It is available via two packages- EE Cyber Security Duo, designed to protect up to two devices, and EE Cyber Security Multi which can help protect up to 15 devices.

These packages provide customers with dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, device security, SMS security, a report card, and a Norton password manager.

Both are available on a flexible 30 day rolling plan- the EE Cyber Security Duo can be added to any pay monthly mobile plan for £2 a month, and the EE Cyber Security Multi can be added to any pay monthly mobile plan for £5 a month. 

Sharon Meadows, Director of Propositions at EE said: “With more and more of our lives spent online, ensuring we take steps to protect ourselves and our identities has never been more important. That’s why we’ve teamed up with cyber safety experts Norton™, to provide our customers the most advanced online security services to date – helping to protect their devices, and digital identity with a powerful all-in-one solution to give them ultimate peace of mind.”

Sarah Uhlfelder, Vice President of Sales EMEA for Norton added:  “We are proud to be partnering with EE to bring our joint mission of safeguarding digital identity and providing Cyber Safety to life. With EE Cyber Security Powered by Norton™, we can help customers protect their devices and – ultimately – help safeguard their identity. Our goal is to meet consumers where they live, work and socialize online so people can enjoy digital freedom, no matter where they are.”

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

The opening follows a £6.3 million contract win from the Department of Finance for the provision of a Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and SOC managed services.

The new centre is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and is designed to help grow the company’s UK customer base providing up to the highest levels of security classification.

The SOC forms part of a wider multi-million pound investment by BT in the building as all 11 floors are being refurbished to create a brand new workplace for around 1800 colleagues- with the final floors expected to be completed in early 2023.

As cyber attacks are increasing in complexity and scale, the SOC aims to leverage BT’s global security expertise and cyber technologies to defend sectors against new threats.

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 the 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.”

EE has partnered with cyber safety experts Norton and home security experts Verisure to develop two security products – EE Cyber Security and the EE Smart Home Security.

The EE Smart Home Security powered by Verisure will offer a new 24/7 monitored home alarm package and comes in two bundles – one for flats and one for houses.

The service will be installed by Verisure security engineers and monitored 24/7 by Verisure’s Alarm Receiving Centre, allowing customers to speak to the Alarm Centre at any time through the SOS feature.

The system also comes with professional monitoring – with a target response time of 60 seconds.

Additionally, the smart home security service is backed up by EE, so customers can monitor their home from anywhere, through the My Verisure app.

The core alarm bundles for flats and houses cost £25 and £30 per month respectively, for 24 months and an upfront fee of £50.

The bundles include two shock sensors (flats) and six shock sensors (houses) that detects intruders, two star keys to control the alarm, one camera detector, one central unit which has a 4G and 5G connectivity and one voice pad that controls the alarm and has direct voice connectivity with Verisure’s Alarm Receiving Centre.

There are three premium bundles add-ons for houses as well, which include a door bell for £7 per month, smart video doorbells and smart cameras for £18 per month, and smart video doorbells, smart cameras and smoke detection monitors for £25.

The EE Cyber Security Powered by Norton

The EE Cyber Security Powered by Norton launches next month and aims to help
customers protect their devices, safeguard their digital identities, and provide protection against viruses and online threats.

It also has a feature of notifying customers if their personal information is found on the dark web or if their social media handles have unusual login activity.

The tariffs of the EE Cyber Security Powered by Norton are yet to be announced.

Marc Allera, CEO at EE said: “Launching EE security is the latest example of how we’re transforming the EE brand, by introducing new ways to provide our customers with exciting products and services that enhance both their in-and-out of home experience. We know that the security market is hugely important to UK consumers and see huge scope to help customers protect their home and digital life.”

NTT, a global IT infrastructure and services company, published its 2022 Global Network  Report, which found that 70pc of CEOs believe their network maturity levels are slowing their business growth.

Enterprises are embracing hybrid, distributed work environments with numerous connected devices, yet despite investments, just two in five companies claim they are extremely satisfied with their current network capabilities.

Working in a hybrid set up also calls on the importance of network security to avoid cyberattacks. With this in mind, organisations are moving towards more centralised, cloud based security solutions and a managed endpoint security model, as well as increasing their investments in network cybersecurity.

