18 June 2018

BT’s Kevin Brown (left) and Europol’s Steven Wilson sign an agreement which will see both organisations share information relating to cyber threats and attacks.

BT and Europol, the EU agency for law enforcement co-operation, have signed an agreement to share knowledge about major cyber threats and attacks.

The agreement provides a framework for the two organisations to exchange threat intelligence data as well as information relating to cyber security trends, technical expertise and industry best practice.

BT says it is committed to sharing its threat intelligence data with industry partners and law enforcement agencies such as Europol in a secure and trusted way, as a means of better protecting UK and global customers from the rapidly expanding cybercrime industry.

“We have long held the view that co-ordinated, cross border collaboration is key to stemming the global cybercrime epidemic," said Kevin Brown, BT's VP of security threat intelligence. “The signing of [the] 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.”

The company claims that earlier this year it became the first telecoms provider to start sharing information about malicious software and websites on a large scale with other ISPs via its free online Malware Information Sharing Platform. 

Since the platform was launched, BT says its worldwide team of more than 2,500 cyber security experts have helped to identify and shared the details of more than 200,000 malicious domains. 

In 2013, Europol created the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) to strengthen the law enforcement response to cyber crime in the EU ad better protect citizens, businesses and governments from online crime. 

Steven Wilson, head of business at the 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.”

Europol also operates the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT).

This 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.