Data

AI set to supercharge cyber threats by 2027

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has released a landmark cyber threat assessment, warning that rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will make cyber attacks more frequent, effective and harder to detect by 2027. The digital divide between organisations with the resources to defend against digital threats, and those without, will inevitably increase.  Published on the opening day of CYBERUK, the UK’s flagship cyber security conference, the report outlines how both state and non-state actors are already exploiting AI to increase the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber operations. Generative AI is enabling more convincing phishing attacks and faster malware development. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for cyber crime and cyber intelligence. Of particular concern is the rising risk to the UK’s democratic processes, Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and commercial sectors. Advanced language models and data analysis capabilities are used to craft highly persuasive content, resulting in more frequent attacks that are difficult to detect.  Andy Ward, SVP International at Absolute Security, says, “While AI offers significant opportunities to bolster defences, our research shows 54% of CISOs feel unprepared to respond to AI-enabled threats. That gap in readiness is exactly what attackers will take advantage of." "To counter this, businesses must go beyond adopting new tools - they need a robust cyber resilience strategy built on real-time visibility, proactive threat detection, and the ability to isolate compromised devices at speed.” This latest warning forms part of the UK Government’s wider cyber strategy after announcing the new AI Cyber Security Code of Practice earlier this year. This will form the basis of a new global standard to secure AI and ensure national security keeps pace with technological evolution, safeguarding the country against emerging digital threats. For more from NCSC click here.

UK Digital Twin Centre opens in Belfast

The UK Digital Twin Centre has officially opened in Belfast, in what is believed to be a significant milestone for the UK’s digital innovation landscape. Delivered by Digital Catapult and funded by the Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK, the project is set to drive the next wave of industrial transformation by accelerating the adoption of digital twin technology across the UK’s critical sectors, projected to reach £62 million in GVA for the economy over the next decade. A digital twin is a dynamic virtual representation (‘twin’) of a physical asset, process, or system, bridging the physical and digital worlds. They turn data into real-time insights that can optimise performance, reduce costs, and predict outcomes before they happen. Since funding for the project was announced, Digital Catapult has brought together industry and innovators to identify adoption barriers and strategic interventions. At the Centre’s opening, the project’s co-investing industry partners – Artemis Technologies, Spirit AeroSystems, and Thales UK – utilised the facilities, including the 360-degree immersive space and advanced technology lab, to demonstrate how digital twins are helping to solve complex operational challenges. These early-stage use cases emphasise the power of cross-sector collaboration to create scalable, practical solutions while building expertise that can be shared across industries, ultimately improving product design, building supply chain resilience, and decarbonising operations. Programmes delivered by the UK Digital Twin Centre will help businesses across the UK to demystify, demonstrate, and deploy digital twins. With expert support, test environments and tools to experiment and validate, combined with shared learnings from industry use cases, it offers a practical route to adoption. The Centre has convened capabilities across digital twins' six enabling technology areas - intelligence, data services, immersive and UX, cyber-physical systems, integration, and security - to make this emerging technology more accessible and interoperable across sectors and suppliers. “The UK Digital Twin Centre marks a major step for Belfast, driving innovation in high-growth sectors like advanced manufacturing,” said the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray. “Through the Belfast Region City Deal and with Digital Catapult’s UK-wide reach, we’re connecting our SMEs to a powerful network, unlocking access to new markets, collaboration opportunities, and cutting-edge technologies. This will boost local businesses, create high-skilled jobs, and drive real economic impact for the region.” The Centre’s first six-month Accelerator Programme, now open for pre-application expressions of interest, will support partnerships between tech SMEs and industry to fast-track digital twin adoption in maritime, aerospace, and defence. Alongside Innovate UK funding, participants will also gain access to mentorship, workshops, and specialist support to develop proofs of concept for enabling technologies - such as IoT, data integration, and simulation tools - bringing their solutions closer to real-world deployment. “The UK Digital Twin Centre brings together our technical expertise, facilities, and networks to unlock the power of deep technologies,” says Susan Bowen, CEO of Digital Catapult. “By connecting industries with cutting-edge technology through our programmes, we are enabling businesses to harness the full potential of digital twins-driving operational efficiencies, advancing sustainability, and sharpening the competitive edge of UK businesses.” Dean Cook, Executive Director for Place and Global at Innovate UK, adds, “Seeing real-world use cases coming to life at the UK Digital Twin Centre is a powerful demonstration of how digital twins can deliver tangible advances for UK industry. These cutting edge tools will solve complex business challenges in aerospace, maritime, and defence. It’s a testament to how we are leveraging the strengths of local innovation clusters across the UK, with Belfast bringing together it’s wealth of business and research expertise in digital technologies and advanced manufacturing. In turn this will have a positive impact on economic growth in Northern Ireland and across the UK.” Expressions of interest are now open for tech SMEs and industry leaders ready to collaborate on real-world challenges on the first UK Digital Twin Centre accelerator programme. To find out more, click here.

