Ankura hires cybersecurity and risk team from Kroll

Ankura has poached a team of cybersecurity experts from Kroll, led by Rob Phillips – who will now lead Ankura’s Cyber Risk practice across Asia Pacific.

Simon Michaels, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of EMEA and APAC at Ankura, said that the team hire comes in response to strong demand for cyber services, and is in line with the firm’s growth ambition in the Asia Pacific region.

“Asia Pacific is a key market for Ankura and we are pleased to expand our footprint in the region at a time when clients are faced with increasing exposure to cyber threat risks. The team joining Ankura is highly regarded for their expertise in cyber, forensics and incident response,” he said.

Olaf Larson, Senior Managing Director at Ankura, added: “We are delighted to welcome the team to our global Cyber Risk practice, further strengthening our cyber risk capabilities in the region and reinforcing our commitment to provide clients access to independent expert and advisory services with local, highly experienced, and best-in-class teams.”

Both Ankura nor Kroll have released details on the team joining, but analysis of LinkedIn accounts shows that at least eight professionals have crossed from Kroll to Ankura, nearly all of which operate out of Singapore.

The leader of the transferring group, Rob Phillips, has extensive experience in the cyber domain. He specialises in end-to-end cyber services across digital forensics, eDiscovery, incident response, cyber readiness, threat intelligence, privacy consulting, and managed detection and response services.

Earlier in his career, Phillips founded and led the Singapore-based cyber firm RP Digital Security. He spent 22 years of his 30-year career in Singapore.

“Rob and his team are highly regarded for their expertise in forensics and incident response and have consistently assisted clients in effectively managing the complete lifecycle of incidents in the region. Now, with Ankura’s comprehensive global cyber service offerings, they will further enhance our capabilities and bring even greater benefits to our clients,” said Chris Marks, Senior Managing Director at Ankura.

Ankura’s Cyber Risk practice has teams in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Australia. They work for local and multinational clients in over a dozen countries in Asia Pacific.