NATS handles over 2.5 million flights every year and the new long-term contract will strengthen its technology infrastructure by creating a future-fit strategic network architecture to support air traffic operations in the UK.

BT will take responsibility for the consolidation and modernisation of NATS’ critical data network as well as manage digital networking and cyber security across its sites. BT will also develop an enhanced cyber security capability with NATS, which will include a new proactive central coordination point for cyber resilience. Together, these services will enhance NATS’ technology programme into the future and provide leading support for the technical operations it relies on.

NATS provides air traffic services at 14 UK airports and manages all UK airspace from two air traffic control centres located at Swanwick in Hampshire, and Prestwick in Ayrshire. It also provides air traffic services at Gibraltar Airport and, more recently, Hong Kong International Airport.

Tim Bullock, Supply Chain & Facilities Management Director at NATS, said: “NATS is implementing a truly transformational technology programme to keep the skies safe and support our customers worldwide, so it is vital we have BT as industry leaders alongside us. We select organisations at the top of their game technically, to join our collaborative ecosystem of partners. I’m delighted with the partnership we have formed and look forward to working together for many years to come to deliver great solutions for our customers.”

Andy Rowe, Director of Central Government, at BT, said: “Secure, high-bandwidth connectivity is essential in keeping the UK’s air traffic moving in the future – so after many years of building world-class networks and cyber security for providers of critical national infrastructure, we are looking forward to delivering this now for NATS.

“Under the partnership we will be responsible for both network provision and cyber security within the NATS strategic supplier ecosystem, and will be embarking on consolidating and modernising the entire network to build a world-class digital infrastructure that is fit for the future of air traffic management.”

 BT today announced it has launched a new all-in-one networking and security service backed by industry leading Fortinet technology to transform how businesses manage their connectivity across multiple sites.

The launch enables BT’s UK business and public sector customers to bring together SD-WAN, SD-Branch and security into one place, fully managed by BT’s expert team – as well as reducing cyber risk and supporting customers moving data and applications into the cloud. It is ideal for supporting digital transformation, such as businesses embracing hybrid working and providing better experiences for staff, including clearer video calling. The service is purpose-built to support retailers better meet customer demand, whether online with greater website reliability during peak trading events like Black Friday, or in person through services such as click-and-collect or technology infrastructure for pop up stores.

It’s a move that sees BT build on its existing long-term agreement with global cybersecurity leader Fortinet, expanding its managed wide and local network portfolio for businesses by building in Fortinet’s Secure SD Branch technology. 

BT’s new managed secure networking service is designed to address large-scale, complex networking requirements, and enables BT to expertly manage networks on a customer’s behalf 24 hours a day. This service also includes reporting dashboards that give security teams full visibility over their network. 

As more businesses embrace the benefits of digital working, the Government’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey revealed that 32% of businesses had identified a cyberattack in the previous 12 months*. BT’s expanded partnership with Fortinet will strengthen its wide-area networks and in-building connectivity, making them even more resilient as the transition towards Software-as-a-Service cloud applications continues. 

The technology allows UK-based organisations of all sizes to improve the performance of business applications, including Microsoft Teams, SAP or Salesforce. It ensures a quality user experience, even across multiple sites, while delivering the flexibility and cost benefits of a hybrid network. Customers can also connect any combination of physical and virtual devices to their network – and so extend the network to be closer to the applications and data that are important to them.

Ashish Gupta, MD Corporate and Public Sector at BT, said: “At BT, we know that complex network requirements shouldn’t mean compromising on security or flexibility. Our new collaboration with Fortinet on software-defined Branch networks shows that you can combine both – enabling reliable, secure connectivity within and across multiple sites, all safely managed by BT. We’re already seeing strong interest from customers with a number of contracts won and being deployed. 

“Fortinet continues to be a key cybersecurity partner, providing secure, flexible and highly reliable services which enable our customers to deliver brilliant outcomes."

Paul Anderson, Vice-President UK & Ireland at Fortinet, added: “We’ve been working with BT for over a decade and as a highly accredited Expert level Fortinet partner, we are delighted that BT is providing solutions which combine our award-winning integrated branch technology with their award-winning managed network and security services expertise.

“In a post-pandemic world with relentless pressures on workforces, budgets and an increasingly complex threat landscape, customers are looking for help to evolve their organisations securely and address rapidly changing business challenges. By choosing BT and Fortinet, they can be reassured that they are in safe hands on all fronts.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

* Statistics from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2023 Cyber security breaches survey 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Financial services organisations face escalating fraud risks caused by the wrong people getting access to critical systems, data and assets. Knowing who’s who can help mitigate the risk but identifying hackers and scammers is becoming increasingly difficult.

Digital transformation is creating welcome opportunities for all types of businesses. Criminal enterprises are no different. The digital tools and technologies at their disposal are becoming much more sophisticated. And with AI and machine learning now mainstream, the technology arms race between them and the industry is heating up.

We, at BT, can see this and it’s making the fraud landscape much more challenging than ever before. That’s why earlier this week, we brought together our financial services customers, competitors and industry stakeholders. At our Fighting Fraud event, we committed to work together to reverse the tide.

Of all types of fraud, consumer fraud is arguably the highest-profile risk. APP (authorised push payment) fraud alone cost British consumers £355.3m in the first half of 2021, an increase of 71 per cent year-on-year.

Internally, the proliferation of connected devices and a burgeoning “work from anywhere” culture is creating new threats. It is estimated that 79 per cent of data is shared within organisations without encryption. This is the soft underbelly in many organisations’ defences.

Thirdly, there’s cyber risk. This is the top non-financial operational risk category in banking. Most banking losses come from cybercrime or fraud linked to technology. Effective cyber risk management is now about getting a step ahead of hackers by identifying cyber threats before they even arise, and objectively quantifying their risk.