CommScope and Altnets powering the fibre takeover

As part of the UK Government’s Project Gigabit, internet service providers (ISPs) are working to upgrade the nation’s data infrastructure. As one of the UK’s leading fibre suppliers, Brighton-based Altnets has already been at the forefront of bridging the UK’s digital divide. Altnets and CommScope will accelerate these fibre rollouts, improve network resilience, and support the next phase of digital connectivity. Additionally, supplying CommScope’s products paves the way for Altnets to support the rollout of FTTX networks and central offices, which will be of key importance for the future of the nation’s economic prosperity. Paul Britnell, Co-Founder of Altnets, says, “We’re incredibly excited to support CommScope’s initiative to further support the UK telecoms sector, helping ISPs build faster and more resilient networks for the digital future. We are delivering high-density fibre connectivity solutions that are instrumental in FttX networks. Altnets is proud to play a key role in advancing the UK’s digital infrastructure." CommScope's central office fibre optic and broadband solutions give network operators and ISPs access to the scalable, high-quality infrastructure needed to satisfy the increasing demand for ultra-fast broadband and connectivity in the UK. By harnessing Altnets' established market position and logistical expertise, these advanced connectivity solutions will be available throughout the UK. Ronald Van der Kraan, VP Broadband – EMEA, comments, “We are pleased to be working with Altnets, who have vast industry expertise in full fibre products. We look forward to collaborating more to level up the UK’s digital infrastructure.” As a fibre optic specialist, Altnets is in a unique position to efficiently supply CommScope's products to UK clients, guaranteeing that network operators, and ISPs have access to advanced fibre networks with GPON, XGS-PON, and high-density fibre solutions to meet rising bandwidth demands, alongside high-capacity 5G and wireless deployments for fronthaul, backhaul, and small cells. Network operators must prioritise complete authority over their Optical Distribution Frames and fibre management systems and expand into high-processing Central Offices to accommodate the growing demand for data consumption. CommScope and Altnets ensure that the UK stays at the forefront of connectivity by providing innovative solutions that will drive the next phase of digital infrastructure. For more from Altnets, click here.

Innodisk launches SSD series for data centre applications

Innodisk, an industrial-grade flash storage provider, has announced the launch of its latest PCIe Gen5 SSD series, which is designed to meet the OCP Data Centre NVMe SSD spec v2.0 and the increasing demands of AI model training, big data analytics, and data-intensive environments. The new series supports multiple form factors, including U.2, as well as EDSFF E1.S, E3.S, and the brand new E3.L for data centre applications, catering to the diverse needs of enterprise and data centre environments. Innodisk tells us that the new series marks a new chapter for the company in terms of further fulfilling enterprise demands. The Innodisk PCIe Gen5 SSD, built with the latest PCIe Gen 5 x4 interface and NVMe 2.0 protocol, is designed to overcome the speed and latency limitations of traditional storage interfaces. With up to 128TB of high density NAND storage, it delivers speeds of up to 14GB/s (read) and 10GB/s (write), enabling lightning-fast data transfers for data-intensive applications. Enterprise data centres managing large-scale storage deployments and multi-tiered environments often require out-of-band and batch management capabilities, which present growing challenges. Innodisk PCIe Gen5 SSD addresses these demands with NVMe-MI for streamlined SSD management and multi namespace support, ensuring scalable and efficient storage operations. To ensure high quality and alignment with market trends, the PCIe Gen5 SSD aims to enhance integration with industry-leading data centre standards, such as OCP Data Centre NVMe SSD spec v2.0. Additionally, it is intended to be built for seamless integration with VMware, optimising compatibility with virtualisedenvironments and overall system performance. Innodisk’s PCIe Gen5 SSD also features advanced security mechanisms, ensuring robust data protection and seamless integration. Secure Boot technology authenticates digital signatures during firmware updates, preventing unauthorised modifications and ensuring that only trusted firmware is executed.