Security, modernisation, and access to a full range of services from their provider were cited as respondents’ top concerns, even above cost.

Amit Dhingra, Executive Vice President at NTT Ltd. Network Services said: “The results of this research shows many organisations are leaning towards key partners and managed service solutions to fulfil their requirements. This is primarily to drive security and gain access to skills that can both optimise capability and accelerate innovation-based advances.

“Organisations should turn their attention to a network as a service model. Businesses should consider security, skills competency, ability to scale, private 5G, and software defined networking when selecting a network service provider. In the long term, blockchain, further AI and automation, AR and VR, quantum, networking, 6G and photonic computing will affect how networks are delivered.”

BT has enhanced its cyber protection for small businesses by introducing new online tools and advice led resources to help businesses protect themselves from cyber attacks.

Small businesses can benefit from free BT Content Control which allows customers to block or allow categories, and BT Web Protect which warns customers of suspicious URLs which could be harmful.

BT estimates thousands of the UK’s smallest firms could be leaving themselves vulnerable to cyber-attacks as they have little to no business-grade cyber security measures in place.

Many businesses moved online during the pandemic, and the Government’s recent Cyber Security Breaches survey found that 48pc of small firms reported cyber security breaches last year.

Despite increasing attacks, BT’s research shows 51pc of the micro business sector do not have the right level of cyber protection and rely on security products suited to consumers rather than businesses. 

BT’s managing director for single office/home office unit (SoHo) Chris Sims said: “Any digital business – large or small – can be a target for cyber criminals, and this is something we’ve seen during the pandemic. 

“And whilst consumer-grade products are great for protecting you while surfing the web, accessing emails and other personal use, they’re not designed for running a business which requires more robust protection and safeguards.

“It’s clear that the UK’s smallest firms need more support in this area, so today we’re launching new free cyber security tools for our BT business broadband customers, together with free online advice to help upskill small businesses on how to stay safe online.”

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has unveiled new proposals to help UK businesses manage cyber security across their digital supply chains and third party IT services.

It comes as DCMS research has found that UK businesses are slacking when it comes to reviewing cyber security risks.

According to the DCMS, only 12 per cent of organisations review the cyber security risks that come from their immediate suppliers, while only one in twenty firms (five per cent) address the vulnerabilities in their wider supply chain.

In order to combat against the cyber risks against UK businesses, the DCMS is “calling for views” on a number of measures to improve security, with this running until July 11 2021.

“There is a long history of outsourcing of critical services. We have seen attacks such as ‘CloudHopper’ where organisations were compromised through their managed service provider,” said Digital Infrastructure minister Matt Warman.

“It’s essential that organisations take steps to secure their mission critical supply chains – and remember they cannot outsource risk.”

Warman says that firms should follow the free government advice that is available, which includes support from The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

“We’re seeking views from firms that both procure and provide digital services, as a first step in considering whether we need updated guidance or strengthened rules.”

Framework

The NCSC provides advice on business-wide cyber security risk and vulnerabilities such as the Cyber Assessment Framework.

And the government is calling for views on the existing guidance for supply chain risk management, while testing the suitability of a proposed security framework for firms that oversee organisations’ IT infrastructure, known as ‘Managed Service Providers’ (MSPs).

Such proposals could mean that MSPs are required to meet the current Cyber Assessment Framework, which includes a set of 14 cyber security principles.

Some of the measures include having policies to protect devices and prevent unauthorised access, ensuring data is protected, keeping secure and accessible backups of data and the training of staff an pursuing of a positive cyber security culture.

Two in five UK firms and over a quarter of charities have experienced cybersecurity breaches or attacks in the past year, according to figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 report says that the cyber risk to organisations is also heightened because of the pandemic, which has made securing digital environments more challenging.

The government is encouraging businesses, charities and educational institutions to follow the free help and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre.

The government is investing £1.9 billion in the country’s National Cyber Security Strategy over five years to support the digital economy.

This includes delivering a programme to improve businesses cyber resilience, set high industry standards and provide organisations with expert advice and guidance.

Pandemic toll

Digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman said: “The pandemic has taken an unavoidable toll on British businesses, but we cannot let it disrupt our high cybersecurity standards.