These are three very distinct categories of risk but to tackle them, they must be considered together. Organisations must look at their whole ecosystem. There must be no gaps. And they must think end-to-end across their processes.

Trusting no-one is key. Whether it’s a customer, employee or anyone else, before they can use a system, do business or access data, their identity must be authenticated — and authenticated again for each additional process or data they want to use. In the cyber security industry, we call this “zero trust”.

That broadly outlines what individual financial services organisations can do themselves. But the war on scammers, fraudsters and hackers won’t be won if each organisation stands alone.

What if, having experienced losses from a scam or hack, you hear that one of your competitors had suffered the exact same attack months ago but hadn’t warned you about it? What if it was the same criminals who pulled off the scam? I’d expect you’d be incredibly frustrated and annoyed.

At our Fighting Fraud event, we called on organisations from across the financial services industry, including regulators and consumer groups, to collaborate more comprehensively in the battle against the criminals. We know this isn’t easy.

Regulations are there to protect customers and ensure the financial services market works effectively, with resilience, and fairly. But those same regulations can sometimes prevent us from collaborating to beat the scammers. It’s a nut we need to crack because cyber criminals are already collaborating and do so very effectively and with few barriers.

For example, hackers and hacking organisations share stolen credentials, data and techniques on the dark web and offer “ransomware-as-a-service”. Cyber specialists advertise and hire out their services to other criminals. Others generate and evolve malware – share and add new code and exploits to existing malware “products”. And they advertise for and recruit other cyber criminals using the dark web too.

If we don’t collaborate, the criminals will outmanoeuvre us over and over again.

Collaborating would involve sharing data and intelligence. AI and machine learning are incredible technologies but they’re only as good as the data that feeds them. If the criminals share data and intelligence to direct their attacks, the industry must be able to do the same to keep defences one step ahead.

Consumer groups and regulators would normally be alarmed about this. So, we need their help to create trusted and compliant frameworks to allow us to share data and intelligence. From speaking to many of BT’s financial services industry customers, I know they’re fiercely competitive. Sharing their experiences and insights will be counter-intuitive but in this fight we’re all on the same side.

At our event, one audience member commented that the ongoing arms race against criminals is like this: “You build a ten foot wall to protect your business. So, the scammers turn up with an 11 foot ladder.” That indeed sums up the challenge. But what if you were warned by another firm that someone had just tried to top their walls with an 11 foot ladder? You’d know what to look out for and be able to adapt your defences in advance.   

It’s vital that we all recognise that this is not a battle we can win on our own. Only by working together will we able to rapidly identify scammers and threats and adapt our defences. By doing so, we’ll be able to move quickly against AI-powered criminals and proactively and effectively mitigate fast-evolving threats.

EE Smart Home Security powered by Verisure and EE Cyber Security powered by Norton will give us greater momentum on our journey to becoming the most personal, customer-focused technology brand in the UK.

Moving into new categories like smart security will help EE be more relevant and more important to our customers in all that they do with the connectivity we provide every day. With our assets – brand, trust, billing relationships, digital capability and a brilliant customer service team based 100 per cent in the UK – along with these exciting new partnerships, we bring something unique for customers and to our partners too.

Our tie-ins with Verisure and Norton are the latest example of how we’re transforming the EE brand with new products and services beyond the mobile, broadband and TV services that are traditionally expected from us. EE Smart Home Security powered by Verisure, which launches today, combines our best-in-class mobile connectivity with the latest home security tech and outstanding customer service in an accessible and affordable solution. And we know the home isn’t the only place everyone wants to feel safe.
 

Smarter cyber security

Cyber security is another area where we know we can do more. EE is part of BT Group, which means our customers already benefit from BT’s existing team of more than 3,000 security specialists helping to keep its network and customers safe from cyber-attacks as well as the latest network security to help keep them and their family safe online.

EE has been at the forefront of the fight against scammers since we launched our text anti-spam filter last year. It blocked more than 200 million scam texts in less than 12 months. In addition, our EE firewall technology uses AI to review calls passing through UK Calling Line Identification from other countries. It helps us block up to one million international scam calls each day.

So, what’s next? Coming in November is EE Cyber Security powered by Norton. It will provide powerful protection against viruses and other online threats, plus it notifies customers if their personal information is found on the dark web, or if their accounts on popular social media sites have unusual login activity. Users can also create and store strong passwords more securely to help protect online accounts and keep personal information safer.

EE will also launch a free, annual online check through its EE website, giving customers an easy and fast way to find out if their email addresses have been exposed on the dark web.

In partnership with Norton and Verisure, we can do really great things – just like we are doing in gaming. Only last week, we set out our ambition with EE to become the UK's number 1 network for gamers with a new supercharged gaming offering.
 

Game on

Customers can now press play on our bespoke Nintendo and PlayStation bundles, choosing the latest, best-in-class gaming products via spreadable payments, interest-free with Add to Plan, and a nationwide roll-out of in-store gaming bays in more than 175 EE retail stores. It is all being overseen by EE’s new internal gaming team, who I know are already looking forward to the launch of more exciting gaming products, services and flexible options designed to provide great value and convenience. And all underpin with 5G and fibre connectivity that make our network unbeatable for gaming.

Thank you to every single one of our people at EE who has worked so hard to make our smart security and gaming offerings happen. And thank you to all of you who continue to work hard to deliver the best network experience for our customers.

We’re not finished there: in the coming months we’ll reveal another partnership that will demonstrate how we are a service and a brand that will stand for much more than a mobile and broadband network. It will move us yet another step closer to being the most personal, customer-focused technology brand in the UK.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @marcallera

BT has officially opened a brand new state-of-the-art cyber Security Operations Centre (SOC) in its flagship Riverside Tower building in Belfast.

With the scale and complexity of cyber attacks constantly increasing, organisations of all types are looking to ensure they have the right protections in place. The SOC will leverage BT’s global security expertise and leading cyber technologies to defend public and private sector bodies against the latest threats.

The significant investment by BT into the 40 seat centre of excellence, follows the award of a £6.3 million contract from the Department of Finance for the provision of a Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and SOC managed services. The SOC will provide 24/7 management 365 days a year for ICT assets across the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

The new specialist centre, which is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, is designed to support growth in the company’s UK customer base providing up to the highest levels of security classification. The SOC in Riverside Tower forms part of a wider multi-million pound investment by BT in the building. Currently all 11 floors are undergoing significant refurbishment to create a fantastic future-fit workplace for approximately 1800 colleagues, with the final floors being complete in early 2023.

Paul Murnaghan, Regional Director for BT’s Enterprise business in Northern Ireland, said: “Each day, millions of people around the world rely on BT’s expertise in cyber security to ensure they can go about their lives and run their businesses safely.

“Our investment in the opening of BT’s Security Operations Centre in Belfast is significant and we look forward to working with the Northern Ireland Civil Service in this partnership to deliver the most effective cyber support for the public sector here.

“Using a wealth of talent from local cyber experts, the SOC will help to tackle the unprecedented challenges of sophisticated cyber threats. As an increasing number of public services are delivered online, our partnership with central government will help to ensure that the public can trust the services that they access and that the data they provide is secure and protected.”

Paul Duffy, Director of Enterprise Shared Services added: “Protecting the cyber security of government IT and infrastructure is vital. The service provided by BT plays an important role in gathering intelligence on cyber threats and enables the Civil Service to enhance its capacity to help defend and protect our IT systems and essential public services we deliver.”

BT operates an international network of SOCs. They include more than 3,000 cyber security professionals, who use their expertise to watch, learn, predict and respond to the latest cyber threats for a range of both public and private sector clients across the globe.

-Ends-

The past few years have created new ways of working and doing business. A time of significant change has caused many to think about whether their current career path is right for them long-term.

According to research we conducted, 69% of people would reskill and work in a different field if given the opportunity. The number of workers looking to switch careers in the “great resignation” is an unprecedented opportunity to tackle the cyber skills gap.

What’s clear from our research, though, is the cyber security industry itself is still facing an uphill battle around perceptions and awareness. Before being told more about the sector, only 4% of UK adults would consider cyber as an alternative industry if they were to retrain. This reduced to as little as 1% in females.

We recently launched a first-of-a-kind 16-week reskilling programme, in collaboration with CAPSLOCK, to tackle the shortfall of people with cyber security skills and continue our commitment to investing in our people. The initiative will see people across various areas of the BT business retrained and placed into crucial cyber security roles, all while keeping their pay cheque.

The scheme is all about opening doors for those who might not have seen an obvious way into a security career, while also challenging many of the perceptions and barriers that are preventing people from considering careers in cyber security.

Perceived barriers to entry in cyber security

So, what’s the extent of the problem? Well, the cyber security industry is still perceived as opaque and inaccessible to many. When asked why they didn’t see cyber security as a viable career path, over two thirds (38%) of people said they didn’t know enough about the sector, while 32% said cyber sounded too technical for them, and a quarter (25%) cited age as a potential barrier. When asked to imagine a cyber security professional, 39% of people imagined someone with a bachelor’s degree or above.

The reality is that our industry requires a broad array of skills and there are a wealth of different roles in the industry, many of which rely on transferable skills that many people already possess. Those with the right attitude and determination can thrive in the cyber security industry, irrespective of their experience, education or age.

Insurmountable barriers to reskilling

The sector clearly has a way to go in addressing misconceptions, but there are also more general concerns about switching careers. Almost half (42%) of the UK’s workforce feel unable to leave their current career path.

Amongst those who feel barriers to switching careers are too great, over a third (31%) believe they are too old to learn new skills, 28% say the uncertainty of getting a foot in the door of a new industry is their biggest worry and 24% said they said they can’t afford to take time off to get the necessary accreditations for their dream role.

While addressing misperceptions of the cyber security industry is the right step in encouraging more people to consider the profession, we must also offer pragmatic routes into the industry. Reskilling programmes are a key part of how organisations can retain and grow talent, by identifying individuals with relevant interests, potential, and transferable skills and supporting them to reach their full potential.

Our recently announced reskilling opportunity is just one example of how we’re committed to the development of our own people’s careers. Outside of BT, we’re also proud to support the public through our Skills for Tomorrow programme. Since the start of the pandemic, our Work Ready webinars have boosted digital and employability skills, covering topics such as CVs and job interviews.

For more information on our reskilling programme in collaboration with CAPSLOCK 

For more information on careers at BT Security, visit our careers page

• First-of-a-kind programme to address industry-wide cyber skills gap will see BT employees retrained and placed into cyber security roles
• BT is investing in its people and is offering a life-changing career move
• Digital hands-on curriculum provided by BT’s accredited learning partner CAPSLOCK and developed around common cyber security workplace scenarios

BT is today launching a pilot employee cyber security reskilling programme in collaboration with award-winning cyber security training organisation, CAPSLOCK. The online 16-week course will retrain current BT employees and equip them with the skills needed to pursue a new career in Security – one of the fastest growing parts of BT.

The programme is being launched to help tackle the shortfall of people with cyber security skills, which has become a serious issue for businesses of all types. The Department for Digital Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) estimates that approximately half of UK organisations have a basic cyber skills gap, while at the same time, the ‘Great Resignation’ is signalling a thirst for change amongst the nation’s workforce.