Lenovo data storage portfolio set to accelerate IT modernisation

Lenovo has announced its largest storage portfolio refresh in company history, unveiling new Lenovo Data Storage Solutions that prepare enterprise IT for the age of AI with better efficiency, performance and scalability. Ushering in a new era of AI-optimised storage that propels business transformation, the complete portfolio includes storage arrays, software defined storage (SDI), and new AI and virtualisation innovations to flexibly address rapidly evolving data operations. Using the solutions, businesses can easily run AI and data modernisation workloads on the next generation of trusted Lenovo ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile infrastructure, unleashing data to power real-time reasoning and confidently deploying AI and data modernisation workloads at scale. As business leaders seek tangible ROI on AI investment, EMEA IDC research commissioned by Lenovo found that data sovereignty, compliance and quality data are the most important AI implementation success factors among CIOs while scaling AI and data quality are among the biggest obstacles. The new portfolio reflects Lenovo’s ongoing commitment to delivering innovative storage solutions that meet the evolving needs of modern data centres while helping businesses get the most out of their data. “The new Lenovo Data Storage Solutions help businesses harness AI’s transformative power with a data-driven strategy that ensures scalability, interoperability, and tangible business outcomes powered by trusted infrastructure,” says Scott Tease, Vice President and General Manager of Infrastructure Solutions Product Group at Lenovo. “The new solutions help customers achieve faster time to value no matter where they are on their IT modernisation journey with turnkey AI solutions that mitigate risk and simplify deployment.” Marco Pozzoni, Director, EMEA Storage Sales at Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, remarks, “This is a pivotal moment for our customers across EMEA. With organisations facing a range of complex challenges, our largest-ever data storage portfolio refresh delivers the performance, efficiency, and data resiliency required by data modernisation and enterprise AI workloads. At a time when businesses are increasingly looking for ROI on their tech investments, these next-generation data storage solutions will empower our customers to unleash the power of their data, securely.” The portfolio spans 21 new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile models designed with the accelerated computing and efficiency that companies need to kickstart their AI journey, supporting employee productivity and maximising value with solutions for enterprise AI, virtualisation and sustainability. Key innovations include turnkey AI Starter Kits, the industry’s first liquid cooled HCI appliances and converged hybrid cloud and virtualisation solutions. The Data Storage Solutions are finetuned for easy deployment, faster inferencing, workload consolidation and lower total cost of ownership (TCO), delivering enhanced capabilities. • Lenovo ThinkAgile SDI V4 Series provides full-stack, turnkey solutions that simplify IT infrastructure and accelerate computing for data-driven reasoning and faster time to value for AI LLM inferencing workloads.• Engineered to put actionable data insights to work more quickly in business operations, the new Lenovo ThinkSystem Storage Arrays deliver up to three times faster performance while reducing power consumption, providing up to 97% energy savings and 99% density improvement over a Lenovo device featuring 10K HDDs for smaller data centre footprints and lower TCO and when upgrading legacy infrastructure.• New converged Lenovo ThinkAgile and ThinkSystem hybrid cloud and virtualisation solutions deliver flexible and efficient independent scaling of compute and storage capabilities, reducing software licensing costs up to 40%, maximising business value.• New Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series GPT-in-a-Box solutions featuring Lenovo Neptune Liquid Cooling leverage the industry’s first liquid cooled HCI appliance to deliver turnkey AI inferencing that takes AI from concept to success across distributed applications, from edge to cloud, yielding up to 25% energy savings over previous generation to increase ROI and achieve data-driven breakthroughs.• New AI Starter Kits for Lenovo Hybrid AI Platform deliver a validated, flexible, and easy on-ramp for enterprise inferencing and retrieval-augmented (RAG) workflows. For more from Lenovo, click here.

