Cyber Security Insights for Resilient Digital Defence

Research reveals that 95% of security leaders are calling for AI cyber regulations

Research from RiverSafe has revealed that 95% of businesses are urgently advocating for AI cyber regulations, ahead of November’s AI Safety Summit. The report, titled 'AI Unleashed: Navigating Cyber Risks Report', conducted by Censuswide, revealed the attitudes of 250 cyber security leaders towards the impact of AI on cyber security. Three in four businesses (76% of surveyed businesses) revealed that the implementation of AI within their operations has been halted due to the substantial cyber risks associated with this technology. Security concerns have also prompted 22% of organisations to prohibit their staff from using AI chatbots, highlighting the deep-rooted apprehension regarding AI's potential vulnerabilities. To manage risks, two-thirds (64%) of respondents have increased their cyber budgets this year, demonstrating a commitment to bolstering their cyber security defences. Suid Adeyanju, CEO at RiverSafe, says, "While AI has many benefits for businesses, it is clear that cyber security leaders are facing the brunt of the risks. AI-enabled attacks can increase the complexity of security breaches, exposing organisations to data incidents, and we still have not explored the full extent of the risks that AI can pose. Rushing into AI adoption without first prioritising security is a perilous path, so striking a delicate balance between technological advancement and robust cyber security is paramount." Two thirds of businesses (63%) expect a rise in data loss incidents, while one in five (18%) respondents admitted that their businesses had suffered a serious cyber breach this year, emphasising the urgency of robust cyber security measures. A link to the full report can be found here.

FDM Group and ISACA to boost cyber training programme

FDM Group has announced a partnership with ISACA, a global professional association, to boost its cyber training credentials. ISACA has over 170,000 members and is recognised for its expertise in information security, governance, assurance, risk, privacy and quality. Under the new agreement, FDM employees will benefit from its cyber training, with access to ISACA-approved resources, including online learning tools. The deal will allow FDM to enhance its in-house cyber security credentials, offering the latest technical expertise to its clients. The company has plans to ramp up its cyber security training courses, aiming to equip hundreds of new consultants every year as part of its technical operations programme. Andy Brown, Chief Commercial Officer, FDM Group, says, “Getting access to the latest cyber security expertise is a top priority for every business, and our partnership with ISACA will enable FDM to bring the very highest standards of service and skills to the market. We are very pleased to be working alongside such a prestigious organisation to equip the next generation with world-leading security expertise.” Jeff Angle, Senior Director, Academic and Workforce Development, ISACA, says, “FDM Group is widely recognised as a leading global provider of highly skilled IT experts. We are very excited to be teaming up with such an extensive workforce, sharing knowledge, best practice and industry expertise to further enhance their offering in such a crucial area.”

Neterra launches Startup Accelerator program

Neterra has initiated Startup Accelerator program with the aim of nurturing and supporting start-ups. Under this program, it is providing complimentary or substantially reduced services encompassing cloud, colocation, connectivity and cyber security. The neterra.cloud offering is built on cutting-edge Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum processors, offering unlimited data traffic and scalable enterprise-class storage solutions. This package also includes free backup, disaster recovery solutions, and DDoS protection for the initial six months. In a bid to further assist innovative start-ups, it grants access to colocation services in its Tier III+ data centres, including EU based Sofia Data Center 1 (SDC 1), Sofia Data Center 2 (SDC 2), SDC Stolnik, and SDC Ruse, coupled with their high-quality carrier-grade connectivity and global internet exchange through the NetIX platform. For the first six months, Neterra covers the expenses, while start-ups are responsible for their electricity costs. Following this initial period, the global telecom extends discounted colocation services starting at starting at 12 euros/1U rack unit/month. Additionally, Neterra is extending consultancy services to program beneficiaries, offering expertise in network architecture, hardware and software recommendations, configuration, best practices, and managed services for cloud, application servers, hosting providers, and more. The current start-up support program is a continuation of its longstanding commitment to assisting start-ups, a tradition that has been upheld since the company's inception nearly three decades ago. Back then, it played a pivotal role in helping numerous internet providers launch and prosper.  In more recent times, Neterra has demonstrated its dedication to supporting start-ups, as exemplified by its involvement with ucha.se, an online learning platform. Founder of ucha.se, Darin Madzharov, crossed paths with Neven Dilkov, Founder of Neterra, through a mentoring program aimed at nurturing and guiding young talents. In the early stages of development, it extended its support by offering complimentary services during the initial months.

