Telecoms firm adds online security shield

An Inverness-based telecoms firm has revealed that it is one of the first firms of its kind in the UK to use an online security shield that has helped eliminate attacks against organisations including major government agencies.

Highnet says the move safeguards its business and domestic customers, with its new system blocking an attack every couple of days for the first two weeks in January and in the month stopping one of the biggest cyber attacks so far on one of its customers. Highnet’s network architect Duncan Kennedy said: “This was a sophisticated, multi-vector attack targeting a customer in Aberdeen, and was of sufficient bandwidth to have had a serious impact on their business.

“Most attacks we see are much smaller than this example, but in recent weeks we’ve started to see, and block, more of these high-bandwidth attacks.”

The firm cited a UK government survey finding that just under half of all UK businesses identified at least one cyber attack in the previous 12 months, rising to two-thirds among medium-sized firms and large companies.

Highnet, which manages more than 20,000 business lines across the UK, has installed the new security software, which has also helped leading financial services, pharmaceutical, educational and internet organisations, as part of a £6.5 million investment in its network.

The firm, set up in 1994, also said in the past year its security systems have intercepted eight fraud cases potentially worth about £100,000 in total. 0 Highnet’s network architect Duncan Kennedy