Accenture launches new FusionX Incident Response Services globally

New capability mimics adversarial thinking to help organizations understand, mitigate cyber threats

NEW YORK; August 2, 2016 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced the expansion of its incident response capabilities and global services through FusionX, part of Accenture Security. Known for its fundamentally differentiated approach to intelligence-based, cyberattack simulation services, FusionX has built upon its vast understanding of adversaries and their breadth of technical experience to develop a holistic incident response solution that addresses client preparedness, through threat identification and eradication.

The announcement was made at the Black Hat conference, which takes place July 30 to August 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Our new FusionX incident response services offer a truly unique cyber capability to our clients. From a technical perspective, approaching security incident response through the eyes of an attacker helps us better understand the threat and more effectively respond to it,” commented Kelly Bissell, senior managing director, Accenture Security. “On the business side, Accenture’s broad experience analyzing the typical vulnerabilities organizations face, the threat actors that are likely to target them and what the impact of a breach is likely to be means that we are able to better protect our clients’ critical assets today and in the future.”

The partnering of @FusionX and @Accenture offers robust solutions for containment and eradication of adversaries

FusionX incident response services are designed to help clients with the confidence and capability they need to prepare and respond to cyberattacks. The services are built on an adversary- and threat-focused approach, and delivered by highly experienced incident response specialists. Many solutions in the marketplace require the installation of proprietary software before services can be delivered, prolonging the ability to quickly respond to a threat. FusionX’s vendor-agnostic approach means it can rapidly deploy its services into any technology environment and enable clients to resolve security incidents more effectively, therefore reducing the business impact of a breach.

The incident response services consist of:

• Emergency Incident Response – A specialized team is quickly brought in to assess the situation and respond to the incident by evaluating the scope of the breach and providing recommendations for remediation.

• Continuous Incident Response Services – Incident response readiness is provided to prepare and respond as needed, including remote assistance via the FusionX global, 24/7 operations center.

“Incident response is a problem for which no silver bullet exists. We are faced by a growing number of threat actors, each with their own unique techniques, means and objectives, and each requiring yet another unique approach of defense,” said Tom Parker, chief technology officer, FusionX and managing director, Accenture Security. “We’ve built our incident response services to directly address this challenge by knowing the enemy and continually innovating and evolving, just like our cyber adversaries.”

“FusionX has been Web.com’s security partner for more than four years. I know them well, consider them part of my team and am pleased that they are making significant investments in their incident response offering,” said Jane Landon, chief technology officer, Web.com. “I can call them day or night and they are there for us. That kind of responsiveness, combined with their deep understanding of the adversary, will be critical for their incident response customers.”

“Cybercrime is growing increasingly in both organization and sophistication. Contending with this new level of attack requires better security delivery models,” said Fred McClimans, research vice president, Cybersecurity, HfS Research. “In the same way that Accenture’s FusionX has disrupted penetration testing with its threat centric adversary model, we anticipate they will bring a similar approach to evolve how Incident Response is delivered.”

The investment in the FusionX incident response service is representative of Accenture’s ongoing commitment to security. Additional investments include the acquisition of Maglan, a privately-held Israeli cybersecurity company; the acquisition of Cimation, an affiliate of Audubon Companies and an Industrial Internet of Things consulting company; a minority investment in Endgame Inc., a provider of cybersecurity software solutions; and a minority investment in Team8, a cybersecurity foundry.