This is war. Terrorism has moved into the cyber space, and the worldwide illegal drug trade is nothing by comparison. Cybercrime attacks cost us $3 trillion in 2015, and by 2021, we will be looking at $6 trillion a year in damage.
Every industry is reeling from this battle. The biggest companies are forced to spend huge amounts on cybersecurity, while over half of small businesses are forced to close down within six months after a single cyber-attack.
Cybersecurity is now one of the biggest investment opportunities out there, and it’s only getting bigger. IBM notes that “every industry, every company in the world” is scrambling to head off the greatest threat to their livelihood ever.
ATT calls it the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history, and one little-known company now has a military-grade cybersecurity solution. A solution relied on by the world’s most elite cyber security circles, U.S. intelligence and defense agencies. . Now, for the first time, military-grade cyberdefense is accessible to small- and medium-sized businesses that cannot withstand a single cyber-attack.
Cisco says it will be more profitable than the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined.
Hill Top Security Inc., currently being acquired by Big Wind Capital Inc. (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF), is run by former military officers who understand our cyber defense needs and have already proven their platform with the government. Now, if they can reach a mass market with affordable solutions, they’ll be on track to claim a good share of the cybersecurity market.
Here are 5 reasons to watch Hill Top closely, at the climax of a security threat that is more materially damaging than any other form of terrorism the world has ever seen:
#1 This War is Escalating—Fast
Cyber criminals are now running organized cartels on the dark web to launch highly sophisticated and coordinated attacks.
- Since 2016, cyber criminals have launched more than 4,000 ransomware attacks a day—a 300 percent increase over the year before, which saw 1,000 attacks per day.
- In just a single quarter (Q3 2016), 18 million new malware samples were captured.
- 95 percent of all breached records in cyber-attacks in 2016 came from three industries: government, retail and technology.
- In 2016, some 1 billion accounts and records were comprised.
- 43 percent of cyber-attacks target small businesses, and 60 percent of small businesses close down within 6 months of a cyber-attack.
- The average cost of each breach of data was $4 million in 2016, according to a global study by the Ponemon Institute. But in the U.S., according to the same study, the average cost has soared beyond that to $7 million.
- The average cost of a data breach in 2020 will exceed $150 million by 2020, as more business infrastructure gets connected.
- From 2015 to 2016, there was a 38 percent increase in cybersecurity incidents, according to IDG. And 2017 is already killing that record.
Every industry is under siege.
- Maersk lost $300 million in one attack. Three months ago, cyber criminals sent global shipping into a major panic, hijacking the systems of shipping giant Maersk in the biggest-ever attack on the industry. No goods could be delivered, and Maersk, which controls 18 percent of all container trade, couldn’t find its cargoes. Three months later, Maersk still doesn’t know where some of its missing containers are, and media speculate that it lost some $300 million in this attack.
- 145 million Americans exposed in one attack. Most recently, the U.S. was shaken by the Equifax hack. The personal data of more than 145 million Americans was stolen from Equifax credit-reporting agency. Now, almost half of the country’s population is at risk of identity theft, bank account theft and credit destruction.
And that was one of only three major breaches in the past two months.
- Not even regulators like the S.E.C are safe. Hackers even breached the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late September, with stolen data likely used for illegal stock trading. Just days later, Deloitte disclosed a cyber-attack on its systems that breached its blue-chip clients’ non-public information.
Now, a cybersecurity company has met the U.S. Department of Defense’s rigorous FIPS-FIAR standard for financial transactions. They’ve already got government contracts, and now they’re eyeing a huge market of SMBs.
Hill Top and Big Wind (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF) just partnered with Guardsight, a specialist in managed security services and tactical cyber security operations for Fortune 1000 companies.
With an estimated 4,000 cyber-attacks a day—and counting—the solution has to be serious, military-grade and accessible to SMBs. Hill Top ticks all those boxes.
#2 Epic Spending and Epic Opportunity
The more cyber criminals cost us in damages, the more we are willing to spend to stop them.
Right now, theft of trade secrets is costing nations between 1 percent and 3 percent of their entire GDP, or anywhere from $749 billion to $2.2 trillion every year, according to an IDG survey.
In just four years, we’ll be looking at a global cost of $6 trillion every year in cybercrime damages. Just a year ago it was $3 trillion.
Information security is only one tiny sub-set of the cybersecurity beast, and spending in this microcosm has already reached over $86 billion this year. Next year already, spending in this tiny sub-sector should hit $93 billion.
When we include all the other cybersecurity categories, global spending on products and services is expected to exceed $1 trillion over the next five years.
That’s because the more we spend on technology, the more we have to spend on cybersecurity, so this is all one-directional and it’s moving at breakneck speed.
JP Morgan spent upward of $500 million in 2016 on cybersecurity, according to Forbes. Only the biggest of the big can afford this, and even they are not thwarting attacks fast enough.
The government is spending, too. Major data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management and the IRS prompted Trump in May to sign an executive order for all federal agencies to review and update their old security systems.
