Aurora Managed Services Acquires Blue Sky Digital

Aurora Managed Services is delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of Blue Sky Digital effective from 1st December 2023.
Blue Sky Digital was founded in 2011 by brothers Ian and Neil Brewer and has grown to become one of the leading Managed Print Solution providers in South Wales and beyond. Blue Sky Digital’s remarkable organic growth has been driven by a passion for delivering high-quality services which has been repaid by the trust and loyalty of its customers. Blue Sky Digital’s focus on excellence has seen it become a trusted partner across many SME businesses and in the education and local government sectors.
Aurora Managed Services is one of the UK’s largest independent Managed Print Solutions providers with customer centric values and a commitment to excellence. Whilst providing scale at a national level, service is focused locally, close to customers. The combination of Aurora and Blue Sky Digital will enhance both businesses and, importantly, benefit new and existing customers.
Andy Moffitt, Aurora’s CEO commented “We are delighted and extremely proud to add Blue Sky Digital to Aurora. The acquisition brings scale and further geographical presence in line with our Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) strategy and a marriage of very similar cultures. Ian and Neil have built a fantastic business with a great brand that we intend to maintain. We are also delighted that Ian and Neil will remain with the business to continue their excellent work as we jointly build on Blue Sky Digital’s impressive track record and bring more solutions and innovation to customers”
Ian Brewer, Managing Director of Blue Sky Digital, commented “We are really excited to become part of the Aurora Managed Services Group and are looking forward to continuing to help grow our presence within Wales and the South West. Having met with the Aurora board members and senior management I feel certain this is the right choice for us at Blue Sky as we benefit from the extra services we can pass on to our loyal customer base. We feel energised and enthused for the future as we become part of the Aurora family. To our existing customers we look forward to continuing to provide the same levels of proactive service with the same team members at your disposal”
About Aurora Managed Print Services: Aurora Managed Print Services is a leading provider of comprehensive managed print solutions committed to helping businesses optimise their print environments for efficiency, security and sustainability. With a team of experienced print management professionals, Aurora Managed Services offers an extensive portfolio of solutions to aid your business. The include; managed print assessments, managed document solutions, data protection and GDPR compliance as well as eco-friendly print initiatives. The company is dedicated to delivering tailored print management solutions that empower businesses to achieve seamless and cost-effective printing processes.
www.aurora.co.uk

Innovate to elevate: 42% of UK businesses see boosting connectivity over next two years as ‘integral’ to growth

Study reveals a great opportunity for alternative network providers (AltNets) to meet growing demand for gigabit broadband despite lack of government incentives
A new study has found the business appetite for high-capacity connectivity is set to support the next surge of digital investment. 42% of UK businesses regard moving to higher capacity connectivity in the next two years as key to growth plans — rating it either ‘integral’ or ‘greatly important’ to their future success.
The UK Business Gigabit Connectivity Report – conducted by business ethernet backhaul providers Neos Networks – gathered insights from business leaders and decision-makers at 160 UK companies. The study sought to gauge the business appetite for connectivity investment to support growth, and identify the role AltNets could play.
For those that have invested over the last 24 months, nearly one in eight businesses (11.2%) stated that investing in connectivity had a direct impact on business profitability. Plus, 98.3% of businesses said they saw indirect impacts such as productivity, staff retention or client collaboration.
Some of the top reasons businesses are prioritising higher capacity connectivity are increased computer power (22.4%), operational development meaning more data and higher capacity requirements (21.2%), and greater device usage for each employee (11.6%). One in 10 UK businesses are actively looking to increase their connectivity to better integrate AI into their processes.
Government can do more, say business leaders
As well as showing an appetite for greater connectivity, the report insights point to shortcomings in government incentives for high-capacity network expansion, stifling the ability of AltNets to serve UK business growth. When business leaders were asked if their business had felt a notable impact from the government’s Project Gigabit rollout, just 52.5% said yes.
Currently, 1 in 5 businesses state they’re receiving ‘insufficient’ internet speeds for everyday operations. Over half (55.6%) of UK companies have risked losing a client or customer as a consequence of poor internet connectivity, speed or reliability.
Simon Willmott, Director of Wholesale Business Development at Neos Networks, says:
“The business appetite for high-capacity connectivity is clear, and this provides a great opportunity for AltNet providers. As businesses strive to keep pace with technology, companies in underserved rural and competitive urban areas will naturally require greater network capacity.
“While the UK government has backed network investment with Project Gigabit, they must now go further in making connectivity expansion commercially viable – with grant incentives, access rights and wayleaves. Supporting AltNets to unlock the next stage of network expansion in this way can only be positive for UK business, and solidify the UK’s position as world leaders in the digital economy.”
Jeremy Chelot, CEO of Netomnia, says:
“The digital-first approach of many UK businesses is increasing the demand, but a full fibre network can cope with it for many years to come. Netomnia’s strategy to support rural deployment is to extend our network out from urban centres to surrounding rural areas. The risk is too great to do it any other way. Financial savvy and long-term stability among network providers are the most important things to maintain a high level of competition to support rural areas.”
Tom Brook, Head of IT at Broadband for Surrey Hills (B4SH):
“The presence of any AltNet for a rural business is instantly going to improve their internet speeds and increase productivity. And where multiple full fibre services exist in an area, AltNets can provide higher upload speeds in comparison to the major national provider.
“AltNets have an excellent opportunity to provide services far sooner and in better consultation with those in the hardest-to-reach locations. AltNets may also be able to provide the next generation of speeds earlier than the national telecoms provider. We already see some providers offering 2.5, 3 and 10 gigabit services across their network, where the national provider is only just starting trials.”

Data collected June 2023

full report available here: https://neosnetworks.com/resources/blog/uk-business-gigabit-connectivity-report/

Survey of business leaders and decision-makers from 160 UK companies operating in a wide range of industry sectors

About Neos Networks:
Neos Networks provides class-leading connectivity and data centre services that deliver high performance, cost efficiency and a competitive edge. The company operates a UK-wide private telecoms network and an estate of 90 commercial data centres that span the UK. With its extensive telecoms and data centre operational expertise, it offers commercial security with unrivalled in-house engineering resource.

Netwrix extending UK reach with e92plus

Cybersecurity provider Netwrix is extending its reach in the UK and reinforcing its commitment to a channel- first strategy through a new distribution agreement with e92plus.
The company’s solutions, already used by 450 organisations in the UK, address the three primary attack vectors of data, identity and infrastructure and all five NIST functions, helping security professionals to identify and protect sensitive data, to reduce the risk of a breach and to detect, respond to and recover from attacks.
Mukesh Gupta, CEO of e92plus, said: “The increasing complexity of having visibility and control and the ability to audit data and permissions across on-premises networks and multiple cloud environments is something customers really struggle with. The Netwrix offering will help our partners take a comprehensive approach to that challenge, enabling their customers to meet increasing requirements around compliance or demonstrate adherence to cyber insurance requirements.”
e92plus will offer a choice of procurement options, enabling VARS, MSPs and MSSPs to protect themselves and deliver managed services to their customers.
www.e92plus.com

Comment: One Year Anniversary of ChatGPT by Synopsys

Today marks the one year anniversary of the launch of ChatGPT, comment provide by Dr. Andrew Bolster, Research and Development Manager, Synopsys Software Integrity Group

“As successive versions of LLMs were released (ChatGPT by OpenAI, Bard by Google, Claude by Anthropic, and the open source LLaMA model by Meta), use expanded from playful simulation natural language conversations with virtual ‘oracle’, to constructing poetry from abstract documentation, laying out personal statements and cover letters for job seekers, designing presentations for speakers, and summarising articles for journalists (and sometimes writing them…). As ‘prompt engineering’ became one of the most searched for terms of the year, these models started to be used to generate any kind of textual, visual, or audio content imaginable (or hallucinatable).

“This ‘generative AI’ capability quickly gained the attention of both security researchers and cyber-criminals; for many forms of online fraud and cyber-crime, the ‘barrier to entry’ is the cost of having a human attempt to convince another human to shuffle some asset around, whether it’s convincing an IT helpdesk to reset your password, convincing a befuddled computer user to pay for tech support via untraceable gift vouchers, that your CFO really needs you to pay this unapproved invoice ‘right now’, or enticing that optimistic ‘investor’ that a foreign ‘prince’ really will pay you back.

“Now, such interactions could be automated at an unheard-of scale, at a predictable price. Of particular interest to the cybersecurity industry was the emergence of GitHub Copilot; a LLM- based tool that was able to analyse code, and propose additions or corrections based on ‘prompts’, either directly from a chat-like interface, or as a form of advanced ‘code-completion’. Security leaders began to reflect on the potential risks of this utility; not just only in the surface level estimation of ‘Will these LLM’s always generate “secure” code?’, but on the deeper implications for the software development industry.

