German firm to grow cyber security management staff from 10 to 50 in China

German safety standards firm TUV Rheinland is quintupling its cyber security management employees in China to meet the rapid growth in the Chinese digital economy, it told Shanghai Daily today.

The company now has 10 employees in the role in China as it just started a year ago, but “by the same time next year the figure will be 50, which is the same as we have in Germany,” said Urmez Daver, the company’s global head for industrial security business.

Cyber security is a business developing in tandem with the growth of the Chinese digital economy whose market for  equipment such as sensors is set to hit 541.2 billion yuan (US$84.8 bilion) by 2019, up from 331.5 billion yuan in 2016, according to a report by Beijing-based Zhiyan Consulting Group.

“That has driven us to speed up efforts here,” Daver said. “While the lights in smart homes and sensors in your cars need to capture your personal data to serve you better, we need tools to help ensure we are not monitored by others.”

He said the sales growth on cyber security management business in China last year has already doubled that in Europe, and the aim is to rapidly increase sales in the country which is set to account for around 30 percent of its global sales in years to come.

The company’s recruitment will focus on local talent in automotive, lighting and manufacturing which are relevant to smart manufacturing and smart city.

China's market for industrial information security management stood at 557 million yuan last year, up 53.6 percent from a year ago, according to a report presented at the China Industrial Cyber Security Congress 2018, a conference supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.