After a rigorous recruitment process, 30 employees have been selected from BT’s Consumer and Global divisions across the UK and will start the scheme today with an in-person induction day in Birmingham. Course participants will secure a new cyber security role at the end of the programme.

BT learners will study an accredited, interactive and team-based learning curriculum. Developed and delivered by CAPSLOCK’s industry experts and academic professionals, it will simulate the full spectrum of real-world cyber problems from managing incidents, detecting malware and social engineering threats, to penetration testing, governance, risk and policy. This career-changing opportunity will provide BT learners with sought after skills and up to five certifications.

Perceptions of the cyber security profession unfortunately remain centred around those with a set of highly specialised technical skills. The reality is that the field needs a broad array of skills and experts to fill a range of roles, many of which rely on transferable skills that some people already possess or, importantly, can be easily developed through a programme such as CAPSLOCK.

Although BT will offer learners a number of roles suited to both technical and non-technical skillsets, it is the harder-to-fill more technical roles that this programme will address. Jobs available will include cyber operations, threat intelligence and technical design and will be located in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow.

What’s more, during the course CAPSLOCK will provide dedicated learner support including one-to-one professional coaching, careers counselling and mental health first aiders.

The new launch of the programme reinforces BT’s investment in its people across the organisation and its commitment to training, development, and now reskilling to future-proof its employees’ careers. Learners will also be paired up with BT cyber mentors to ensure they are successful in their career transition.

Once graduated, BT’s new cyber employees will become a Protector, contributing to the protection of BT, its 30 million UK customers, governments, and critical national infrastructure.

Kevin Brown, Managing Director, BT Security said: “There simply aren’t enough people with the necessary skills to fill the amount of cyber security jobs available. The ‘cyber skills gap’ is a hot topic in the security industry, and this pilot reskilling programme with CAPSLOCK is a key part of how we’re working to develop the next generation of cyber security professionals. The scheme is all about opening doors for those who might not have seen an obvious way into a security career, and we’re welcoming people who have different skillsets, backgrounds and ages as we’re really looking for a diverse range of talent across our security team.”

Dr Andrea Cullen, Co-founder at CAPSLOCK said: “Our mission in partnership with BT is to enable anybody with potential to enrol and change careers into cyber security. Importantly, we want to change perceptions that it is not just technical skills that are required to do well in this sector. The reality is that the field needs a broad array of skills and experts to fill a range of roles, many of which rely on transferable skills that many people already possess, and the holistic cyber skills which are developed throughout the CAPSLOCK course. With the right attitude and determination, anybody – no matter their past experience, education or age – has the potential to start a career in IT, technology, or cyber security.”

-ENDS-

About BT Security:

As a global leader of managed security services, we help customers thrive in a digital world by delivering world-class security solutions. With operations in over 180 countries and a team of 3000 security experts around the globe, BT supports some of the world’s largest companies, nation states and critical national infrastructures.

We protect our networks against around 6500 cyber-attacks every day, and this deep expertise combined with our global reach gives us a unique perspective on the cyber landscape. We’re constantly analysing, predicting and responding to the latest threats, and we leverage the latest developments in technology and innovation to protect the UK’s infrastructure, business and citizens.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/security

 Further useful links:

• BT Security Careers Page
• Who are the Protectors? – YouTube
• Meet the Real Protectors - YouTube

About CAPSLOCK:

CAPSLOCK is an award-winning educational organisation that delivers cyber security bootcamps online, with no up-front costs. They help adults fully re-skill to become qualified cyber professionals in as little as four months, by removing barriers to career-changing education whilst bringing greater diversity into the cyber security sector. CAPSLOCK are interested in a learner's potential rather than in their past, so there are no academic entry requirements needed to enrol. Their graduates have been hired by the BBC, ITV, Allianz, BT, Dyson, PwC and many more. In 2021, they were named the 'Most Innovative Cyber Security SME of the Year' by the UK government.

By Lynn Studd, Director of Global Secure Solutions

Last weekend I had the honour of presenting prizes to the winners of the East of England Final at this year’s National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) CyberFirst Girls Competition.

The event, one of 13 finals held around the country, took place at the home of BT research and innovation, Adastral Park, Ipswich, where Watford Grammar School for Girls were announced the winners by the NCSC.

For a number of years, voices from across the security industry have highlighted a cyber skills gap – a profession that needs to attract more than 4 million more dedicated and trained colleagues globally.

And yet, the strong job stability and career path that cybersecurity offers aren’t so widely enjoyed by women and girls who are under-represented in the profession. So, what’s going on?

Well, as Sheryl Sandberg once said, “you can’t be what you can’t see.” Nearly a decade on, this still rings true. Just 16% of the cyber workforce identify as female.

Education from an early age is, of course, a major part of closing the gender gap in cyber. Schools are persistently working to encourage gender diversity in STEM. But it goes beyond education and requires encouragement and exposure to the world of cybersecurity from an early age.

We need to provide a forum for school children to engage with and understand the profession, using demonstrations, workshops and classes to inspire them to strive for cybersecurity careers.

The answer may lie in the perception of the cybersecurity profession as aspirational, only for those with a set of highly specialised technical skills. But, for girls who don’t fancy themselves as the next ethical hackers of the world, cyber security isn’t just about computers and coding, and it’s not only for hackers and geeks.

We too often focus on the components of cyber security (like coding networks and hardware), but not what the role itself looks and feels like. The reality is that the field needs a broad array of skills and experts to fill a range of roles, and these roles include people with all skill sets.

This is why collaborative initiatives like CyberFirst are focused on introducing girls aged 12 to 13 to the fast-paced world of cyber security and support those interested in a career in the industry, and the broad array of roles that come with it.  

By showing how accessible it can be to young women and girls we’re building momentum that will create the workforce needed to tackle the security problems of the future.

