McAfee Cork ‘problem-solving hub’

The Irish operation of software security giant McAfee is seen as a core problem-solving hub and one of the company’s most important bases, according to a senior company officer.

McAfee’s 350 Cork-based staff are among the firm’s most inventive thinkers and key drivers of change, according to senior vice-president of operations and chief information officer (CIO), Patty Hatter.

She was speaking at a Women In Security (Wise) event which aims to support women in business and establish McAfee — which was acquired by Intel in 2010 — as an industry leader in addressing diversity.

“The mindset of the teams here; the ability to think through very complex problems, that is really the conversation that we have of, ‘Okay, let’s bring this to Cork, [they’ll] figure it out and then we’ll take it to other geographies’.

“So it’s not just the general calibre of the folks here but the culture of the team here specifically and their willingness to think out of the box and change,” said Ms Hatter.

Similarities between Ireland — often referred to as Europe’s Silicon Valley — and the technology hub in the US to which it is compared, are growing Ms Hatter said.

The diversity of skill-sets available here coupled with a willingness to assume new challenges and attract foreign workers are characteristics that both regions share, she said.

The continued move towards cloud computing and the so-called ‘internet-of-things’ are the technological advances being considered by security companies, according to Ms Hatter.

“So many devices are connected to the network now, especially as we move to an environment where we really have the internet-of-things...

“We’re talking billions and billions of devices that are connected to the internet, so it’s a huge opportunity as well as a new scope of potential threat,” she said.