Fluidstack selects VAST Data to power AI workloads

VAST Data, an AI data platform company, today announced that Fluidstack, the AI cloud platform, has selected the VAST Data Platform to join other partners in helping to power large-scale, high-performance AI workloads for Fluidstack’s global customer base. With VAST, Fluidstack can deliver enterprise-grade stability, security, and innovation for some of the most demanding AI training environments in the world. Fluidstack has built its business by managing end-customer workloads on third-party compute capacity – from VAST-powered AI cloud service provider customers to building dedicated GPU clusters on behalf of clients. Pushing the boundaries of what managed services can offer, Fluidstack uses a flexible problem-solving approach to help end customers manage and scale their workloads with unmatched reliability and agility. Our mission at Fluidstack is to take the complexity out of deploying and scaling AI infrastructure for our customers,” says César Maklary, President & Co-Founder of Fluidstack. “VAST’s platform gives us the advanced enterprise capabilities we need to deliver reliable, scalable, secure, and future-proof AI infrastructure for our customers as they build cutting-edge models to further AI adoption. The VAST Data Platform provides Fluidstack’s end customers with: • Reliable, secure data management: VAST’s enterprise-grade stability, multi-tenant security, and reliability were critical in supporting the demanding AI workloads that Fluidstack manages for customers, while the VAST DataStore’s multi-protocol support (S3, NFS, SMB) offered seamless interoperability for diverse application needs.• Future-proof AI infrastructure: To further support Fluidstack in building, operating, and managing AI infrastructure and workloads for customers, the VAST DataEngine provides integrated vector search capabilities, automated triggers, and intelligent data processing functions designed for large-scale model training and inference. Combined with the real-time data awareness and scalable semantic indexing of the VAST InsightEngine, Fluidstack is well-positioned to deliver increasingly intelligent, responsive, and globally efficient AI infrastructure services.• Fast access to distributed data at limitless scale: The VAST Data Platform’s unique Disaggregated Shared-Everything (DASE) architecture ensures these deployments can reach exabyte scale while remaining cost-efficient—helping Fluidstack empower organisations to use distributed datasets and enable globally-synchronised model training.• Bringing structure to unstructured data: The VAST DataBase serves as a transactional data lakehouse that supports trillions of vectors, allowing Fluidstack customers to index the entirety of their distributed data corpus for AI deployments - providing real-time data access for efficient querying, analysis, and retrieval of massive datasets. Fluidstack’s innovative approach to AI infrastructure delivery requires a data platform that can operate globally, securely, and with the performance to match cutting-edge AI workloads,” says Renen Hallak, Founder & CEO of VAST Data. “Together with Fluidstack, we’re helping customers turn visionary projects into reality. The combination of Fluidstack’s dynamic managed services with VAST’s global data fabric and advanced enterprise features is unlocking new possibilities for AI model training and development at scale. For more from VAST Data, click here.