Servecentric generates €6.6m in revenues from international markets

Servecentric has announced that it has generated revenues of €6.6 million from international markets over the last two years. This includes new deals and renewals from customers across Europe, the US and India. This Servecentric growth – which represents a 25% increase compared to the previous two-year period – is being driven by increasing demand for data centre colocation services, underpinned by adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and cyber security services. The company is also seeing increased demand for cloud repatriation solutions, as more organisations choose to migrate workloads from the public cloud back to privately owned infrastructure. With uptick among customers in the SaaS, cyber security, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) services sectors, Servecentric is anticipating further business growth across Europe, the US and India in 2024 and has plans to enter new markets in Asia during this time. The company continues to build out its cloud offering, having added Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) to its portfolio. This enables it to support developers with out-of-the-box cloud development platforms. In addition, the organisation has enhanced its support for Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) to facilitate confidential computing and safeguard data. Brian Roe, CEO, Servecentric, says, “We have enjoyed significant growth across international markets over the last two years, even as the global IT market began to retrench and consolidate following the pandemic. We have seen particular demand for our colocation services, as enterprises are adopting hybrid approaches to infrastructure and colocation offers the choice, resilience, and high levels of connectivity required. “However, we’re also seeing an increasing trend of customers opting to move services from the cloud, and migrate company workloads back to self-owned infrastructure. Following the race to digitise, companies are now examining their IT strategies and realising that the cloud is not a one-size-fits-all solution and may not necessarily be the best fit for their requirements. “We’re looking forward to continuing to develop our suite of data centre services and build on our valued relationships with customers in Ireland and internationally – enabling them to capitalise on the capabilities of cloud and colocation with custom-built solutions that meet their specific business needs.”

Logpoint and METCLOUD to tackle cyber security challenges

Logpoint has announced a partnership with METCLOUD in the UK to address fundamental cyber security challenges for organisations, as the threat landscape worsens and cyber security expertise becomes increasingly scarce. METCLOUD will offer Logpoint Converged SIEM, including SIEM, SOAR, UEBA, AgentX, and Business Critical Security (BCS) technologies, to empower customers to efficiently manage, identify and remediate cyber threats across the business landscape.  “Logpoint’s solutions give us a greater breadth of capabilities around predictive and preventative analytics, and management and insights across the technology landscape. Logpoint has a unique offering with BCS for SAP, enabling us to address the significant SAP ERP market,” says Ian Vickers, CEO at METCLOUD. “SAP customers account for 87% of total global commerce, which is an enticing target for cyber criminals. Furthermore, the rapid adoption of AI/ML, IOT, OT, VR, digital twins, robotics and automation makes for a more connected world and as such significantly increases the risks of cyber attacks.” METCLOUD is providing Logpoint Converged SIEM and support services via its private and hybrid cloud offering. Logpoint’s cyber security platform protects the entire business by providing comprehensive threat detection, investigation and response across clients, servers, network systems, cloud workloads and business-critical applications​. In addition, METCLOUD has developed its own AI and data analytics services that integrate with Logpoint converged SIEM to further accelerate the speed of threat detection and remediation. “We’re excited about the synergies that the partnership between METCLOUD and Logpoint brings to market. The ability for mid-market organisations to consume SIEM-as-a-Service with SOAR capabilities included is valuable because it speeds up threat detection and remediation and this sector tends to lack the expertise, resources and experience required,” says Jesper Zerlang, CEO at Logpoint. “For larger organisations that are likely to have well established SOC capabilities in-house, Logpoint BCS for SAP is a unique, enhanced security offering that adds more capabilities to existing teams.” Logpoint has a range of customers in the UK, spanning the public sector and industries like finance, manufacturing, defence, and retail. By converging SIEM, SOAR, UEBA, endpoint security, and BCS technologies into a cyber security operations platform. The platform is available on-prem, in private cloud, and as SaaS.

