Brief: KPMG beefs up cybercrime unit with Cyberinc deal

With cybercrime rising as a security threat for business, KPMG has bolstered its presence in the sector by acquiring the identity and access management (IAM) business of Cyberinc.

The takeover will see Cyberinc’s 190-person IAM team – based mainly in the US, UK, India and Australia – transfer to the new owner. Cyberinc is said to be the largest IAM technology provider in the world and will boost KPMG’s capabilities in digital consumer identity and privileged user management.

“Cyber security remains a top risk to organizations as threats grow in scale and cyber criminals develop new ways to access protected information,” said Lynne Doughtie, KPMG’s US chairman and CEO. The company has been growing steadily in cybersecurity via alliances with Oracle, Sailpoint and Ping Identity with the aim of helping companies protect their information whilst handling increasingly large-scale digital interactions with customers.

It has been estimated that cybercrime damage costs will hit $6trn annually by 2021, up from $3trn in 2016, and companies will have to spend $1trn in measures to protect their businesses over the same period, according to cybersecurityventures.com, which estimates that ransomware alone cost businesses $5bn in 2017.