Infosecurity Europe launches new cyber security masterclasses

Infosecurity Europe has announced the launch of ‘Infosecurity Europe Masterclasses, powered by SANS Institute’, an exclusive new training initiative designed to equip cybersecurity professionals with hands-on, practical skills.  Developed for Infosecurity Europe 2025, the Masterclasses will offer three deep-dive sessions covering Digital Forensics, Cloud Security and Security Culture. Each masterclass will be delivered by a SANS-certified instructor and will take place in the South Gallery Rooms at ExCeL London during the event. The Digital Forensics and Cloud Security Masterclasses will be held on Tuesday 3 June, with the Security Culture Masterclass on Wednesday 4 June.  Introducing these masterclasses highlights the growing demand for specialised training as organisations contend with an increasingly complex threat landscape. Infosecurity Europe has long been a hub for industry leaders to share knowledge, explore innovative solutions, and foster collaboration. The partnership with SANS Institute builds on this and enhances the event's educational offering.  "Partnering with Infosecurity Europe and bringing hands-on masterclasses to this year’s event is a pivotal moment to elevate security readiness across the UK and Europe,” says John Davis, UK Director, SANS Institute. “This collaboration will support cyber security professionals with the practical skills they need to stay ahead of emerging threats. Continuous learning is essential in an industry that evolves at such a rapid pace, and by providing hands-on, immersive experiences, we are ensuring that security practitioners can apply cutting-edge techniques in real-world scenarios to make an immediate impact within their organisations," The masterclasses are designed to deliver practical, actionable insights and are tailored to help cyber security professionals tackle modern challenges head-on. The Digital Forensics Masterclass will be led by SANS Certified Instructor Kathryn Hedley and will provide practical experience in decoding file signatures, data recovery techniques and forensic disk image exploration. Attendees will learn how to extract and interpret critical digital evidence across platforms, equipping them with the skills to handle complex forensic investigations. This session aligns closely with industry demand, as over 50% of organisations plan to increase investment in incident response and forensics according to Infosecurity Europe’s 2025 Cybersecurity Trends Report. With 65% of cyber security leaders also planning an increase in cloud security investment, the Cloud Security Masterclass is key to guiding participants through advanced cloud security practices. Hosted by SANS Certified Instructor Simon Vernon, topics will include securing logging setups in Azure and preventing remote code execution.   On day two, the Security Culture Masterclass will be fronted by SANS Certified Instructor John Scott and will directly address key challenges faced by organisations. Infosecurity Europe’s report shows respondents citing lack of accountability and identifying communication gaps between departments as major obstacles to building a strong cyber security culture. This interactive session will address these challenges and more with a focus on embedding a resilient security culture within organisations.  Participants will engage in the Cyber42 Game Day simulation, where they will navigate real-world decision-making scenarios to strengthen their leadership and cultural impact. 

Cyber attacks drop by nearly 10%

Four in 10 (43%) of UK businesses and 30% of charities experienced cyber attacks or data breaches in the last 12 months, according to the latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey. While this marks a slight decrease from last year’s 50%, the threat level for medium and large businesses remains alarmingly high.  The average cost of the most disruptive breach was estimated at £1,600 for businesses and £3,240 for charities. The drop in incidents is attributed mainly to fewer small businesses reporting breaches – but government officials warn against complacency. With cyber threats increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, the UK Government is introducing the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, compelling organisations to strengthen their digital defences. The survey found that 70% of large businesses now have a formal cyber strategy in place, compared to just 57% of medium-sized firms – exposing a potential gap in preparedness among mid-sized enterprises. There has been a notable improvement in cyber hygiene practices among smaller businesses, with rising adoption of risk assessments, cyber insurance, formal cyber security policies and continuity planning.  These steps are seen as essential in building digital resilience across the UK economy. However, the number of high-income charities implementing best practices such as risk assessments has declined. Insights suggest this may be linked to budgetary pressures, limiting their ability to invest in adequate cyber security measures. Sawan Joshi, Group Director of Information Security at FDM Group, comments, “Keeping banking systems online is becoming more challenging, and technology alone isn’t enough. Skilled IT teams are crucial for spotting risks early and responding quickly to prevent disruptions. Organisations need to invest in ongoing training so their staff can strengthen system defences and recover fast when issues arise. A mix of advanced monitoring, backup systems, and a well-trained workforce is key to keeping services running and maintaining customer trust.'" The Government has also confirmed that UK data centres are now officially designated as critical national infrastructure. This means they will receive the same priority in the event of a major incident - such as a cyber attack - as essential services like water and energy.