Cyber attacks reach fever pitch in Q2 2023

Zayo Group Holdings has announced its annual Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) insights report, analysing DDoS attack activity and impact across industries in the first half of 2023.   The global landscape of increasing digitisation, political unrest and the emergence of widespread adoption of work from home, have all contributed to an increase in DDoS attacks, which jumped 200% in H1 2023 compared to the full year 2022.   Key findings in brief: Rapid acceleration of attacks: There was a 314% increase in overall attacks from the first half of 2022 to the first half of 2023. But that’s putting it lightly—in some industries, the growth was over 1,300%. Q2 2023 reached a fever pitch: As attackers continue to exploit the sophistication of AI and automation, there was a 387% increase in attack activity from Q1 to Q2 of this year alone.  Industries under fire:Telecommunications companies were a prime target for attackers due to the critical role telecom providers play in providing communication and internet services. The industry saw the most frequent attacks, accounting for roughly half of the total attack volume, with more than 37,000 attacks in the first half of 2023. Education, which had the highest frequency of attacks in the first half of 2022, was just behind the telecommunications industry. Cloud and SaaS companies also saw a significant increase in the frequency of attacks from the first half of 2022 to the first half of 2023. Retail, telecommunications and media companies experienced the largest attacks, with an average attack size of 3Gbps across all three verticals, which is a large enough attack to take down one to two offices depending on the company size. The largest aggregate attack, against the telecom sector, was 978Gbps. Comparatively, in 2022, telecommunications and government experienced the largest attacks.  The government sector experienced the longest attacks of any sector, a change from healthcare in 2022. Across all industries, the average duration of attacks increased by 216% from Q1 to Q2, with the finance industry seeing the largest leap from 41min to 108min.  Why it matters: DDoS attacks are the most common cyber attack against an organisation’s online presence. These are deliberate attacks in which a target’s internet circuit is flooded with fake or illegitimate traffic to prevent true user traffic from passing. Even small attacks can cause hours of downtime, resulting in immense costs for businesses, including lost money, time, customers and reputation.  No matter the attack frequency, duration, or size, unprotected organisations experienced an average cost of $200,000 per DDoS attack, according to HubSpot. Even small businesses are hit hard, with average costs of $120,000 to recover. “When your business will get hit by a DDoS attack is a game of probability,” says Anna Claiborne, SVP of Packet and Product Software Engineering at Zayo. “With a huge rise in attacks in 2023 and more attacks over 100Gbps, the odds are not in your favour. While there are a myriad of statistics on the cost of remediating a DDoS attack, the long-tail loss of customer confidence after an attack is difficult to quantify and even more difficult to fix. Running any business on the internet without DDoS protection is a risk, and you have to ask yourself if it's one worth taking.” Click here for more latest news.

Logpoint appoints Michael Haldbo as CFO

Logpoint has announced the appointment of Michael Haldbo as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Reporting to Logpoint's CEO, Jesper Zerlang, Michael will be responsible for taking the company successfully through the next step of the Logpoint journey to become a European cyber security powerhouse. “We’re excited that Michael is joining the Logpoint team as we grow beyond scaleup and into an established cyber security company. Michael has extensive experience in taking leadership over transformation projects and M&A,” says Jesper Zerlang. “With our recent acquisition by Summa Equity, we have proven that Logpoint has the capabilities and critical mass to take us to the next level, and as we mature the business model, he is an evident choice to support and protect the business financially.” Michael Haldbo has 20 years of international and nordic experience in financial planning, analysis and strategy execution. He served as CFO at Signicat, Europe’s leading provider of digital identity solutions. Michael has also held financial executive roles at other companies in the IT and payment-related sector, including Nets and Unwire. “Logpoint has such a strong value proposition with world-class cyber security solutions, competitive pricing models, and the agility and flexibility that enable us to challenge the big mastodons in the SIEM market and become the number one vendor in Europe with a global range,” says Michael Haldbo. “From my perspective, Logpoint ticks all the boxes, scaleup, growth market, a strong business model, transitioning into SaaS and private equity owned. The frosting on the cake is that Logpoint solutions address a major societal challenge, namely the ever-growing cyber threat in the wake of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.” Click here for more latest news.