For more information on careers at BT Security, visit: https://www.bt.com/careers/careers-at-bt/security

For more information on the CyberFirst programme, visit: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberfirst/overview

^{IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market.  The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the circles.} 
 

• BT named as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: European Managed Security Services 2022 Vendor Assessment
• Report recognises BT’s security capabilities, research and investment, and collaborative relationships with customers, vendors and academia
• The positioning follows BT’s investment in cyber risk assessment company Safe Security and the launch of transformational Eagle-i platform in 2021

BT was today named as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: European Managed Security Services 2022 Vendor Assessment report. BT’s security team provides solutions to consumers, governments and businesses around the world, and protects the company’s global network against around 200,000 cyber-attacks per month. The placement reflects BT’s “combination of pan-European network assets and proven experience and capabilities in security”.

BT was recognised for its ability to seamlessly integrate its security portfolio with wider network and cloud solutions, and for its wider emphasis on security innovation and partnerships across leading academic and research institutions. Its recent investment in Safe Security was also highlighted, as their risk assessment and prediction capabilities were seen as becoming increasingly important in light of recent supply chain attacks such as SolarWinds.

Last year, BT launched its transformational new cyber defence platform ‘Eagle-i', which incorporates AI to advance the speed and capability of its security operations. The IDC MarketScape report stated that the use of proprietary technology in Eagle-i, and the platform’s ability to draw on threat intelligence from BT’s extensive European network infrastructure, “makes it hard to match precisely by other MSSPs (Managed Security Service Providers).”

Joel Stradling, Research Director, European Security at IDC, said. “BT is a Leader for MSS in Europe thanks to its extensive routes to market, its significant footprint of regional security operations centres, and having qualified local security practitioners in place. Whilst BT operates globally, it is in Europe where it possesses its deepest threat landscape intelligence and customer intimacy. BT’s investment in Safe Security allows BT to layer on risk quantification and breach prediction capabilities along with visibility and control features that are available in its Eagle-i platform into a single integrated fully managed service for European customers."

Kevin Brown, Managing Director of Security at BT, said: “With the market becoming more competitive every year, we’re delighted to be recognised by the IDC MarketScape as a leader for MSS in Europe. We know the security industry and our customers rightly place a huge amount of value on IDC MarketScape assessments, which provide an objective and insightful view of organisations’ current and long-term capabilities. This positioning is a great validation of not only our strategy, investments and portfolio, but more importantly of our fantastic team across the globe who underpin everything we do.”

The IDC MarketScape report is based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of the region’s leading security organisations, which evaluates both direct company submissions and their customers’ feedback. The report judges both their current capabilities and expected future success in the marketplace.

For more information on the IDC MarketScape: European Managed Security Services 2022 Vendor Assessment [Ref: EUR146178820, January 2022] report, visit the BT website.

BT today announced that it has developed an epidemiology-based cybersecurity prototype, “Inflame”, which uses deep reinforcement learning to enable enterprises to automatically detect and respond to cyber-attacks before they compromise a network. Using the spread of viruses in human populations as a model to inform its AI, Inflame is a key component in BT’s recently-announced Eagle-i platform.

Epidemiological modelling is typically associated with the spread of viruses and diseases amongst human populations, and has been critical in analysing and managing the spread of COVID-19 over the past 20 months. Using the same principals of epidemiology, BT’s Inflame solution has been developed to understand how computer viruses and cyber-attacks spread across enterprise networks, and how to prevent them from happening.

To develop the technology, security researchers at the BT Labs in Suffolk, UK, built models of enterprise networks which were used to test numerous scenarios based on differing R rates[1] of cyber-infection. This testing enabled the research team to understand how these threats can penetrate and compromise a network, and develop optimal automated responses needed to contain and prevent the spread of viruses across them.

The deep reinforcement training and learning undertaken in the development of Inflame means the solution can automatically model and respond to a detected threat within an enterprise network. These responses are also underpinned by ‘attack lifecycle’ modelling, which assesses real-time security alerts against established patterns to understand the current stage of an ongoing cyber-attack. This insight is used to predict the next stages of an attack and rapidly identify the best response to prevent it from progressing any further.

BT recently announced its transformational cyber defence platform ‘Eagle-i', which uses AI to provide real-time detection of issues and intelligent automated responses. The platform has been designed to self-learn from the intelligence provided by each intervention, so that it constantly improves its threat knowledge and dynamically refines how it protects other users going forward.

“We know the risk of cyber-attack is higher than ever and has intensified significantly during the pandemic. Enterprises now need to look to new cybersecurity solutions that can understand the risk and consequence of an attack, and quickly respond before it’s too late,” said Howard Watson, Chief Technology Officer, BT. “Epidemiological testing has played a vital role in curbing the spread of infection during the pandemic, and Inflame uses the same principles to understand how current and future digital viruses spread through networks. Inflame will play a key role in how BT’s Eagle-i platform automatically predicts and identifies cyber-attacks before they impact, protecting customers’ operations and reputation.”

BT was recently designated a ‘Partner’ of the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) ‘CyberFirst’ programme. In this blog, Kevin Brown (Managing Director, BT Security) and Chris Ensor (Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, NCSC) look at the cyber skills gap, and how initiatives such as CyberFirst are helping to tackle this issue.

For a number of years, voices from across the security industry have highlighted a cyber skills gap, where there simply aren’t enough people with the right knowledge and skills to fill the number of cyber security jobs available. Both private & public sector organisations from across the world are impacted by this, with many publicly committing to work collaboratively to tackle this issue.

Developing the next generation of skilled cyber professionals is understandably a long-term process – whether that be training young people from school onwards through to reskilling current professionals with transferable experience. Yet the need for new talent is already immediate. The unprecedented growth in people spending more time online over the past 18 months has highlighted the importance of the cyber security industry and some estimates suggest there could be currently 3.5 million unfilled cyber security vacancies across the globe.