Juniper and Google Cloud enhance branch deployments

Juniper Networks has announced its collaboration with Google Cloud to accelerate new enterprise campus and branch deployments and optimise user experiences. With just a few clicks in the Google Cloud Marketplace, customers can subscribe to Google’s Cloud WAN solution alongside Juniper Mist wired, wireless, NAC, firewalls and secure SD-WAN solutions. Unveiled at Google Cloud Next 25, the solution is designed to simply, securely and reliably connect users to critical applications and AI workloads whether on the internet, across clouds or within data centres. “At Google Cloud, we’re committed to providing our customers with the most advanced and innovative networking solutions. Our expanded collaboration with Juniper Networks and the integration of its AI-native networking capabilities with Google’s Cloud WAN represent a significant step forward,” says Muninder Singh Sambi, VP/GM, Networking, Google Cloud. “By combining the power of Google Cloud’s global infrastructure with Juniper’s expertise in AI for networking, we’re empowering enterprises to build more agile, secure and automated networks that can meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment.” AIOps key to GenAI application growth As the cloud expands and GenAI applications grow, reliable connectivity, enhanced application performance and low latency are paramount. Businesses are turning to cloud-based network services to meet these demands. However, many face challenges with operational complexity, high costs, security gaps and inconsistent application performance. Assuring the best user experience through AI-native operations (AIOps) is essential to overcoming these challenges and maximising efficiency.  Powered by Juniper’s Mist AI-Native Networking platform, Google’s Cloud WAN, a new solution from Google Cloud, delivers a fully managed, reliable and secure enterprise backbone for branch transformation. Mist is purpose-built to leverage AIOps for optimised campus and branch experiences, assuring that connections are reliable, measurable and secure for every device, user, application and asset. “Mist has become synonymous with AI and cloud-native operations that optimise user experiences while minimising operator costs,” says Sujai Hajela, EVP, Campus and Branch, Juniper Networks. “Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform is a perfect complement to Google’s Cloud WAN solution, enabling enterprises to overcome campus and branch management complexity and optimise application performance through low latency connectivity, self-driving automation and proactive insights.” Google’s Cloud WAN delivers high-performance connections for campus and branch The campus and branch services on Google’s Cloud WAN driven by Mist provide a single, secure and high-performance connection point for all branch traffic. A variety of wired, wireless, NAC and WAN services can be hosted on Google Cloud Platform, enabling businesses to eliminate on-premises hardware, dramatically simplifying branch operations and reducing operational costs. By natively integrating Juniper and other strategic partners with Google Cloud, Google’s Cloud WAN solution enhances agility, enabling rapid deployment of new branches and services, while improving security through consistent policies and cloud-delivered threat protection. 

Compu Dynamics launches AI and HPC Services unit

Compu Dynamics has announced the launch of its full lifecycle AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) Services unit, showcasing the company’s end to end capabilities. The expanded portfolio encompasses the entire spectrum of data centre needs, from initial design and procurement to construction, operation and ongoing maintenance, with a particular emphasis on cutting-edge liquid cooling technologies for AI and HPC environments. Compu Dynamics’ new AI and HPC service offerings build on the company’s expertise in white space deployment, including advanced liquid cooling and post-installation services. As a vendor-neutral solutions provider, the company is uniquely positioned to support equipment from virtually every manufacturer with no geographical limitations, ensuring clients receive unbiased recommendations and optimal solutions tailored to their specific requirements. "Our advanced AI and HPC service offerings represent a significant evolution in data centre services," says Steve Altizer, President and CEO of Compu Dynamics. “We have created this team to respond to the accelerating demand for highly-qualified technical support for high-density AI data centre infrastructure. By working with a variety of OEM partners and offering true end-to-end solutions, we are empowering our clients to focus on their core business while we handle the complexities of their modern critical infrastructure." The company’s holistic solutions portfolio addresses the growing need for specialised support in high-density computing environments. Compu Dynamics’ innovative liquid cooling solutions are said to offer superior efficiency and reduced energy consumption, making them essential for future-ready data centres. Key highlights of these service offerings include: · Equipment evaluation, design consultation and procurement. · Power distribution and liquid cooling system installation, startup, commissioning and quality assurance/quality control. · Flexible maintenance service options designed for seamless, worry-free support including comprehensive fluid management, coolant sampling and contamination and corrosion prevention. · Onsite staffing for day-to-day technical operations. · Dedicated customer success manager. · 24x7 emergency response team for technical issues and repair services. "As AI and HPC workloads drive unprecedented demand on data centre infrastructure, our liquid cooling expertise has become increasingly crucial,” says Scott Hegquist, Director of AI/HPC Services at Compu Dynamics. “We're committed to helping our clients navigate these challenges, providing cutting-edge solutions that optimise performance, efficiency and sustainability."