Deloitte acquires Sydney-based cyber boutique Hacktive
In its third deal in just as many months, Big Four firm Deloitte has acquired Hacktive, a Sydney-based cyber specialist with a team of ten professionals.
The pick up of Hacktive strengthens Deloitte’s cyber capabilities across its lifecycle, with Hacktive helping clients both in the early stages (consultancy, vulnerability assessments, etc) and the latter stages of the cycle (managed services and cyber operations).
“We are seeing strong demand from our clients across the spectrum of end-to-end cyber capabilities, helping to implement robust cyber strategies and solutions to achieve organisational outcomes, build resilience, and reduce potential vulnerabilities,” said Steve Jansz, managing partner of Deloitte Risk Advisory at Deloitte.
“The incoming team from Hacktive will elevate our current cyber practice, bolster our ability to provide managed cyber security services and expand capability within our Cyber Intelligence Centre. We’re excited to be bringing them on board,” he added.
Hacktive’s ten-person team works mainly for clients in the financial services, health, utilities, retail and public sectors. As part of the deal, founders Chris Gatford and Keith Hazelwood – wo launched the boutique in 2018 – will join Deloitte as a partner and principal respectively.
“Keith and I have built our business over a relatively short period of time on understanding the market and employing a team of highly experienced cyber professionals. We’re aligned with Deloitte and its workplace culture,” said Gatford.
According to estimates from Gartner, Deloitte is the largest cybersecurity consultancy in the world (the definition excludes manager services, a segment where Deloitte is also active in), and in Consultancy.com.au’s 2022 ranking of top consulting firms in Australia, Deloitte was named one of the nation’s three leading providers.
“Deloitte’s strong capabilities and network will help us take our offerings to another level,” said Gatford.
The bolt-on comes hot on the heels of Deloitte launching its cyber managed services business in Australia. The arm provides 24-hour threat detection and issue resolution services to customers.
“There is a strong market demand for managed cyber security services, including in the private business segment, focused on managing information, privacy and risk via the right security technology architectures,” explained Deloitte’s national Cyber practice leader, Ian Blatchford.
The last time Deloitte turned to inorganic means to bolster its Australian cyber practice was in 2020, when the firm acquired 50-strong Zimbani. In the in between period, the firm has bought close to 20 other companies.
