquisition of NGSS Limited, an Ethical Security Testing business, on 26 November 2008 for total consideration of up to £10.0m, established Group as largest Ethical Security Testing team in Europe

» Consultancy and Assurance have seen excellent growth as the public demands security over its information, held in both the public and private sectors

» New multi option £15m loan and overdraft facilities agreed in principle until July 2010

* Adjusted earnings measures: A reconciliation of adjusted operating profit, profit before tax and diluted earnings per share measures to reported adopted IFRS measures is set out in the notes. The Directors consider that the adjusted measures better reflect the ongoing performance of the business.

Rob Cotton, NCC Group Chief Executive commented:

“Despite the current economic conditions; our focus on developing a number of complementary international information and security assurance businesses, by acquisition and organic growth, away from discretionary IT services expenditure continues to show excellent returns.

“A combination of our insulation from the worst features of the economic situation, our strong recurring revenues, cash generation and concentration on the fast growing information security markets gives us considerable confidence in our business, as demonstrated by our 33% increase in dividend. We remain on course to deliver another strong set of figures for this financial year.”

Enquiries:

NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com)
0161 209 5200
Rob Cotton, Chief Executive

NCC Group Acquisition

admin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:51:00 GMT

We are pleased to announce that Next Generation Security Software have been acquired by NCC Group. The full press release is available here.

Blocking Traffic by Country on Production Networks

ngsadmin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:14:00 GMT

NGSSoftware’s Tim Mullen has posted a new article at Security Focus.

“Here is some more detailed information on the use of country-by-country data sets in firewall configurations, where it may be appropriate, and methods by which one may use the sets to create traffic reports. While the methods listed and tools available are created specifically for ISA, the concept can be applied to any product that supports the necessary data elements”

Read the full article at Security Focus.

NGSSoftware South-East England Regional Winners at 2008 International Trade Awards

ngsadmin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:26:00 GMT

NGS SOFTWARE PROTECTS DATA – GLOBALLY

South-East Winners Secure Worldwide Software

Sutton-based Next Generation Security Software Ltd (NGS) has been named as South-East England regional winners of the 2008 International Trade Awards.

The International Trade Awards, sponsored by HSBC, recognise companies of all sizes which have excelled in creating new international business, in exporting, importing or investment.

NGS started trading in 2001, drawing on the experience and expertise of their founder-directors in both national and international security services and IT. The company has focused on providing vulnerability scanners and consulting services to the world’s largest corporations, banks and governments with an online internet presence.

It has built a global reputation for excellence within the security industry with cutting edge research, reference works and white papers, software vulnerability advisories and presentations at international conferences.

NGS now earns nearly 80 per cent of its revenues outside the UK, and turnover has grown by a massive 4,000 per cent since 2001. Its award winning total security package includes security application testing, network penetration testing, code review and training services.

Its client base reads like a directory of the industry majors – ranging from software vendors such as Microsoft to major government and corporate entities. In the competitive field of security consultancy NGS were recently selected by CESG as one of only three security companies in the UK to evaluate new Government systems before going live under the Tailored Assurance Scheme.

With 63 per cent of its business emanating from the US and sales and marketing operations now based in the US, Australia and Thailand, NGS has established a truly 24/7 global consulting presence. NGS has won a number of awards in recent years, including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2007 for success in international trade.

Its Typhon III vulnerability scanner was tested against some of the world’s leading brands in a competitive analysis by SC magazine. Typhon III provides fast and accurate identification of current and historical security vulnerabilities and offers secure quality protection against current threats including: worms, rootkits, phishing and SQL Injection. It also confers protection against emerging risks such as pharming and confidential data theft. SC magazine rated it a ‘Best Buy’ globally.

In 2008 to date, NGS Software has been judged ‘Best Security Company’ in the prestigious industry-wide SC Awards Europe; Managing director David Litchfield was pronounced ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the South London Business Awards, and the company was named as one of the Red Herring 100 Europe top 100 entreneurial companies.

For the judges of the 2008 international Trade Awards, Ian Campbell, Consultant editor of organsiers International Trade Today magazine said: ‘We were very impressed by the huge global footprint established by the six founding directors of NGS in the fiercely competitive world of internet technology. Communications and information technology are fundamental to the way business is going to develop in the 21st century. We all know, from personal disasters stemming from computer viruses to media stories of government and banking failures to protect our data, that this burgeoning industry is creating its own breed of criminals. Companies like NGS offer the industry the tools and the know-how to fight back and protect the rest of us.

Their presence in the global market-place, and especially their penetration of the largely US-dominated industry, is a tribute to their research and development skills, their persistence and their truly professional approach to international trade.’

The Head of Trade and Supply Chain at HSBC, Stuart Nivison said “From a very strong list of applicants, Next Generation Security Software Ltd stood out as the very clear winners. The pace of overseas growth whilst competing against some of the major players in the market is truly outstanding. Above all it was the clear commitment, vision and passion for the founding management team which clinched our decision.”

NGS Managing Director Dave Litchfield said: ‘NGS were extremely proud to be announced as the South-East England regional winners of the 2008 International Trade Awards which recognised the efforts of all NGS personnel.

‘The award ceremony hosted by HSBC at their offices at Canary Wharf was a great occasion. We were made to feel very welcome and we shared good wine, good food and good company.

‘The speeches made by Stuart and Ian left us quite humbled as between them they put into perspective the achievements of our company and the impact we have made in the global security space.

We look forward to meeting again next year in the UK Finals.’

HSBC Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc which is headquartered in the UK. Registered Office: 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ, United Kingdom. Incorporated in England with limited liability. Registered number 14259. Regulated by the Financial Services Authority. We only advise on our own life assurance, pensions and unit trusts.

Notes:

The HSBC Group serves over 128 million customers worldwide from around 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ‘the world’s local bank’.

The International Trade Awards 2008 are organised by International Trade Today magazine, Orion House, 14 Barn Hill, Stamford, Lincs PE9 2AE, Tel: 0208 144 8920, E: info@internationaltrade.co.uk. Full details of the awards programme can be found at www.internationaltradeawards.co.uk. International Trade Today magazine is celebrating its 71st anniversary this year, having published its first issue as Export magazine in November 1937.

Guide to VOIP Security

ngsadmin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:16:00 GMT

“”The problem lies not in VOIP technology but in its implementation”, says Barrie Dempster, a senior security consultant for Next Generation Security Software. “If you apply traditional network security logic to VOIP you can make it as secure as any other protocol,” he says.”

Read the full article at PC World (Aus).

Ghosts of Java Haunt Users

ngsadmin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:16:00 GMT

John Heasman, Vice-President of Research at NGSSoftware, discusses his Java security work with Brian Krebs of the Washington Post Security Fix blog.

Read the full article at WashingtonPost.com

South London Business Awards 2008

ngsadmin — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:27:00 GMT

NGSSoftware’s David Litchfield has been named Entrepreneur of the Year at the South London Business Awards 2008.

“South London businesses were in the spotlight as winners were announced at the glamorous South London Business Awards ceremony at Crystal Palace Football Club, Selhurst Park, on Monday 19 May.”

SC AWARDS EUROPE 2008: Winners announced

ngsadmin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:19:00 GMT

“The accolade for Best Security Company went to UK based NGSSoftware. A beaming David Litchfield, the managing director, accepted the award from Lumension’s Andrew Clarke. ”

Read the full article at SC Magazine.

The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook Published

admin — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:45:00 GMT

NGSSoftware’s Dafydd Stuttard and Marcus Pinto have authored The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook (ISBN 0-4701-70778), published by Wiley, it’s the essential guide to discovering and exploiting security flaws in web applications.

Marcus and Dafydd explain each category of vulnerability using real-world examples, screen shots and code extracts. The book is extremely practical in focus, and describes in detail the steps involved in detecting and exploiting each kind of security weakness found within a variety of applications such as online banking, e-commerce and other web applications.

The Oracle Hacker’s Handbook Published

admin — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:50:00 GMT

NGSSoftware’s David Litchfield has authored The Oracle Hacker’s Handbook (ISBN 0-4700-8022-1), published by Wiley, it’s the essential guide to hacking Oracle - written by the world leading Oracle database security expert himself.

Like The Shellcoder’s Handbook and The Database Hacker’s Handbook, this in-depth guide explores every technique and tool used by black hat hackers to invade and compromise Oracle. It shows you how to find the weak spots and defend them. Without that knowledge, you have little chance of keeping your databases truly secure.

“This is the most effective public analysis of security vulnerabilities in Oracle products so far,…I would recommend those involved in Oracle security to read this book as soon as they can.” - Amazon Review (Read the full review)