The CyberFirst programme, run by the National Cyber Security Centre – a part of GCHQ – is at the core of the UK’s response to this issue. The programme was set up in 2016 to help young people aged 11 to 21 explore their passion for technology through cyber security and to support those with an aptitude for the subject to pursue careers in the field.

It also has a clear objective to improve diversity in the cyber sector, with initiatives aimed at inspiring more girls to take up opportunities to enter cyber security jobs. The CyberFirst Girls Competition, for example, is the UK’s flagship cyber contest for schools, and through online challenges and puzzles, girls aged 12 to 13 are introduced to the fast-paced world of cyber security.[1]

BT has supported CyberFirst since its inception, and in recognition of its long-term advocacy and increased support over the past 12 months it was recently awarded ‘Partner’ status. BT is one of only 7 companies[2] to have this status, which will allow it to play a more active role in defining the strategy and direction of the programme. It also recognises how BT has engaged with the CyberFirst programme to develop its recruitment processes and provide real near-term benefits to its workforce.

BT has achieved this by ensuring that its work with CyberFirst is focused on one key principle – that, fundamentally, everyone benefits if we can make it easier for skilled and passionate people to actually enter roles in the cyber industry. It may sound simplistic or obvious, but one of the most impactful things we can do is to remove some of the hurdles, complications and delays that young people face when trying to join the sector.

For example, every year, the CyberFirst programme sets up hundreds of summer placements for carefully selected and security-checked university students on its bursary programme and they are placed at organisations across the cyber industry, including BT.

The benefits of these placements are evident, for the students who gain practical real-world experience of cyber careers and for the organisations in identifying talented people. However, some organisations do not take the logical next step and set up a process which allows talented students to create a future commitment with the company they were placed with. Instead, upon graduating from university, students simply go onto the job market.

In response to this, BT has streamlined its recruitment processes to improve its conversion of CyberFirst summer placement students onto its graduate programme. We have worked collaboratively to align our respective recruitment and assessment processes, resulting in a model where CyberFirst placement students receive an offer to join BT’s graduate scheme prior to their return to the final year of university (rather than needing to wait until they’ve finished their degrees).

This year, 22 CyberFirst bursary students were recruited by BT for its 2021 Summer Placement programme, which is the largest number since it started working with CyberFirst. The placements began in June and will run for 10 weeks, and provided the students meet the criteria we hope that many will go on to join the graduate programme.

Solutions for the cyber skills gap, and the impact of initiatives to tackle it, will not be instant. However, by working collaboratively across the public and private sector, we can build momentum that will create the workforce needed to tackle the security problems of the future. Shorter term, removing the obstacles that can hinder young people starting and progressing their careers provides an excellent way of encouraging more immediate entrants to the industry.

For more information on careers at BT Security, visit: https://www.bt.com/careers/careers-at-bt/security

For more information on the CyberFirst programme, visit: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberfirst/overview

With the number and impact of cyber attacks continuing to increase rapidly, BT has today announced a multi-million pound investment in Safe Security, an industry-leading cyber risk management firm. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, their SAFE (‘Security Assessment Framework for Enterprises’) platform allows organisations to take a health check of their existing defences and understand their likelihood of suffering a major cyber attack.

Industry analysis estimates that the cost of global cyber crime reached over US$1 trillion in 2020, as criminals exploited seismic changes in everyday life to target both individuals and organisations of all sizes. With high-profile recent incidents impacting critical areas such as energy infrastructure and medical care, businesses and governments are under huge pressure to objectively assess how protected they are against the latest forms of cyber attack.

The investment will allow BT to combine the SAFE platform with its world-leading managed security services to provide customers with a real time view of how safe they are against an incredibly fast-moving cyber threat landscape. SAFE is unique in calculating a financial cost to customers’ risks and giving actionable insight on the steps that can be taken to address them. The platform ultimately enables organisations to surgically target gaps in their defences, and already protects multiple Fortune 500 companies and governments around the world.

Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT, said: “Cyber security is now at the top of the agenda for businesses and governments, who need to be able to trust that they’re protected against increasing levels of attack. Adding SAFE to BT’s proactive, predictive security services will give customers an enhanced view of their threat level, and rapidly pinpoint specific actions needed to strengthen their defences. Already one of the world’s leading providers in a highly fragmented security market, this investment is a clear sign of BT’s ambition to grow further.”

Saket Modi, Co-founder and CEO of Safe Security, said: “We’re delighted to be working with a proven global security leader in BT. Their investment and strategic partnership with Safe Security will further accelerate our vision of making SAFE scores the industry standard for measuring and mitigating cyber risks. By aligning BT’s global reach and capabilities with SAFE’s ability to provide real-time visibility on cyber risk posture, we are going to fundamentally change how cyber security is measured and managed across the globe.”

As part of this investment, BT will be granted exclusive rights to use and sell SAFE to businesses and public sector bodies in the UK, and will incorporate the platform within its wider global portfolio. In recognition of its experience in providing security solutions to organisations across the world, BT will be designated as the recommended global partner for improving a customer’s SAFE score. BT will also work collaboratively with Safe Security to develop future products.

BT today announced it is upgrading the global network of leading commercial explosives and blasting systems provider Orica with the latest cloud-optimised technology and cyber security solutions. The upgrade is part of Orica’s digital transformation and will support the migration of applications and services to the cloud.

Orica, which operates in more than 100 countries, utilises innovative, market-leading digital solutions built on cutting-edge technology and automation to create safer, more productive blast outcomes for customers.

The new managed network service, based on Cisco SD-WAN technology, will provide secure and flexible connectivity for the company’s more than 13,000 employees, many of whom work remotely on customer sites around the world.

