BT Group has warned that it is detecting over 2,000 signals per second indicating potential cyber threats on its telecoms network, highlighting the significant scale of cyber threats for businesses. During a security conference at its Adastral Park innovation hub in Ipswich, Suffolk, the UK telecoms incumbent revealed that amounts to approximately 200 million potential […]
BT Group has warned that it is detecting over 2,000 signals per second indicating potential cyber threats on its telecoms network, highlighting the significant scale of cyber threats for businesses.
During a security conference at its Adastral Park innovation hub in Ipswich, Suffolk, the UK telecoms incumbent revealed that amounts to approximately 200 million potential cyber-attacks identified on a daily basis.
Speaking during a keynote presentation at the Secure Tomorrow event, BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby and BT Business chief Bas Burger explained that an investigation into its network revealed a 1,234% annual rise in new malicious internet protocol (IP) scanners recorded in the 12 months to July.
Burger told enterprise customers, partners and the press that nine in ten business leaders “lie awake at night thinking about the vast evolution of technology and how they can implement it fast enough in their markets,” with three in five large enterprises experiencing some kind of attack in the last year.
“Protecting customers is in our DNA — we have been doing it for many decades,” Burger said, calling BT’s network, the largest in the UK, a “rock solid foundation” in its security portfolio.
Kirkby, who took over as CEO at the British telco giant in February, said she was proud of BT’s heritage as “a trusted connector of people, devices, and machines”.
However, the growing threat landscape means enterprises must be even more vigilant, they warned.
Talking about the rate at which technology is evolving, Kirkby added: “In a world where technology is transforming everything, we have a role to play in making sure society doesn’t get fearful of that technology.
“BT plays a very, very special role in the UK; we’ve always been the backbone of the country; we connect the Outer Hebrides to the Scilly Isles… these networks are getting increasingly intelligent and improving even more services.”
The rise of Quantum Computing and its impact on cybersecurity
Quantum computing, for example, poses a significant new challenge in cyber security, given the possibility that bad actors could use quantum tools to break the encryption that protects some of the world’s most sensitive data.
BT also revealed it had worked with Japan’s Toshiba to link two Equinix data centres with “quantum secure connectivity” based on quantum key distribution.
Customers using the Equinix data centres can connect to BT and Toshiba’s quantum-secured metro network to trial the quantum-secure data service, which is protected using QKD as a “quantum keys-as-a-service” model.
Facilities in Canary Wharf, the heart of London’s financial services district, and Slough, 20 miles west of central London, are connected by a high bandwidth quantum-secure network, offering businesses a novel method for transmitting their data securely.
“Our partnership with Toshiba has already seen us build the world’s first commercial trial of a quantum-secured metro network in London, and today marks an important milestone in our journey towards accelerating the commercialisation of quantum-secure connectivity,” said Howard Watson, chief security and networks officer at BT Group, who also spoke at the Adastral Park event.
Cybersecurity concerns for business leaders
Speaking directly to journalists following the keynote, Burger answered a question from Intelligence expert and star of the TV show Hunted, Ben Owen. The BT Business boss said his customers were most concerned about success, and losing access to systems undermined that.
“If they can’t use their digital technology, they will not be successful,” he added. “If they can’t implement new technology tomorrow, but their competitor can, they will lose out.
“One of the things that prevents new technology from being rolled out really fast is often the cybersecurity threat. Are you ready to implement new technology and aware of how to run that in a stable environment while complying with the law?
“Every business reads stories about factories being shut down because they can’t access their equipment because of a cyber-threat, or hospitals being taken ransom so they can’t service patients. And every business is afraid of it, they just want somebody to help them sleep at night.”
He added that BT is trying to educate the market by getting customers to think the unthinkable, by realising that threats can come from anywhere and not just traditional sources.
“BT has traditionally had an engineering culture. So, from a technology point of view, we will often go out into the world with a ready-made solution for our customers,” Burger added. He noted that sometimes this included situations where those businesses weren’t even aware of the potential threat.
“But as a business, we are learning and adapting every day, so it is about communicating with our partners. We need to take a humble attitude and listen to what is happening in the market because it is important to know what you don’t know.
