NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Business

NZ cybersecurity firm founded by GCSB veterans sells to Fujitsu

Chris Keall
By Chris Keall
Technology Editor/Senior Business Writer·NZ Herald·
23 Sep, 2022 05:20 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Photo / 123rf

Photo / 123rf

InPhySec, a Wellington-based cybersecurity firm founded by a trio of ex-GCSB managers has been sold to Japanese multinational Fujitsu.

The seven-year-old firm gained profile after it was parachuted in to review the NZX's cyberdefences following an April 2020 DDoS attack that took the exchange offline for days.

"I have always maintained that InPhySec is not for sale," chief executive and co-founder Marc Barlow said.

"Over the years, we have dismissed many offers because we felt they had the wrong motivations.

"However, Fujitsu presented a highly compelling offer that is wholly about opportunity. With Fujitsu's support we have the opportunity to take InPhySec beyond New Zealand's shores. This is fantastic news for our team of 70-plus who all get to enjoy the rising tide that comes with this opportunity."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

How fantastic?

Neither party will reveal financial terms of the deal - although it appears to be somewhere south of the Overseas Investment Office's $100 million approval threshold.

Barlow was the GCSB's vulnerability assessment team lead, then later head of the spy agency's National Cyber Security Centre forensic investigation and response lead until 2013.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He co-founded InPhySec in 2015 with Jonathan Berry - a former GCSB manager who worked as technical lead on the agency's Cabinet-mandated Cyber Security Plan for Government Information and Assets.

The pair were soon joined by a third director, Ian Fletcher - who served as the GCSB's chief executive between January 2012 and February 2015, a period when the agency was found to have illegally spied on Kim Dotcom.

Discover more

Business

Rocket Lab reveals Mississippi plans, teases space capsule

22 Sep 05:33 AM
Business

Beaten-down tech stocks: Four comeback contenders

23 Sep 05:13 AM
Business

Watch: Kiwi startup's seaglider dream closer after successful test flight

22 Sep 05:20 AM
Business

Govt-backed solarZero sold to US giant BlackRock in $100m-plus deal

14 Sep 05:25 AM
"I have always maintained that InPhySec is not for sale" - InPhySec chief executive and co-founder Marc Barlow.
"I have always maintained that InPhySec is not for sale" - InPhySec chief executive and co-founder Marc Barlow.

In an increasingly crowded field of cybersecurity firms, InPhySec says its "intelligence-led" approach is its point of difference.

It works with three insurers - Vero Liability, Delta and Donaldson Brown - on loss prevention and incident recovery. As well as an assessment of software and policies across a broad range of government and industry, it offers a review of physical security - and says it has audited "most major NZ data centres".

Ahead of the Fujitsu takeover, Barlow (33.3 per cent), Berry (33 per cent) and Fletcher (13 per cent) were the three largest shareholders.

The deal is due to close on October 1.

On completion of the acquisition, Barlow will report to Graeme Beardsell, executive VP and chief executive of Fujitsu Asia Pacific.

"InPhySec - a small group of three people to now being around 75 people," Barlow said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Unlike some of our local competitors, we've organically grown to this size, as opposed to a product of small acquisitions. This brings a real cohesiveness and consistency.

"Now InPhySec has reached the point of its maturity where we want to take it global. We are very good at what we do and we offer a globally relevant set of services. For us to achieve this ambition, it made the most sense for us to collaborate with a well-respected and mature partner."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Business

Premium
Shares

Market close: IkeGPS continues run, up 8.6%

Premium
New Zealand

'Bringing the community together': Young new owner's plans for Hastings cinema

Premium
Retail

HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers


Sponsored

Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Premium
Market close: IkeGPS continues run, up 8.6%
Shares

Market close: IkeGPS continues run, up 8.6%

Gentrack dipped 4.23% after two large trades, one analyst said.

14 Jul 05:57 AM
Premium
Premium
'Bringing the community together': Young new owner's plans for Hastings cinema
New Zealand

'Bringing the community together': Young new owner's plans for Hastings cinema

14 Jul 04:29 AM
Premium
Premium
HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers
Retail

HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers

14 Jul 03:51 AM


Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?
Sponsored

Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?

14 Jul 04:48 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP