Pan-African technology group Liquid Cyber Security has launched its first Cyber Security Fusion Centre in Johannesburg.

The Fusion Centre, one of six planned across Africa, provides 24/7 managed cybersecurity detection and response services to mitigate the growing threat of cyberattacks against governments and enterprises of all sizes.

Liquid Cyber Security’s new centre, enhanced by partners advisory-led cybersecurity services provider ITC Secure, Microsoft and cybersecurity firm Xcitium, will provide threat intelligence and help protect African enterprises against rampant and rising cybercrime.

“Our pan-African Cyber Security Fusion Centres will, when fully operational, leverage our ability to track and predict threats across the continent and will be enhanced by the capability of our international partners like Microsoft, ITC Secure and Xcitium,” says Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security CEO David Behr.

It also brings together the existing Liquid Cloud Operations and Liquid Network Operation Centres, ensuring customers have full support across cybersecurity, cloud and networks for end-to-end security.

The centre will eliminate silos and enhance threat visibility leading to deeper collaboration across teams and increased cyber resiliency.

“The alarming rate of cyberattacks led us to launch Liquid Cyber Security in 2020, and today we are elevating the offering for our customers by launching the first Fusion Centre.”

Behr comments that, according to an Interpol report, South Africa had 230-million threats detected in 2021, highlighting a dark side to rapid digital transformation.

There has been a rapid acceleration in the adoption of digital technologies globally, and South Africa is no different. However, the nature of work and how businesses operate constantly evolves, and so has the scale of cyberthreats.

“Malicious actors have more avenues for attacking businesses through brute force or human error.”

With the Fusion Centres, Liquid aims to respond to threats with a strategic, tactical, technical and operational threat intelligence approach, enabling the teams to make informed decisions while mitigating the threat for customers.

Through the combined offering of the security advisory, managed service and integrated cyber intelligence, enterprises will now be able to stay ahead of cyberattacks, he says.

Following a phased approach, South African enterprises will benefit from new services that leverage Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Sentinel, which are all delivered and monitored constantly, 24/7, 365 days every year.

Further, Liquid Cyber Security partnered with Xcitium, previously Comodo Security Solutions, to offer solutions designed for small and medium-sized businesses requiring security operation centre (SOC) services without investing in highly skilled resources or enterprise SOC services they cannot afford.

“One of the most significant advantages of the Liquid Cyber Security Fusion Centre is the improvement in the time it would take for the organisation to detect and respond to threats faster and smarter,” Behr adds.

“As a result, Liquid can now assist its customers in real-time and enable them to be proactive rather than reactive, as well as effectively handle the situation, especially in today's complex threat landscape,” he concludes.