#3 First Accessible Military-Grade Solution
Businesses across every industry, everywhere in the world, are under assault, and smart investors are finding huge profits in the companies that show the toughest line of defense.
Hill Top / Big Wind (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF) offers a unique, proven platform that gives small and medium businesses the ability to protect themselves and their clients in cyberspace.
Targeting SMBs, which number over 27 million means that revenue from Hill Top’s first private sector clients is coming online and is expected to eclipse its revenues from government contracts at a fast pace.
The company offers three distinct cyber security services that corner this market:
And this is military-grade cybersecurity. In fact, the same people behind Hill Top were hired by the U.S. intelligence community to build an auditing platform to track and detect financial anomalies.
The company has top-secret clearance and authorization to operate on the SIPRNET, the secret network of the Department of Defense and Department of State.
There’s nothing like it in the world, and now it’s being opened up to SMBs, giving them access to a platform that can get them back in business and fully operational and fully secured after a severe cyber-attack.
But it’s not just a reaction to cyber-attacks, it’s also preventative. Hill Top’s artificial intelligence (AI) predicts threats for you, and alerts you to any suspicious activity. And their platform is secure enough to have gained the trust of the U.S. Defense Department.
Hill Top’s Vauban DNA system was developed by a security expert who was the architect of the global logistics solution for massive parallel events (used by UPS). In other words, think big, big data! To this, they added an intelligence-gathering element with military-grade security. Now it’s also the new breed of financial security, with cryptocurrency tech incorporated to support market trading and transactions.
The three elements combined make this a powerhouse of mainstream cybersecurity.
It’s also made Hill Top a takeover target, catching the eye of Big Wind Capital (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF),In July, Big Wind announced it would acquire Hill Top.
This is a company that’s well positioned to take real cyber security mainstream.
#4 Where 2 Hot Markets Combine: Cyber Security & Cryptocurrency
Hill Top (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF) could also become a major force in the hottest industry on the planet right now—crypto currency, because it is uniquely positioned to secure and track crypto coins.
With Bitcoin hitting $6,000 per coin on 21 October, and breaking new records as its adoption surges, this is no longer just a game for individual miners with fast computers. It’s now about industrial-scale mining and billionaire backing. It’s also about industrial-scale security.
Hackers necessarily love crypto currency. The top Ethereum exchange was hacked in July, and since 2011, there have been dozens of crypto coin heists. In just two recent cases, hackers stole $32.6 million and $40 million, respectively.
With governments also looking at crypto currency and ways to regulate the trade, security is beyond paramount, and Hill Top already has a proven background in auditing, tracking and managing cryptocurrencies without compromising owner anonymity.
Now it’s also taking the crypto world to the massive mining industry.
It’s crypto-currency extension to Vauban is a new advanced-stage development. It’s an industry-specific cryptocurrency application developed with blockchain technology. Using their system, mining industry traders will have a highly secure cryptocurrency platform where they can buy, sell and exchange precious metals across international borders. Users will be able to exchange their own currency for cryptocurrency and purchase or sell precious metals on the open market.
#5 Defense Has Never Been Smarter
Behind Hill Top/Big Wind (CSE: BWC; OTC:BGGWF), we’ve got some of the defense industry’s top cyber security minds with military and commercial experience in everything from the US Army and Marine Corps to Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
These are mission-critical figures, and they’ve already proven they can deliver.
- Dave DiEugenio, on the Hill Top advisory board, is a Marine Corps Recruiting CIO and VP and Director of Imperatis Corp. cyber solutions group.
- Tom Gilmore, Hill Top’s COO, is a veteran information systems security officer. He’s also a former U.S. Marine whose worked with the FBI, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Army and the U.S. National Guard.
- Hill Top CEO, Corby Marshall, is an entrepreneurial executive, West Point grad and former U.S. Army officer with extensive experience in distributed computing analytics and software development. He’s got a proven track record for delivering large-scale, mission critical applications. His genius has been tapped by the U.S. Army, Informatica and Headcase, among others.
- CTO Neil Wright is yet another West Point grade and former U.S. Army officer, with NYSE experience, Treasury experience and an impressive track record with UPS Lead Architect and Rare Medium.
- Kim Pease, in charge of Hill Top’s SVP Product Management, is a senior architect with mission-critical deliverable experience with Informatica, ESPN and JP Morgan.
And the competition is lagging behind:
Fresh off an acquisition by Big Wind, Hill Top is moving fast to capture this market. The news flow has both macro (cyber-attacks and spending) and micro elements (product launches and post-acquisition moves) that promise a rapid pace.
This war is shifting for the worse—fast. The massive attacks we’ve seen already, and this trillion-dollar problem, is just the early phase.
“I believe we're witnessing the testing of early prototypes for cyber warfare development programs. It's similar to detecting underground nuke tests, like those we see in North Korea,” says Anup Ghosh, chief strategist for Sophos.
Hill Top is set up to succeed because it already has government and commercial contracts, and once it starts cornering the SMBs, it’s guidance estimates show $2.3 million-plus in revenue in three years.
