UK Firm Unites With Interpol to Fight Cybercrime

 

BT, UK’s biggest telecoms provider on the 4th of October announced that it had taken a step forward in combating cyber-crime by becoming partners with international police organization Interpol, in a data exchange agreement to fight cyber-crime.

This makes BT the first telecommunications provider to sign an exchange data agreement with Interpol to combat global cyber-crime by providing current data threat intelligence.

The agreement was signed at the Singapore based Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI). Threats intelligence experts from BT will send their data and knowledge over to the IGCI which will help locate cyber-criminals and also to monitor both existing and emerging cyber threats and attacks.

Interpol can now rely on BT’s threat intelligence expert for their special insight into the evolving global cyber threat terrain as well as global cyber-criminals around the globe at it seeks to strengthen its own Interpol Global Complex for Innovation facility (IGCI).

BT and Interpol after the data-sharing agreement stated that they can even take their cooperation to a much greater height which will provide protection for consumers, businesses, families, and governments against the ever-rising cybercrime threat.

“The scale and complexity of today’s cyber-threat landscape mean cooperation across all sectors is essential if we are to effectively combat this global phenomenon,” said the executive director of the IGCI, Noboru Nakatani.

He then moved further to state that: “Interpol’s agreement with BT is an important step in our continued efforts to ensure law enforcement worldwide has access to the information they need to combat these evolving cyber threats.”

BT and Interpol happen to be pals already having worked together many times, most recently in the South East Asian region.

“Threat intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies and the private sector is essential in the fight against cybercrime, which is increasingly borderless in nature,” said the CEO of BT Security, Mark Hughes.

He continued to say that: “Tackling cyber-crime, therefore, requires a collective, global response where the public and private sectors work hand-in-hand. BT’s security experts will help Interpol to identify cyber-criminals and hold them to account, as we jointly develop our understanding of the challenges that we and other organizations face in the battle against cyber-attacks.”

Earlier this year, Interpol appointed BT as one of only seven international companies equipped with adequate security expertise to help in an operation to fight cybercrime in South East Asia.

BT’s threat intelligence and investigation team, based at the company’s security operations center in Singapore, gave out information on regional threats including data relating to local hacktivist groups and phishing sites.

The much greater operation discovered nearly 270 websites which were infected with a malware code which was too an advantage in the design application of the websites. Among them were many government websites containing sensitive data on its citizens. Several phishing operators were also uncovered with some even linking to Nigeria.

In addition, 8,800 C2 servers were also uncovered which at that time were active across eight nations. They were used to distribute a wide range of malware attacks, including those typically launched to target institutions, spread ransomware, launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and distribute spam.

Executive Director of IGCI, Noboru Nakatani afterward stated that the operation was a clear and perfect indication that, both the private and public sectors can come together and work efficiently together in the ongoing fight against cybercrime.

“With direct access to the information, expertise, and capabilities of the private sector and specialists from the Cyber Fusion Centre, participants were able to fully appreciate the scale and scope of cybercrime actors across the region and in their countries,” Mr. Nakatani said.

He continued with his comments, stating that: “Sharing intelligence was the basis of the success of this operation, and such cooperation is vital for long-term effectiveness in managing cooperation networks for both future operations and day to day activity in combating cybercrime.”

Also, a few months back in this year, BT commissioned a KPMG cyber security report which was dubbed “The cybersecurity journey – from denial to opportunity,” in which it identified 5 stages that businesses should experience during their passage regarding leadership in cybersecurity.

The report came to a conclusion that, for businesses to attain the final stage, True Leadership, they must acknowledge that to make their defenses much stronger, they need to spread their wings to the wider community. And that can be done by exchanging their data and expertise with their colleagues and the organizations in the public sector.