“If the risk to software integrity was just the risk introduced by LLM generated code having some occasional, hallucinated, bad security practices, the resolution could have been simple enough; lock it down. And indeed, we observed that many organisations took this approach as they were developing their LLM response policies.

“But rather, it was recognised that in the complex world of software engineering, where well-intentioned developers pulling code from the internet to fix a hair-raisingly-frustrating problem is not so much as a ‘meme’, insomuch as it’s recognised industry strength, the introduction of these LLM’s into any part of the software supply chain infers significant downstream risks. (This fact is recognised repeatedly in the UK NCSC’s Guidelines on Secure AI System Development released 27th Nov).

“It is not a case of saying “We will not use LLM- generated code”, because how does one measure or attest to that? Programming code in any language is fairly restrictive in its operation and syntax, and if a LLM can generate code that ‘works’ and apparently performs the requested function, it is (likely1) impossible that such code could be differentiated from code generated by a motivated intern with access to the internet.

“It gets worse; we have already seen sites like Reddit, StackOverflow, Wikimedia, and more have taken steps to block content that ‘appears to be’ generated by such LLM’s; but the guidelines for assessing that ‘appearance’ are extremely subjective, down to things like ‘speed of response’ rather than quality or correctness of content. Google and others have effectively thrown their hands in the air by saying that they will ‘watermark’ generated content, implying that they have not identified a suitably generic method for detecting LLM generated content, so they have to police it on the ‘supply side’.

“These actions imply that the internet may already be ‘infected’ with LLM derived content, which, returning to the software development space, now means that that ‘intern with access to the internet’ is just as dangerous as that un-trusted LLM.”

FourNet acquires high-speed global network specialists 01T

Acquisition underpins FourNet capabilities in providing the ‘underlay’ end-to-end connectivity for critical infrastructure and large enterprise customers

DIGITAL transformation and customer experience experts, FourNet, have acquired global network specialists 01T.

This latest strategic acquisition provides FourNet’s critical infrastructure customers, which include the Prime Minister’s Office, ambulance services and large enterprises, with end-to-end, fully resilient network connectivity, eliminating the need for 3rd party network aggregators.

01T specialises in designing, building and managing high speed global networks and delivering connectivity and wide area network (WAN) services for organisations with critical reliance on resilient high performing networks.

The company’s customers include sports media and broadcast, online gaming and gambling, financial services and market analytics firms. 01T has connected businesses across the world, from London to Hong Kong.

Richard Pennington, co-founder and CEO of FourNet, (Pictured) said: “Integrating 01T’s core networking into FourNet’s cloud and ‘secure infrastructure’ platforms is an exciting prospect, and we are delighted to welcome the 01T team. Their skills, dedication, expertise and focus on customers will fit in extremely well at FourNet.

“This, our latest strategic acquisition, builds on our growing network infrastructure offering and allows FourNet to provide an enhanced end-to-end service for our critical infrastructure and large enterprise customers who have resilient, reliable, global reach network requirements. 

“Essentially 01T offers the ‘underlay’ connectivity to FourNet’s ‘overlay’ of communications, CX and cybersecurity managed services. Importantly, it also allows FourNet to view and manage the end-to-end network and gain more control of network implementation and support, where currently we are reliant on 3rd party network aggregators.”

01T was founded in 2009 and grew rapidly into a managed service business. After a period of further sustained growth, in 2020, switched its focus to international network connectivity, which is now its main source of revenue.

The firm, headquartered in Brighton, East Sussex, works with a select group of customers with data-centric businesses that need to move large amounts of data between different global locations, and which have a direct correlation between revenue and uptime of connectivity services.

Alex Lower, founder and managing director of 01T, said: “There’s a great deal of synergy between our two companies and joining forces feels like a very natural fit. 01T has been on a very similar journey to FourNet and that’s why we feel this is the right time to become one company.

“FourNet currently provides an incredible overlay for its customers, but if you are let down by 3rd parties, over which you have no control, when it comes to a fundamental component such as connectivity that’s going to damage your customer experience. Together we will ensure that customers have a first class overlay and a first class underlay and a seamless customer experience.”

FourNet currently has more than 200 employees, with offices in Manchester, London and Derby.

