Cyber security firm Net-Defence is marking its 10th anniversary with a warning that too many North East SMEs are still ignoring ‘wake up’ calls and under estimating today’s cyber threat landscape.

Despite a year of high-profile cyber incidents and regulatory enforcement across sectors in 2025, Net-Defence, provider of IT support, telephony and cyber resilience services, says many smaller businesses continue to delay investment, assume they are too small to be targeted, or rely on outdated protections.

Founded within the established Ogilvie Group, a third-generation family business, Net-Defence began in 1994 as a telecommunications division. 

In 2015, it rebranded as Net-Defence, marking a strategic shift towards integrated IT and communications services with cyber security at its core.

Over the past decade, the business has undergone significant growth, both in capability and in team expertise, evolving from its telecom’s roots into a specialist cyber resilience provider supporting SMEs across the North East, and beyond. 

A key part of that growth has been a deliberate focus on developing talent internally, with a strong promote-from-within ethos and an emphasis on building long-term technical and advisory capability within the team.

Debra Cairns, Managing Director of Net-Defence, said the company’s evolution reflects both changing market demand and a sustained investment in people.

“Our growth over the past decade has been driven by a deliberate and sustainable approach, reaching our 10-year milestone as Net-Defence reflects a decade of building cyber resilience into the core of what we do,” said Debra. 

“Just as important as the services we deliver is how we’ve grown the team behind it. We’ve invested heavily in developing expertise internally, creating clear progression routes, and fostering a culture where people can build long-term careers in cyber security and IT.

“We have retained and invested in exceptional talent while maintaining measured growth. 

“Rather than relying on rapid headcount expansion that increases costs, we have focused on automation, simplification, and leveraging technology to deliver more with the same highly skilled team. 

“This has enabled us to remain cost competitive without compromising the service quality, responsiveness, or outcomes our customers expect.”

As cyber threats evolve, North East businesses are under increasing pressure to strengthen their cyber resilience, with ransomware, phishing, and data breaches on the rise, cyber security remains a critical issue for the region’s SMEs.

Debra Cairns said the gap between threat levels and business readiness remains a major concern.

She said: “The regular statistics show cyber risk is not a future issue, it is happening now. The disconnect between the frequency of attacks and the level of boardroom attention is still too wide.”

Net-Defence is seeing particularly strong demand for tailored cyber security support across legal, financial services and manufacturing sectors in the North East. 

These industries face heightened exposure due to regulatory pressure, sensitive data handling and supply chain dependencies.

Banks including Barclays, Nationwide and Monzo have collectively faced fines exceeding £100 million, while law firms have been shut down following regulatory intervention. 

In parallel, manufacturing and engineering supply chains have been exposed as weak points, where a single vulnerability can ripple across entire industries.

Recent data highlights ongoing concern, with the legal sector reporting high levels of cyber incidents alongside increasing regulatory scrutiny, financial services and accountancy firms remain frequent targets due to the volume of sensitive financial data they hold, and engineering and manufacturing businesses continuing to experience breaches often linked to supply chain vulnerabilities.

Debra says attackers are increasingly exploiting these interconnected risks: “Cyber criminals are actively targeting weaker links in supply chains, SMEs in these sectors are particularly attractive because one compromise can open access to many others.”

Net-Defence also warns that artificial intelligence is reshaping the cyber threat landscape, enabling more sophisticated phishing attacks, faster exploitation of vulnerabilities and highly personalised social engineering at scale.

“We are seeing AI used to automate and personalise attacks in ways that significantly increase success rates,” Debra added. “That raises the standard of what effective cyber resilience now needs to look like.”

Alongside its service growth, Net-Defence continues to expand its collaborative work with organisations across the North East, and the company has also been recognised in a number of industry awards including a finalist in the Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) reflecting its continued role in advancing cyber resilience practices across the industry. 

Debra added: “As an SME ourselves, we understand the pressures businesses face, that is why collaboration is key, bringing sectors together to share insight and turn awareness into practical action.

“Being recognised as a finalist in the Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) is a real honour for the team and reinforces the importance of the work we are doing to support organisations in strengthening their cyber resilience.”

As Net-Defence enters its second decade, the team are urging North East SMEs to move beyond awareness and take decisive action on cyber security.

“The snooze button is no longer an option,” added Debra. “Cyber resilience is now fundamental to business survival. The threat is constant, and the organisations that act now will be the ones that avoid becoming the next headline.

“As we move into our next phase of growth, our focus is on helping even more SMEs strengthen their defences and build long-term business resilience.”