British Airways hack upgrades cyber risk pipeline

The British Airways payment hack and a spate of supply chain-based attacks have provided a lift to ASX-listed cyber security minnow Whitehawk after the company issued a price-sensitive note to the market on Friday on forthcoming pipeline.

The specialist cyber risk company, which is dual headquartered in Western Australia and the US state of Virginia, said it has “a strong pipeline of contract opportunities in the US for our 360 Cyber Risk Framework Review, including the US Government.”

Although small, the specialist firm has garnered attention in the cloistered intelligence community thanks in part to its leadership which includes executive chair Terry Roberts, a former deputy director of US naval intelligence.

More recently, Roberts was head of cyber engineering and analytics for large defence contractor TASC, a spin-off of Northrop Grumman.

The company is specifically targeting supply chain cyber risk and cites clients as the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

The company’s go to market proposition appears to be a mix of consulting expertise coupled with an aggregation model that allows government and corporates to roll-up crafted product and services solutions to address specific needs rather than negotiating with suppliers direct.

Trusted independent aggregators are becoming a niche in the government and business cyber domains because they allow end clients to negotiate more aggressively without putting their intentions and operational defence strategies on public display.

The company said that it was positioned close to an additional five sales but did not issue specific guidance on the anticipated deals.