“With more people working remotely, it is vital firms have the right protections in place, and I urge all organisations to follow the National Cyber Security Centre’s expert guidance so we can build back better and drive a new era of digital growth.”

Cyber-attacks grew to unprecedented levels during 2020 as the pandemic forced people to work from home.

That is according to research carried out by SonicWall as part of its 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, which found a range of different cyber-attacks hit businesses hard.

Cybercriminals have taken advantage of the pandemic to attack businesses, with ransomware attacks up 62 per cent since 2019, with 304.6 million attacks worldwide.

Retail, healthcare and government sectors have been among those targeted the most, while IoT malware also rose 66 per cent during the pandemic.

“2020 offered a perfect storm for cybercriminals and a critical tipping point for the cyber arms race,” said SonicWall president and CEO Bill Conner.

“The pandemic — along with remote work, a charged political climate, record prices of cryptocurrency, and threat actors weaponizing cloud storage and tools — drove the effectiveness and volume of cyberattacks to new highs.

“This latest threat intelligence offers a look at how cybercriminals shifted and refined their tactics, painting a picture of what they are doing amid the uncertain future that lies ahead.”

The report also revealed an increase in cryptojacking – which is a type of cybercrime where a criminal secretly uses a victim’s computing power to generate cryptocurrency.

It’s a practice that happens when cryptocurrency breaks records.

SonicWall said that crytojacking had grown by 28 per cent year-on-year, a three-year high, with 81.9 million hits.

The House of Commons Defence Committee says it has found “clear evidence” of collusion between Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party in a new report entitled “The Security of 5G“.

The report gathered evidence from academics and cybersecurity and telecoms experts, while Huawei itself did not provide executives or spokespeople to testify to the committee.

Andre Pienaar, a venture capitalist consulted in the report, said that it had been calculated that the Chinese government had subsidised Huawei to the tune of $75 billion in the last three years, enabling it to undercut competitors with low equipment prices.

The report concluded: “[Huawei] is clearly strongly linked to the Chinese state and the Chinese Communist Party, despite its statements to the contrary, as evidenced by its ownership model and the subsidies it has received.” Huawei has repeatedly denied allegations of state interference in its operations.

Currently, operators have until 2027 to remove Huawei kit from their networks. However, the report says that the government should consider bringing this date forward to 2025, “should pressure from allies for a speedier removal continue or should China’s threats and global position change so significantly to warrant it”.

Additionally, Strand Consult CEO John Strand told the report that China is responsible for the most cyberattacks by any nation over the past 12 years, and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has designated Huawei a high risk vendor, citing a 2019 report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre which said that “no material progress” had been made by Huawei to fix technical issues found in a 2018 report.

The committee added that it was in favour of forming a D10 group of allied democratic countries who could provide alternatives to Chinese technology, although detail is scarce as to how this group might be structured.

A Huawei spokesperson said: “This report lacks credibility, as it is built on opinion rather than fact. We’re sure people will see through these accusations of collusion and remember instead what Huawei has delivered for Britain over the past 20 years.”

Vodafone has launched a new business security service that protects its business customers’ laptops and desktops.

The operator has partnered with Trend Micro to offer the protection service, which is open to businesses of all sizes.

The service which is called ‘Worry-Free’ is a detection service that protects businesses and its employees from online security threats such as ransomware, out-of-date applications, plus phishing attacks.

A recent Vodafone survey found that 90 per cent of UK organisations believe that cyber security is vital to their future.

As part of the new service, Vodafone will offer customers a number of Trend Micro features.

Customers will have access to anti-ransomware protection, URL filtering and data protection.

Other features include smart protection network, cloud dashboard for centralised management and tailored options.

Compatible

This service is compatible across Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

It will also be available to Microsoft 365, G-Suite, Box, Dropbox and Salesforce cloud services.

Vodafone UK business director Anne Sheehan said: “With more employees than ever before working from home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, cyber threats are more prevalent than they have ever been. We are here to help businesses ensure that remote working is safe and secure.”

Vodafone also offers other specialist cyber security solutions for business customers, such as its Lookout Mobile Security and Vodafone Cloud backup.

Its customers can also manage all their company’s bills, security notifications and licenses through the Vodafone Business Marketplace.