The purchase of 01T is the fourth acquisition by FourNet in the last three years. Earlier this year the business acquired cybersecurity, network infrastructure and collaboration specialists Nowcomm, one of only two Cisco Gold, Master Security and Master Collaboration accredited partners in the UK.

Last year, FourNet acquired infrastructure and security firm C>Ways, and in 2021 brought ComputerTel into the FourNet family.

James Painter, Senior Investment Director at Palatine Private Equity, which acquired a majority stake in FourNet in 2021, said: “Enhancing capability through strategic M&A is a key part of FourNet’s growth strategy. The acquisition of 01T adds a crucial network element to FourNet’s offering to customers and we are keen to support the group in making additional acquisitions in the future.”

About FourNet
Award-winning FourNet is one of the fastest growing privately owned technology companies in the UK, providing communications, cloud, contact centre, managed service and secure infrastructure solutions. We work with some of the most secure, critical and commercially driven customers in the UK, including more than 30 UK Government departments and agencies, as well as emergency services and local authorities. FourNet is an ethical and environmentally responsible business, committed to maximising our positive environmental and social impacts and championing transparency in all our business operations
www.fournet.co.uk

Arrow Electronics’ Enterprise Computing Solutions Education Business in EMEA Celebrates VMware 2023 EMEA Learning Partner of the Year Award

Arrow Electronics’ Enterprise Computing Solutions Education Business EMEA has won the EMEA Learning Partner of the Year Award for 2023 that acknowledges Arrow’s outstanding performance as a VMware Learning Partner. The award highlights the organisation’s dedication to empowering customers with the essential skills required for the successful implementation of multi-cloud strategies.
The scarcity of IT skills poses a critical challenge for organisations in Europe, trying to stay ahead of the innovation curve. Recognising the importance of the skills-gap, Arrow has strategically invested in training and certifications to help it equip businesses with specialised expertise. The need is increasingly critical given organisations are accelerating their journey to the cloud, demanding new skills and capabilities.
Alexandra Thys, EMEA lead of services offering management and marketing for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business, said, “Arrow is honoured to receive the VMware EMEA Learning Partner of the Year Award. This recognition underscores our commitment to bridging the skills gap in a rapidly transforming digital landscape. As organisations navigate their journey to the cloud, our focus on training and certifying on VMware technologies is instrumental in helping ensure our customers and channel partners are well-equipped to meet the evolving demands of the industry.”
About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics guides innovation forward for over 210,000 leading technology manufacturers and service providers. With 2022 sales of $37 billion, Arrow develops technology solutions that help improve business and daily life. Learn more at arrow.com.

ManageEngine Enhances Its SIEM With Industry-First, Dual-Layered System for Precise and Accurate Threat Detection

SOCs Can Leverage the Dynamic Learning Capabilities of the Company’s Reinforced TDIR Module, Vigil IQ, To Optimize Threat Detection and Investigation

Adopt dual-layer ML for improved automation, correctness and reliability in threat detection
Smart and dynamic learning enhances threat detection precision by spotting overlooked threats due to manual configurations
Explore Log360’s TDIR module, Vigil IQ:
https://mnge.it/lCg

ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation, today unveiled the industry’s first dual-layered threat detection system in its security information and event management (SIEM) solution, Log360. The new feature, available in Log360’s threat detection, investigation and response (TDIR) component, Vigil IQ, empowers security operations centre (SOC) teams in organizations with improved accuracy and enhanced precision in threat detection.

A quality SOC ensures people, processes, and cutting-edge technology function well. However, enterprise security is made difficult by staffing shortages and solution orchestration complexities. Following recent upgrades to the security analytics module of Log360 designed to facilitate SOC optimization through key performance metric monitoring, the company has focused on addressing pressing challenges in security operations.

“In a recent ManageEngine study, a majority of respondents revealed that their SOCs are understaffed. These resource-constrained SOCs grapple with significant obstacles, such as process silos and manual investigation of alerts, which are often non-threats, low-priority issues or false positives. These lead to extended detection and response times for actual threats. To overcome these challenges, we recognize the imperative adoption of AI & ML for contextual event enrichment and rewiring threat detection logic,” said Manikandan Thangaraj, vice president at ManageEngine.

“We pioneered a dual-layered, ML approach to heighten the precision and consistency of threat detection. First, Vigil IQ ensures genuine threats are discerned from false positives. Second, the system facilitates targeted threat identification and response. This advanced system significantly improves the accuracy of identifying threats, streamlining the detection process and allowing SOC analysts to focus their valuable time on investigating real threats.”

