Financial services firm KPMG has bought a chunk of a top international cyber security firm Qubera.

The move follows a series of meetings last week — where KPMG played a leading role — aimed at alerting firms to the threat of cyber attacks on computer systems.

KPMG Advisory managing director and head of the Bermuda firm’s risk consultancy Tom Kelly said: “The firm’s acquisition of certain assets of Qubera, a joint deal between the UK and US firms, means that our global network has an even greater capacity to help clients align their risk appetite with business goals and further bolsters what is rapidly becoming a world-leading cyber security practice.”

Qubera is a leading privately-held computer network security specialist, with bases in the UK, US and India.

Mr Kelly said: “The cyber domain knows no borders, making cyber security at its heart an international issue — one that no country or enterprise can afford to ignore, or fully address alone.

“Last week’s Bermuda discussions were an important step in addressing the challenges cyber security presents.”

At the series of events last week, organised by cyber security group ISACA’s Bermuda arm, delegates looked at the potential local impact of a cyber shock affecting Island networks and what steps Bermuda could take to minimise the risk of cyber disaster.

Fred Oberholzer, KPMG’s head of cyber security in Bermuda and a coordinator of the local ISACA chapter, said: “Cyber crime poses a serious threat to Bermuda by not only putting locally-domiciled companies at risk, but also by potentially compromising Bermuda’s excellent reputation as a safe place to do business.”

The ISACA part of the three-day series of events was told that organisations and investors, as well as governments and regulators, are “increasingly challenging board members to actively demonstrate diligence in relation to dealing with cyber crime.

And experts warned that attacks on networks by anti-bug business groups also posed a threat to cyber security.

KPMG said that cyber attacks — like the recent Shellshock and Heartbleed earlier this year — were “clearly growing in scale and incidents continue to be on the rise”.

The firm added: “Organisations are increasingly vulnerable as a result of technological advances and changing working practices, including remote access, big data, cloud computing, social media and mobile technology.”

The guest speaker at the ISACA event was Jason Healey, a former White House computer security expert and now director of cyber statecraft initiative at the Atlantic Council. He said that Bermuda’s small size meant it was well-placed to react to a major cyber threat.

And he added that unlike the US, where government saw itself and organisations like the military and the Department of Justice as guardians of cyber security, Bermuda’s Government saw the sense in partnering with experts in the field to improve security.

And he called for an arrangement where a group like the G20 alliance of industrialised nations partnered with major tech companies to take a lead in combating cyber crime — a “G20 plus 20.”