Early-in investors will be preparing for elite cyber security solutions to hit the mainstream radar. The war is on Where will you be when cyber terrorism damages cost $6 trillion a year and this sector becomes a $200-billion-plus opportunity over the next couple of years?
Other significant companies occupying cyberspace:
Mogo Finance Technology Inc. (TSX:MOGO): This is a new spin on unsecured credit, which is a burgeoning sub-segment of FinTech. Providing loan management, the ability to track spending, stress-free mortgages, and even credit score tracking, Mogo is at the forefront of an online movement to assist users with their financial needs.
Mogo’s software analyzes borrowers instantly and greatly reduces the traditionally cumbersome underwriting process for loans. It’s online only, so there’s very low overhead and a ton of cash to spend on marketing. Labeled as “the Uber of finance” by CNBC, Mogo is definitely turning heads.
With increasing membership growth and revenue lines continuing to improve, and a platform which many banks have failed to offer, Mogo could well become an acquisition target in the near future.
The Descartes Systems Group Inc. (TSX:DSG) (commonly referred to as Descartes) is a Canadian multinational technology company specializing in logistics software, supply chain management software, and cloud-based services for logistics businesses. The company is making waves in the tech industry with its futuristic products and visionary leadership.
As a key stock in Canada’s tech boom, Descartes Systems is a smart choice for investors. The company has a huge market cap of $2.6-billion and the stock has grown by nearly 20% YTD.
EXFO Inc (TSX:EXF): EXFO isn’t new to the Canadian tech sector. The company was founded in 1985 in Quebec City, and its original products were portable testing products for optical networks. Since then, the company has acquired and build 3G, LTE, protocol, copper/xDSL, IMS, and VoIP test and service assurance products.
Recent developments from EXFO are promising for long term growth potential. The new baseband unit emulation technology which is sure to be adopted on a large scale, as the tech offers operators a reduction of costs and a faster revenue stream.
EXFO Inc is a model in the telecommunications industry. With a market cap of $273-million, EXFO is strong, but still growing.
Power Financial Corp (TSX:PWF): Montreal-based Power Financial Corp has been in the finance industry since 1984. The company operates in three segments: Lifeco, IGM and Pargesa Holding SA (Pargesa). And, with its holdings in a diversified portfolio spanning the United States and Europe, Power Financial is a leader in its field.
Focusing its investments in the emerging FinTech industry, Power Financial stands to benefit by riding this wave into the future. The company’s forward-thinking attitude and liberal approach to technology is sure to leave investors satisfied.
We like PWF because it owns 60 percent of Wealthsimple, a leading robo-advisor for investing in ETF portfolios.
Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) (NYSE:CLS) is a heavyweight in the tech manufacturing sector. As manufacturer of electrical devices used in IT, telecommunications, healthcare, defense and aerospace industries, Celestica is well represented throughout the world’s most fastest growing industries. Because of that, the company has seen strong growth YoY which we expect to continue as the sales expectations are almost 3% better than last year’s.
While many investors thought the stock was overvalued after a stellar run in 2016, the recent correction and volatility in the stock has attracted new buyers and the stock has recovered since.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this release include: that cybersecurity and information security industries will continue to grow as expected; that Hill Top Security Inc. ( “Hill Top”) will be acquired by Big Wind Capital Inc.; that, if Hill Top can reach a mass market with affordable solutions, it will be on track to claim a good share of the cybersecurity market; that Hill Top’s revenue from private clients is expected to eclipse its revenues from government contracts at a fast pace; that Hill Top could become a major force in the cryptocurrency industry; statements respecting the expected abilities of Hill Top’s MineCoin platform; and that Hill Top will have revenues from SMBs of $2.3 million-plus in three years. Risks that could change or prevent these statements from coming to fruition include: that cybersecurity and information security industries w industries will not grow as quickly as expected or that such industries will decline in size; that Hill Top will not be acquired by Big Wind Capital Inc.; that, even if Hill Top can reach a mass market with affordable solutions, it will not claim a good share of the cybersecurity market; that Hill Top’s revenue from private clients will not eclipse its revenues from government contracts at a fast pace; that Hill Top does not a major force in the cryptocurrency industry; that Hill Top’s MineCoin platform will not perform as expected; and that Hill Top’s revenues from SMBs of will be less than $2.3 million in three years.
These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release reflect the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the writer based on information currently available to the writer. In connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, the writer has made assumptions about: expected growth in the cybersecurity and information security industries; that Hill Top will be acquired by Big Wind Capital Inc.; that, if Hill Top can reach a mass market with affordable solutions, it will be on track to claim a good share of the cybersecurity market; that Hill Top’s revenue from private clients is expected to eclipse its revenues from government contracts at a fast pace; that Hill Top could become a major force in the cryptocurrency industry; that Hill Top’s MineCoin platform will perform as expected; and that Hill Top will have revenues from SMBs of $2.3 million-plus in three years. The writer has also assumed that no significant events will occur outside of Hill Top’s normal course of business. Although the writer believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the writer assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.
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