Key Features of the Dual-Layered Threat Detection System of Vigil IQ in Log360

Smart Alerts: Vigil IQ, the TDIR module of Log360, now combines the power of both accuracy and precision in threat detection. With its dynamic learning capability, Vigil IQ adapts to the changing nature of network behaviour to cover more threat instances accurately. It will spot threats that get overlooked due to manual threshold settings, thereby improving the detection system’s reliability.

Proactive Predictive Analytics: Leveraging predictive analytics based on historical data patterns, Vigil IQ predicts potential security threats, facilitating the implementation of proactive measures before incidents occur. This predictive intelligence drastically reduces the mean time to detect (MTTD) threats.

Contextual Intelligence: Vigil IQ enriches alerts with deep contextual information, providing security analysts with comprehensive threat insights. This enrichment of alerts with non-event context accelerates the mean time to respond (MTTR) by delivering pertinent, precise information.

About Log360

Log360 is a unified SIEM solution with integrated DLP and CASB capabilities that detects, prioritizes, investigates, and responds to security threats. Vigil IQ, the solution’s TDIR module, combines threat intelligence, ML-based anomaly detection and rule-based attack detection techniques to detect sophisticated attacks, and offers an incident management console for effectively remediating detected threats. Log360 provides holistic security visibility across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid networks with its intuitive and advanced security analytics and monitoring capabilities. For more information about Log360, visit manageengine.com/log-management/

About ManageEngine

ManageEngine is the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation, catering to a wide range of enterprises, MSPs and MSSPs. Established and emerging enterprises—including 9 of every 10 Fortune 100 organizations—rely on ManageEngine’s real-time IT management tools to ensure optimal performance of their IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, endpoints and more. ManageEngine has offices worldwide, including in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, India, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, and the United Kingdom as well as 200+ global partners to help organizations tightly align their business and IT. For more information, please visit manageengine

Making tech human with boxxe, winning Public Sector Value Added Reseller of the Year.

boxxe, leading provider of hardware, software and managed IT services, is delighted to announce its big win as Public Sector VAR of the Year at the CRN Awards ceremony in London on Thursday 16th November. boxxe went head to head with some fierce competition to come out on top.
With the tech industry experiencing exponential growth, boxxe stands loud and proud as a human-centric organisation, committed to making life better with tech. It says this win is strong evidence that their people-first approach is setting the standard amongst digital transformation specialists.
boxxe’s award entry highlighted the incredible work it’s doing beside colleagues, customers and partners to deliver high-impact, cost effective, and human friendly tech solutions. Its success has been propelled to new heights since the organisation rebranded and consolidated core values; to focus on nurturing meaningful connections across industries to deliver the right digital workplace solutions to every single customer.
boxxe proved its mettle as an organisation that goes above and beyond – because software and hardware is only part of a great technical solution! With hundreds of strong, long-standing partnerships, boxxe works with key service providers to ensure customers receive the best possible solution for their business. Its strong team of technical experts and trusted advisors undertake partner accredited qualifications to further their insight and provide quality, trustworthy customer service.
The organisation underlined its continued efforts to collaborate, inspire, educate and raise its profile. Whether networking with C-Suite execs, vendors, current customers, potential customers and industry experts, or attending, hosting, and sponsoring various events. boxxe’s deep understanding of customer requirements alongside its ability to deliver the right solutions every time is fantastic proof that human connection really is king.
boxxe CEO Phil Doye, says “What an amazing evening we had celebrating the best of the UK IT industry – topped off with a major win! This award is testament to the hard work we’re doing here at boxxe; harnessing human connection to drive digital transformation in a way that’s unique and befitting of every single one of our clients.
At the heart of boxxe is our conviction that we can make life better with tech by putting people first: our team, our customers and our partners. So, it’s great to see the industry acknowledging the value we bring to the table as an ambitious VAR on a mission to make tech human. Congratulations to the whole boxxe team – your continued diligence, dedication and passion to give tech that human edge is really paying off.”
After evidencing major public sector contracts, strategic partnerships, unbeatable expertise, next-level training and proactive ESG commitments – alongside its recent rebrand – boxxe has more than proven its worth as an innovative IT solution provider for the Public Sector and beyond.
It’s an incredible achievement for boxxe, who says this win has consolidated its efforts to innovate more and continue to put people at the centre of their solutions to create tech magic!
www.boxxe.com