For Orica’s IT team, BT will provide a single dashboard with comprehensive visibility of network traffic flows, infrastructure monitoring, applications performance management tools, end-user experience monitoring, security and event logging, and inventory discovery. Wrapped in ITIL service management, the dashboard will provide the capability to optimise an individual application’s performance to match business needs.

BT will also help Orica enhance cyber security across the new network and extend it into the manufacturing environment. BT’s security experts will deploy and manage a range of security solutions, including next generation firewalls from Cisco, and an enhanced remote access solution for Orica’s mobile workforce.

Angus Melbourne, Orica’s chief technology officer, said: “BT has been our trusted network partner for five years. We considered many technology and service options for our digital transformation and eventually chose BT as it offers a fully managed service built around our preferred technical solution covering Orica’s global locations. Our network transformation will not only result in improved service, but also reduce the cost of our global network.”

Joris van Oers, managing director, resources, manufacturing and logistics & Europe, Global, BT, said: “It’s great to see our two long-standing relationships continue to bear fruit. Firstly, we are delighted to continue supporting our innovative and dynamic customer Orica, and help their teams conduct their jobs safely, productively and sustainably. And secondly, we are drawing on the strength of our global partnership with Cisco to deliver the latest networking solutions required for our customer’s successful digital transformation.”

BT today announced a new, multi-year agreement with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) to continue to be the company’s network partner in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Under the agreement, BT will work to transform WBA’s networking and enhance the customer and colleague experience with the deployment of next-generation technology.

Steve Rempel, senior vice president and international chief information officer, WBA, said: “We chose BT because we share a focus on delivering standout customer experiences. Our digital plans demand full visibility, control and security of applications and data crossing our network so we can join up in-store and online experiences for customers and colleagues alike.”

Joris van Oers, managing director, resources, manufacturing and logistics & Europe, BT, said: “Connectivity is central in the new digital environment WBA is creating for its customers. Our managed network will provide secure and reliable access to applications and data in the cloud and support innovation by providing agility to deploy new services faster.”

BT’s network will provide faster, more responsive access to applications and data and simplify the roll out of new customer service innovations as part of WBA’s digital transformation.

The new, managed service will support the shift of business applications and data in the UK and Republic of Ireland to the cloud and will enhance the customer and colleague experience by improving the reliability and performance of connectivity in the company’s stores, warehouses, distribution centres and support offices.

Designed with joined-up, omnichannel retailing in mind, the network provides WBA with the agility to respond to new opportunities in a fast-changing market. The solution includes the transformation of voice services across Boots UK and Republic of Ireland stores, cyber security to protect customers, colleagues and devices, and extending mobile connectivity – with plans to include 5G – for service resilience and to rapidly expand capacity to support peaks in demand.

BT Security has published the results of a global survey which canvassed the opinions of over 7000 business leaders, employees and consumers from across the world. The research, conducted in partnership with Davies Hickman Partners, found that in a rapidly changing business environment, the role of the CISO has hugely expanded in its scope and responsibilities. With the research also identifying security as the top priority for businesses after coronavirus, CISOs have never been more integral to business operations.

With this in mind, the research’s finding that 76% of business executives rate their organisation’s IT strategy as excellent or good at protecting against cybersecurity threats seems like positive news. Yet in spite of this, the research also found that this might be misplaced confidence which is leading to complacency, with 84% of executives also saying that their organisation had suffered from data loss or a security incident in the last two years – highlighting the enormity of the task that CISOs face.

The research uncovered a number of interesting reasons why this might be happening. Less than half of respondents said they had definitely received training on data security, while only one in three were fully aware of the policies and procedures they should take to protect the security of their organisation’s data. As a result, a number of concerning behavioural trends were seen, with 45% of employees saying they’d suffered a security incident at work and not reported it, and perhaps even more worryingly, 15% saying they had given their work log-in and password to others in the organisation.

Regular cyber security training for employees is critical, not least because of the increasing importance that consumers are placing on security. The research found that nearly two thirds of consumers would recommend an organisation that makes a big effort to keep their data safe, and a similar number said that security is more important than convenience when choosing who to buy from. The capacity for security to act as a brand differentiator becomes even clearer with the finding that only 16% of consumers strongly trust large organisations to protect their personal data.

In light of these trends and attitudes, the role of the CISO is simultaneously more critical and more multifaceted than even before. Their job is no longer just to protect against threats and manage risk; they are now expected to play a crucial role in managing brand perception, employee engagement and the strategic adoption of new technologies. In spite of this, the research found that less than half of executives and employees could put a name to their CISO (or equivalent), with a similar ratio of respondents saying that their CISO doesn’t actively communicate with the rest of the organisation.

Kevin Brown, Managing Director of BT Security, said: “This report provides a number of clear examples of how CISOs are now expected to provide leadership across an ever-growing number of areas. The huge increase in the pace of digital transformation during 2020 has not only further erased the traditional parameters of the role, but also intensified the scale and complexity of threats to protect against. As a result, CISOs must ensure that they have the visibility that not only makes them the first port of call for security incidents, but also ensures they’re placed at the heart of strategic decision making and planning.”

Craig Jones, Director of Cybercrime at INTERPOL, commented: “The range and scale of cybercrime faced by governments, businesses and individuals is constantly growing. We firmly believe in working collaboratively across the public and private sector to make cyberspace a safer place, and this very much includes CISOs, who are often the first line of defence in responding to cyberattacks. This research from BT shows clearly the increasing responsibilities and expectations placed on the CISO today, and a number of clear steps they can take to improve their protections and our collective resilience.”

