Six Degrees acquires CNS Group to expand cyber security services portfolio

LONDON – August 20th, 2018 – Six Degrees, a leading cloud-led managed service provider, today announced the acquisition of award-winning cyber security services and consultancy business CNS Group. The acquisition adds the 50-strong CNS Group team and over £7 million of annual revenue to the business, together with a market-leading portfolio of security consultancy, compliance, and managed security services.

Established in 1999 and based in London, CNS Group delivers advanced cyber security services that allow access to the latest security intelligence. CNS Group’s clients span both the public and private sectors, and include businesses operating in highly regulated markets, FTSE 100 companies, and large public sector organisations. CNS Group’s experience, depth of capability, and reputation will allow Six Degrees to continue to act as a trusted advisor to its clients, enhancing its existing security offerings to benefit clients who already use its cloud, managed services, connectivity, and unified communications portfolios.

“The increasingly complex cyber security threat landscape is a major challenge for businesses, who struggle to align IT resources against the risks they face,” said David Howson, CEO, Six Degrees. “Existing clients want to place more of their IT estate with us, and security is a vital part of the picture. CNS Group’s loyal client base, serviced by a strong management team and talented staff, provides the perfect fit to enable Six Degrees to offer a broader set of cyber security services. Together we will continue to work within the key markets in which we operate, with a strong emphasis on our collaborative ‘client first’ approach, to meet evolving technology requirements and enable our clients’ brilliance.”

Under the terms of the acquisition, Six Degrees will ramp up its already comprehensive security portfolio in order to provide government accredited managed security services through CNS Group’s dedicated Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC). Six Degrees will also begin delivering CNS Group’s Cyber Security Maturity Benchmarking model, Aegis, into client sites. Aegis is a benchmarking toolset, bringing context and understanding at senior management level of the risks that businesses face from a cyber security perspective. It also enables clients to understand their security needs in granular detail, helping them to gauge how and where to effectively spend budget, in order to see real ROI and avoid reputational risk.

“Joining Six Degrees represents the next step in our strategic plan to increase our market share and further enhance our flagship cyber security services” said Shannon Simpson, CEO, CNS Group. “With our shared focus on UK data sovereignty and protecting businesses, this is a great move. Working with Six Degrees will enable us to bring our highly accredited security offerings to all of the services they offer, and we will give clients additional peace of mind and assurance that their data assets are safe. With a history of successful acquisitions and client care for those acquired with a company, we are confident that this will be a smooth and successful integration into the group.”