Craig Richardson, chief executive of the Wynyard Group.
Craig Richardson, chief executive of the Wynyard Group.
International clients have already contacted NZX listed crime fighting and anti-terrorism software business Wynyard Group after the Paris attacks.
Craig Richardson, Wynyard Group chief executive, said this morning that events in France had already had an effect on the business, which expects to push up annual revenue more than 50per cent due to rising demand.
"Customers who we were already engaged with have escalated their interests. They prioritised that," Richardson said, referring to clients' reactions to Paris.
"Certainly after France, we had inquiries over the weekend. Clients in Europe and the Middle East have clearly said they are increasing their investment. The events have given an urgency to the need to progress initiatives," he said.
"We expect revenue to grow more than 50 per cent this year and counter-terrorism growth is a material percentage of that, driven by two major things: the increase in counter-terrorism software and in cyber-threat software. We have a high level of inquiry out of Europe already," Richardson said.
"The problems the French are dealing with is the massive [threat] of potential attacks and identifying those who pose the greatest risk, which is overwhelming for national security and law enforcement agencies. Our customers first conduct risk assessments of persons of interest they have identified and they have to work through the current situation.
Certainly after France, we had inquiries over the weekend. Clients in Europe and the Middle East have clearly said they are increasing their investment. The events have given an urgency to the need to progress initiatives.
That's constantly changing," he said referring to the software's capability to conduct risk assessments on persons of interest or networks of individuals of interest.
Today, Wynyard announced it had won a $900,000 contract with one of Saudi Arabia's top 10 banks to help it comply with Saudi Arabian monetary agency regulations.
"Wynyard's risk management software will help this leading institution, which offers wholesale, retail and commercial banking products, comply with a complex regulatory environment," the company said in an NZX announcement.
Wynyard sells crime analytics and cyber-threat analytics as well as investigations systems to help solve growing big data and security problems including organised and international crime, new generation extremism and high-consequence cyber crime.
Richardson said governments around the world were increasingly concerned about organised crime, new generation extremist and never-before-seen cyber threats which continued to grow in frequency and severity.
Asked how Wynyard ensured its products were not used for political purposes, Richardson acknowledged the seriousness of that issue.
"We have sophisticated due diligence. We don't sell software to anyone who could pose a threat to New Zealand or allied countries and we have ways of controlling the software, particularly for people who have other agendas," he said.