93% of UK CISOs report more board support after a cyber incident, yet still fall victim to successful attacks

New Trellix research highlights the need for proactivity when defending against cybercriminals
Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response (XDR), today released new research revealing that almost all (93%) of UK CISOs receive more board support after a breach has occurred, yet this largely fails to prevent future incidents.
The “Mind of the CISO: Behind the Breach” research found that over half (58%) of UK CISOs have experienced repeated successful attacks in the past five years. This demonstrates a need for a more proactive approach from the board when it comes to ensuring robust cyber-defence.
Bryan Palmer, Chief Executive Officer of Trellix said: “Raising the urgency and cyber literacy of their own board is one of the CISO’s greatest challenges. The research suggests many boards’ willingness to support cybersecurity only happens after an attack. Clearly, it should be the other way around.”
Boards take a reactive stance in the face of a breach
In the aftermath of a cyber incident, 62% of UK CISOs have received what they describe as “a lot more support” from the board. This is a positive shift when compared to previous findings which reported that the vast majority (96%) of CISOs found it challenging at the time.

Following a cyber incident, nearly half (47%) of UK CISOs were granted increased budget for additional technology and tools.
43% of respondents reported that XDR is increasingly being viewed as an integral tool, with over a third (37%) of UK CISOs reporting turning to XDR to upgrade their current security solutions.

“XDR can actually aggregate and correlate data from multiple sources and, therefore, reduce false positives. We see less alert fatigue in the security teams, and XDR allows us to be proactive rather than defensive and post facto, another big difference,” shared a CISO of a UK company.
Technology limitations found to be a primary point of failure
When identifying the causes behind major cybersecurity incidents, over a third of CISOs cited that the wrong technology or incorrect configuration contributed to failures in detecting an attack and therefore the likelihood of preventing a subsequent breach.

57% found that this was due to technological limitations inhibiting countermeasure execution, and 42% found that these limitations actively contributed to failures. Manual processes (50%) and disconnected security controls (52%) left procedural gaps, stifling an effective response.

47% of CISOs highlighted the inability to respond quickly enough, with siloed security (38%) and poor configurations (45%) being main contributors.
For organisations not utilising XDR at the time of the incident, 76% felt that it could have lessened the impact; almost all (97%) felt it could have prevented a breach altogether.
When considering the role of employees, almost half (47%) of UK CISOs cited a gap in knowledge as a core contributor to the breach. 52% noted there were not enough IT skills to deal with the complexity of the incident; with 47% identifying lack of SOC analysts, threat hunters or incident responders.

Fabien Rech, GM and SVP EMEA at Trellix said: “From the malicious use of AI to the surge in nation-state threat activity by 50%, cybercriminals are continuing to sharpen their tools and use a range of techniques to infiltrate businesses. Fortunately, this has only led UK CISOs to become more determined and resilient in their commitment to cybersecurity.
“However, this motivation and confidence can only go so far. CISOs need to have support from the board and executives so that investments can be made in the right technology, processes, and tools. In doing so, a culture of security and vigilance can be instilled from the top down to help protect organisations against evolving threats.”
To boost engagement and support for CISOs, Trellix launched its Mind of the CISO initiative earlier this year encompassing a CISO Council, webinars, and research. For more information around the new Mind of the CISO: Behind the Breach findings, the eBook can be found here.
Methodology
The Trellix study, conducted by Vanson Bourne, surveyed more than 500 global CISOs from companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in the US, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, Singapore, UAE, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Industries covered include energy and utilities, healthcare, public sectors, manufacturing and production, and financial services. Every respondent experienced at least one cyber incident in the last 5 years.
About Trellix
Trellix is a global company redefining the future of cybersecurity and soulful work. The company’s open and native extended detection and response (XDR) platform helps organizations confronted by today’s most advanced threats gain confidence in the protection and resilience of their operations. Trellix, along with an extensive partner ecosystem, accelerates technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower over 40,000 business and government customers with living security.
To find out more visit, Trellix

Vodafone Business Launches AI-driven SD-LAN Business Service Using Juniper Networks’ Wired and Wireless Access Platforms

