Belfast, United Kingdom, 7^th May 2024 – BlackFog, a leader in ransomware protection and anti data exfiltration technology, today announced the opening of its new research and development (R&D) headquarters in Belfast, United Kingdom.

The office, situated in the historic Custom House building in the heart of Belfast, will provide a centre from which BlackFog will continue to focus on product innovation and the development of its enterprise platform for ransomware prevention.

The expansion is the latest milestone for the company, which has grown at 100% year-over-year and now has a customer base of more than 500 companies worldwide. It recently closed its Series A round of funding and will be making a significant number of new hires in the next 12-18 months. BlackFog has already employed a core team of six in Belfast and expects to expand this to more than 20 within the year. Recruitment is key to its expansion, and it plans to fill a number of key development positions this year.

The location will place BlackFog at the heart of Belfast’s fast growing cybersecurity hub which provides access to the region’s world-class engineering and technology talent.  The city has established itself as a thriving centre within the cyber security ecosystem, offering an excellent infrastructure and world leading research centres at Queen’s University and the University of Ulster.

BlackFog’s pioneering platform focuses on stopping ransomware by preventing the unauthorised removal of data from devices, ultimately protecting organisations from a data breach. This continues to be a major and worldwide problem, with reports that 90% of ransomware attacks now leverage data exfiltration. By focussing on preventing data exfiltration from endpoints, BlackFog provides a unique approach to stopping cyber attacks.

Commenting on the office opening, Dr. Darren Williams, Founder and CEO of BlackFog said: “The launch of our new R&D centre is part of our continued commitment to provide customers with the most innovative and effective solution to combat the growth of cybercrime.”

He continues: “Our global vision is to seek out the best and brightest anywhere in the world. Belfast was our choice not only for the access it provides to highly skilled individuals, but also for their work ethic, culture and confidence we can see across the city. As a global citizen I get inspired by working with different cultures, which fosters creativity and efficiency. Belfast offers this in abundance, and I look forward to further supporting our customers and partners from this exciting new location.”

Founded in 2015, BlackFog is a global cybersecurity company that has pioneered on-device anti data exfiltration (ADX) technology to protect companies from global security threats such as ransomware, spyware, malware, phishing, unauthorized data collection and profiling. Its software monitors enterprise compliance with global privacy regulations and prevents cyberattacks across all endpoints. BlackFog uses AI to preemptively prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in enterprise security systems and data structures.

BlackFog recently won the “Best Threat Intelligence Technology” in the 2024 Teiss Awards, “Data Leak Detection Solution of the Year” award in the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards, as well as a Gold award in the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards for Best Virtual CISO Offering, a Silver award for Ransomware Protection and Most Innovative Cybersecurity Company in 2023. BlackFog also won a Globee award in 2023 for the State of Ransomware report which recognizes outstanding contributions in securing the digital landscape.

BlackFog’s preventative approach to security recognizes the limitations of existing perimeter defense techniques and neutralizes attacks before they happen at multiple points in their lifecycle. Trusted by corporations all over the world, BlackFog is redefining modern cyber security practices. For more information visit https://www.blackfog.com