Trend Micro has appointed Darryn O’Brien as the new country manager for Southern Africa.

O’Brien joins the company from his former position as an enterprise team leader for a well-known security software and solutions vendor.

“We are living in an exciting technological age, but with that comes the responsibility – especially as an enterprise – to protect our data and our customer’s or partner’s data from falling into the hands of cybercriminals. Threats evolve as quickly as IT does and so it is vital that companies are proactive and not reactive when it comes to IT security,” says O’Brien.

“I look forward to challenges. I look forward to solving our customers’ security challenges with our innovative solutions, in particular with our Advanced Threat Protection solution. South African companies have largely been left alone by international hackers but recent data has shown us that this is no longer the case. Malware, advanced malware and now advanced persistent threats are growing yearly so it’s no longer a question of ‘if’ you are going to be hacked but rather ‘when’.”

O’Brien has previously managed teams responsible for top enterprise accounts within South Africa and has extensive experience in the management and maintenance of business relationships with partners and customers.

“As threats change, so must your strategy, you cannot hope to defend your enterprise from modern threats with security software alone,” says Ihab Moawad, vice-president: MMEA and CIS at Trend Micro. “Companies that have a hope of protecting themselves are partnered with security experts who can provide the solutions they need and assist them in reimaging their security policies and training staff on security.

“That’s what we do at Trend Micro, and I believe that in his position Darryn will provide a key understanding of this as well as work with enterprises to improve our stance on the cybersecurity battlefield throughout the region.”