New managed services uniquely deliver automation, insight and assurance needed for key enterprise digital transformation and sustainability initiatives
Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that Vodafone Business is now delivering a new SD-LAN (Software Defined Local Area Networking) managed service built on its leading wired and wireless access solutions.
With Juniper as the underlying networking solution for SD-LAN, Vodafone Business’ global customers can leverage the unique benefits of Juniper Mist driven by Mist AI, and the cloud, which provides customers with real-time insights into user experiences, as well as automated self-driving operations that streamline deployment and facilitate day-to-day operations. When combined with Vodafone Business’ own expertise, the SD-LAN service delivers predictable, reliable and measurable wired/wireless services that can leverage proactive automated operations to eliminate an estimated 90 percent of manually generated trouble tickets, based on results from other Juniper Mist customers.
Vodafone Business is offering customers fully managed and co-managed SD-LAN services with flexible subscription models, including the opportunity to own their own on-premises equipment. It is based on Juniper’s wide array of wireless Access Points and EX switches, managed via cloud-driven wired and wireless access assurance services and the industry’s only AI-driven virtual network assistant (VNA). With advanced AIOps (AI for IT Operations) capabilities, Vodafone Business can offer a superior SD-LAN solution with simple zero touch provisioning for quick onboarding, proactive problem detection and resolution for maximum resiliency, and customizable wired and wireless service levels for assured user experiences.
Vodafone Business and Juniper share a focus on the importance of more sustainable networking for their own and their customers’ operations, a philosophy which underpins the SD-LAN service. With AI-driven automation for deployment verification and troubleshooting, the new managed service can significantly reduce the number of site visits (in one case study, site visits were reduced by 85 percent), saving on carbon emissions. In addition, the cloud-based offering consumes less power and space than alternative wired/wireless solutions by minimizing on-site appliances (e.g., wireless LAN controllers). The SD-LAN service supports the circular economy via the Juniper Certified Pre-Owned Program (JCPO) and a Try & Buy option.
News highlights

Vodafone’s Business SD-LAN offering is built using Juniper’s cloud-based wired and wireless assurance services, driven by Mist AI. This provides a secure, agile, scalable and sustainable wired and wireless user experience across distributed locations.

Juniper® Series of High-Performance Access Points and Juniper Networks® EX Series Ethernet Switches create a cloud-ready, streamlined yet powerful campus network fabric. With scalability in mind, Juniper Mist APs and EX Series Switches offer a comprehensive solution that enables Vodafone Business to grow a customer’s LAN seamlessly as needed.
Marvis, Juniper’s unique AI-driven Virtual Network Assistant with a conversational interface, helps Vodafone Business and its customers interact more effectively with the network, speeding time to resolution and reducing costs. Proactive and predictive actions help prevent problems before they even arise.
Customers for SD-LAN first undergo a rigorous audit of their existing network, which includes a thorough assessment of business objectives, specified outcomes and required resources. A bespoke campus LAN is designed then deployed through a phased migration plan to ensure business continuity.

“With the advent of boundless working, it’s imperative to hyper-connect your business with productive and limitless workplaces, utilizing the latest technologies that inspire collaboration and empower staff to work safely and productively. Vodafone Business SD-LAN managed service powered by Juniper Mist is optimizing operations, performance and user experience through centralized cloud control, anonymized deep insights and AI analytics. From risk-free migrations to E2E In life support, with each step we are ensuring our customers a worry-free transition. As a core part of the proposition, sustainability options are embedded across the product lifecycle to support customers’ sustainability goals.”

Andy Kivell, Head of Connectivity Portfolio, Vodafone Business

“Being able to compete in a digital world is fundamentally important to enterprises in any sector, any region. But for some, specifying, owning and managing an intelligent, fit-for-purpose network platform is prohibitively complex and costly. A managed service built on Juniper’s technology and delivered by Vodafone’s expertise solves that challenge very elegantly. This approach enables more enterprises to build their business and scale up on a sustainable, AI-driven experience-first network, without the operational overhead.”

Sally Bament, VP, Field & Industry Marketing, Juniper Networks

About Vodafone Business
By connecting people, places and things, Vodafone Business helps organizations succeed in a digital world. With our expertise in connectivity, our leading IoT platform and our global scale, we can deliver the results our customers need to progress and thrive.
About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is dedicated to dramatically simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Our solutions deliver industry-leading insight, automation, security and AI to drive real business results. We believe that powering connections will bring us closer together while empowering us all to solve the world’s greatest challenges of well-being, sustainability and equality. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net