The full report, which also provides a number of recommendations around how organisations can improve their security posture, is available to view here: https://www.globalservices.bt.com/en/insights/whitepapers/cisos-under-the-spotlight

For further information on how BT can secure your organisation, visit: www.bt.com/security  

The decision to refine our security partner base was driven by the recognition that many of our customers find it difficult to navigate today’s complex security landscape. The huge range of suppliers and products in the market can be bewildering, and lead to the adoption of multiple overlapping systems. This in turn can render security estates difficult to manage, burdened with unnecessary costs and, ultimately, with lower overall levels of protection.

BT Security is reflecting its customers’ desire to reduce complexity by having a leaner set of partners and clearly laying out its view of the best providers for specific security requirements. The confirmed partners were agreed following a detailed evaluation of their respective capabilities across all security control and threat management technologies. The final selection provides BT’s view of the security market’s leading providers, who will support a harmonised portfolio of solutions to its customers going forward.

Kevin Brown, Managing Director of BT Security, said: “Our new security partner ecosystem showcases the benefits of BT Security as a Managed Security Services Provider. We’re able to use our deep experience and insight of the security ecosystem to help our customers navigate what can be an incredibly confusing market. We’re also ensuring that BT Security customers will benefit from working with the best suppliers from across the security industry.”

McAfee, Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet were selected as BT Security’s ‘Critical Partners’. Each of those companies will provide a range of services and products that will be incorporated into BT Security’s global portfolio, as well as providing holistic support to its commercial and operational activities. BT Security will also work with these partners to develop a roadmap of security solutions which continue to reflect evolving customer demands and integrate the latest developments in security automation.

Lynn Doherty, Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at McAfee, said: “We’re proud to partner with BT to fight against cybercrime and accelerate new business environments for our customers as they look for more solution integrations, deeper engagement and faster modernization efforts. Together through our strategic service provider partners, like BT, McAfee is able to deliver world class security services that enable organizations to evolve their defenses into areas like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR).”

Alex Zinin, VP, Global Service Provider Business at Palo Alto Networks, said: “We’ve been working closely with BT Security for several years to bring innovative cybersecurity solutions to our joint customers. We are honoured to be selected as one of their critical partners to continue this close collaboration, in recognition of the breadth of our security capabilities across multiple market segments. This comes at a time when it’s never been more essential for communications and security to be closely aligned to help all organisations with staff working remotely. We look forward to working together as we strive to make each day safer and more secure than the one before.”

John Maddison, Executive Vice President of Products and Chief Marketing Officer at Fortinet, said: “Digital Innovation is disrupting all industries, markets, and segments, leading to increased risk as cyber threats take advantage of this disruption. To protect against known advanced threats as well as unknown sophisticated attacks, Fortinet enables organizations to apply security anywhere and protect all edges – including WAN, cloud, data center, endpoint, identity, and home – while reducing the number of required products to save costs and remove complexity. We’re proud to partner with BT Security to help customers address the most critical security challenges and protect data across the entire digital infrastructure.”

Microsoft, IBM and Cisco were all confirmed as ‘Strategic Partners’ for BT Security. This categorisation reflects not only their relationship with BT Security, but also their broader activities and remit across the whole of BT. BT Security also confirmed a further nine ‘Ecosystem Partners’, who will be incorporated into its global portfolio of solutions for customers due to their complementary technology capabilities. These partners are Skybox, Forescout, Zscaler, Check Point, CrowdStrike, Okta, Qualys, Netscout and F5.

Through deeper strategic relationships, BT Security and its partners will work together to provide better customer experience and protection, while those selected partners will also be BT Security’s main collaborators as they look to develop future customer solutions. BT Security will regularly review the partnerships to monitor the latest vendor developments, while continuing to assess the wider industry for new and emergent security companies and technologies.

BT developed SATURN to ingest and analyse huge amounts of data using AI, and then present a real-time visual representation of a network to users, including cyber security engineers. As well as being used extensively in-house by BT Security teams to protect BT, the technology forms a key part of the Cyber Security Platform that BT offers to corporate customers.

SATURN combines state-of-the-art data visualisation with patented machine learning techniques, allowing cyber experts to uncover important data patterns and increasingly predict and detect cyber-attacks at an early stage. It is one of many technologies developed by BT’s Innovation Labs teams that are now available under licence to other companies, allowing them to enhance their products and improve their business operations.

QiO Technologies delivers software that helps industrial engineers to simulate, predict and optimise business processes in order to unlock trapped productivity and improve safety. By re-purposing BT’s SATURN capabilities, originally designed for network security uses, into QiO’s IIoT Foresight Platform®, industrial customers will be able to analyse complex real-time data from machinery and sensors, and use these insights to increase the productivity of engineers and data scientists. QiO, which was included in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant on Industrial Internet of Things Platforms, works with global manufacturers and industrials including Rolls-Royce, Lloyd’s Register, Saudi Global Ports and Bahrain Fiber Glass.

Tim Whitley, MD Applied Research, BT Group, said: “This visual analytics technology was created by the BT Labs to help us tackle the growing challenges of cyber-crime, and has helped BT become a global leader in cyber security services. It’s great to see it develop beyond its original function to find wider applicability, enhancing the services provided by QiO.”

Baz Khuti, Co-Founder and CEO of QiO, said: “The integration of BT’s innovative SATURN solution with QiO’s leading IIoT Foresight Platform® provides a competitive and cost-effective solution for ‘Data Citizens‘. The solution enables domain experts and data scientists to explore complex data sets from different sources and rapidly identify patterns and relationships for further analysis; improving productivity, transparency and collaboration. This ultimately reduces the time and cost of data science.”

About QiO

QiO is an Industry 4.0 advanced analytics and artificial intelligence software company that enables global industrials and manufacturers to quickly improve operational efficiency, productivity and safety. QiO delivers technology that helps industrial engineers simulate, predict, collaborate and optimise business processes to drive better outcomes.