International Cyber Expo celebrates women in cyber security

To celebrate and connect cyber security’s remarkable women and their allies, Nineteen Group, organiser of International Cyber Expo, has launched ‘Grab the Mic: Women in Cyber’. The brand-new event, held within the wider exhibition, is produced and hosted by Eleanor Dallaway, Founder of Assured Intelligence and former Editor of Infosecurity Magazine. Kicking off the event will be a keynote entitled, ‘It Takes Two to Tango (If You Want to Tango Exceptionally Well)’, delivered by a female-male duo, a novel approach at a diversity event. The keynote will serve to reinforce the reality that we are stronger together, especially when on equal terms. This will then be followed by a panel discussion on ‘How to Land The Job of Your Dreams’, moderated by Eleanor. Despite the longstanding cyber security skills gap, many still struggle to land their perfect job in the sector. The panel discussion will investigate this disconnect, and invite individuals from various backgrounds to offer their perspectives. This includes a cyber security recruiter, a hiring manager, a senior industry professional that has made it to the boardroom, and a newcomer to the sector. Audience members will also have a chance to ask the panellists questions and seek advice on landing the job of their dreams. “I am over the moon to have the opportunity to bring another 'women in cyber' event to the sector, this time with International Cyber Expo as its home. I am as passionate today as I’ve ever been about improving inclusion in our industry, and nothing motivates me more than a room full of people who share that mission,” says Eleanor. “I’ve designed this event with the attendee at the heart and soul of it. I’ve spoken to people who have expressed a desire for greater opportunity to network at these events, so we’ve made that a core focus. We’ve built in enough time to schmooze, make friends and seek new job opportunities, for those looking. I’ve also been told that attendees want a guarantee that they’ll be granted access. So, I’ve worked with Rachael at Nineteen Group to ensure we have an event space big enough to welcome every single person who registers – without fail.” “We’ve been listening to what the cyber security community wants, and many of the women in the sector want the chance to be heard. This is why we’re delivering an inspiring and educational networking event for women and their allies in the industry,” says Rachael Shattock, Group Event Director at Nineteen Group. “We are so pleased to have Eleanor Dallaway on board to help us bring this new event to life at International Cyber Expo 2023. With almost two decades of experience as a tech journalist, and having founded women in cyber security networking events in her time as editor of Infosecurity Magazine, she brings a wealth of insight and contacts that will no doubt make this event a huge success. Not to mention, she is a formidable industry role model in her own right.” The event will be held on the Gallery Level at London Olympia on Tuesday, 26 September from 14:00 - 16:30 BST. Attendees can register online.

