BT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Europol, the European Union’s police agency. The MoU covers sharing knowledge about major cyber threats and attacks. The agreement, which was signed by both parties at Europol’s head office in The Hague in the Netherlands, provides a framework for BT and Europol to exchange threat intelligence data and information on cyber security trends.
Steven Wilson, Head of Business, European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), said: “The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding between Europol and BT will improve our capabilities and increase our effectiveness in preventing, prosecuting and disrupting cybercrime. Working co-operation of this type between Europol and industry is the most effective way in which we can hope to secure cyberspace for European citizens and businesses. I am confident that the high level of expertise that BT bring will result in a significant benefit to our Europe wide investigations.”
Kevin Brown, VP, BT Security Threat Intelligence, said: “As one of the world’s largest cyber security businesses, we at BT have long held the view that co-ordinated, cross border collaboration is key to stemming the global cyber-crime epidemic. We’re working with other law enforcement agencies in a similar vein to better share cyber security intelligence, expertise and best practice to help them expose and take action against the organised gangs of cyber criminals lurking in the dark corners of the web. The signing of today’s accord with Europol sees BT take another significant step forward in making the internet a safer place for consumers, businesses and public sector bodies in the UK, Europe and beyond.”
Pictured are BT’s Kevin Brown and Europol’s Steven Wilson.
BT reports that earlier this year it became the first telecoms firm to start sharing information about malicious software and websites on a large scale with other ISPs via a free online portal – the Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP). BT’s worldwide 2,500 cyber security staff have so far helped to identify and have shared the details of more than 200,000 malicious domains.
Europol created the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) in 2013 for a law enforcement response to cybercrime in the EU. It also operates the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT), which aims to drive intelligence led, co-ordinated action against key cybercrime threats and targets by facilitating the joint identification, prioritisation, preparation and initiation of cross-border investigations and operations by its partners.
