EDITOR’S QUESTION
MARK HUGHES,
CEO, BT SECURITY
WannaCry brought to the
forefront many of the issues we,
security professionals have been
highlighting for some time, not least
our calls for increased investment
into cyber security at all levels. It is
not the first global attack, but it is
unique in its scope and the way
it spread.
Our advice to customers on how to stay
secure can be summarised in four easy
to follow steps:
possible then neutralise
to avoid the malware
detonating. the attackers, by keeping the finger
on the pulse, proactively monitoring,
analysing and addressing any threats.
• Isolate and roll-back.
Contain the affected
machines, clean them,
then restore the data. While threat intelligence and monitoring
will never be able to stop an attack on
their own, they provide companies with
a toolkit to help build defences against
them. By being proactive, a company
can ensure it is as prepared as possible.
Forewarned is forearmed, and prior
analysis of both behaviour and strength
enables companies to tailor defences to
keep criminal entrepreneurs away from
what they want.
It was these steps
together with: our
continuous investment
into upgrades; the deep
understanding of the
importance of cyber
security at BT; our agile
governance structure
and cohesive global
response to attacks; as
well as our partnerships
with a diverse array
of industry and
government bodies that
helped us protect our
network and our customers.
Our network delivers services for
customers, some of them well-known
household names, in more than 180
countries around the world. Our team
of 2,500 security specialists and 14
Security Operations Centres (SOCs)
providing round the clock monitoring
and protection are among the largest
in the industry.
• Work closely with your AV vendors
and Microsoft to ensure you have the
latest anti-virus protection available We face more than 8,000 virus attacks
a day and more than 250,000 cyber-
attacks a month. We are proud of the
fact our expertise in cyber security has
successfully defended infrastructure
during the 2012 Olympics when we
saw a rise of 1,000 per cent in attacks
from state-backed hackers, terrorists,
fraudsters and “hacktivists”.
• Investigate whether you have been
infected, limit the spread as far as All this has been achieved through
ongoing investment to stay ahead of
• Check you have the appropriate
patch applied and running correctly
across your global IT estate.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
In today’s threat landscape, the way
forward is a unified security architecture
that prevents attacks before they
can inflict damage. A multi-layered
approach makes it harder for criminals
to operate before, during and after an
attack, while the right smart prevention
can help rapidly uncover existing
vulnerabilities and eliminate risks.
A digital and connected environment is
an irresistible target for cyber criminals,
and as investment and innovation in
IT increases – by 2.4 per cent in 2017
to reach $155.8 billion, according to
Gartner – so too do the intensity and
complexity of malicious activity.
On a positive note, we are noticing a
significant increase in interest around
cybersecurity in the Middle East.
According to Markets&Markets, the
Middle East cyber security market size
is expected to almost double between
from and 2022 from USD 11.38 billion
to USD 22.14 billion.
This positive trend demonstrates
that investment in security is fast
becoming a core component of
IT spending alongside storage,
computing and networks. ¡
www.intelligentcio.com