Southampton FC renews partnership with Acronis

Southampton FC has officially announced its renewed partnership with Acronis and Tailor Made Technologies (TMT). Under the agreement, TMT will be providing the team with a full suite of Acronis cyber protection solutions to protect the team's data assets and optimise data workflow, facilitating the team to perform at its best both on and off the pitch. Southampton Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club chose Acronis Cyber Protect because it provides fast and reliable backup, AI-based anti-malware, and is accessible from a single intuitive console. While using a patchwork of five-star solutions for separate aspects of cyber security will still leave gaps in a system's defences, Acronis integrated approach ensures such gaps are eliminated, delivering superior resiliency for organisations like Southampton FC. Director of IT, Huw Fielding, comments, “Southampton FC takes cyber protection very seriously. Global organisations like ours often come under fire from cyber attacks targeting our sensitive data, including information on thousands of fans. Protecting the data we have been entrusted with is a significant priority for us, and we have the utmost confidence that Acronis solution, delivered by Tailor Made Technologies will help us do so. Acronis solutions are developed based on the Five Vectors of Cyber Protection— Safety, Accessibility, Privacy, Authenticity, and Security (SAPAS). This means that it is designed to provide the highest level of security possible and ensure that data is easily accessible to those with authorised permission, and that it is both authentic and tamper-free. While security and accessibility are often considered polarised concepts in data security, it proves that you can have the best of both worlds. Building on its existing partnerships with both Acronis and Southampton FC, the solution will be delivered by TMT as the official Acronis delivery partner. As experts in managed IT, cyber security, and communication solutions, TMT brings a wealth of experience from over 29 years of providing managed technologies that power SMEs to achieve their business goals. Darren Scott-Healey, CEO at TMT, says, “As CEO of TMT and a lifelong Saints fan, I am thrilled to announce our partnership with Southampton FC as their Acronis CyberFit Partner. We are excited to work alongside the club to meet their cyber security needs with the most innovative managed solutions. This partnership is a great opportunity for us to leverage our industry leading expertise, local focus, and technical support to help Southampton FC defend its operations, enhance its performance and push for promotion.” “We are proud to be renewing our partnership with Southampton FC, one of the best known and liked clubs in English football. We are thankful that the team shares our vision and passion for cyber protection, and we are excited to work with TMT who will deliver our first-class cyber protection solutions to protect the workloads of the club,” adds Ronan McCurtin, Vice President of Sales Europe, Turkey and Israel at Acronis. Click here for latest data centre news.

DTX + UCX Europe 2023 prepares teams for a new realm

As 2023's advancements in technology pose more questions than answers, the industry's most insightful minds come together at Digital Transformation EXPO Europe (DTX) - the home of digital transformation, and UC EXPO (UCX) - the home of customer and workplace tech. Taking place on 4 and 5 October 2023 at ExCel London, the event comes at a time when IT teams and business leaders are starting to realise the impact from emerging technologies which has led to the theme of this year's show being ‘preparing for the next realm'. Organisations can learn how to balance risk with reward - readying their people, processes and infrastructure for the continual evolution of enterprise technology and AI. On day one of the show, three inspiring headline speakers take to the stage with Baroness Martha Lane Fox, President of the British Chamber of Commerce and Founder of lastminute.com, opening the show to explore why businesses need to decide if AI is friend or foe. Plus, world-renowned social engineer and author of ‘People Hacker', Jenny Radcliffe, speaking on the impact of tools such as ChatGPT on human-based attacks and approaches; and former distinguished engineer at Google Cloud, Kelsey Hightower, discussing the future of open source for product innovation. Day two will feature comedian and TV presenter Dara O’Briain alongside presenter & UCL professor, Hannah Fry to discuss the key role of storytelling and the value of being human in the age of machines. Furthermore, 18 stages of content will host case studies, panel debates and peer-to-peer roundtables discussing cloud, networks, cyber security, DevOps, software engineering, unified communications and collaboration, AI and automation and data, plus a new stage dedicated to IT Ops and service management. This year's event will be backed by a host of household names including Cisco, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Zoom and HP, plus Sophos, Okta, ThreatLocker and Checkpoint. Dominie Roberts, Programme Lead for DTX + UCX, says, “Following our hugely successful Manchester show in May, we're even more excited for the Europe edition of DTX+UCX returning to London ExCeL at such a crucial time for IT teams and business leaders.” "This year's event is designed to help organisations gain the knowledge and solutions they need to keep up with advancements in technology and the way a new generation of customers and employees are using it.” “Given the lineup of headline speakers, featured case studies and technology showcases, this year is sure to be one of the best yet and we’ll be announcing the details of the agenda and expo over the next few weeks.” To register, click here. Find more events happening around you here.