The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and communications company BT have joined forces in an agreement to exchange threat intelligence data.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by both parties at Europol’s in The Hague in the Netherlands, which along with the creation of a framework to share knowledge of cybersecurity threats and attacks, will also help in facilitating sharing of information relating to cybersecurity trends, measures, technical expertise, and industry practices to reinforce cybersecurity in Europe.
To this end, BT will work alongside Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), helping in identifying cyber threats and strengthening law enforcement response to cyber crimes.
“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,” said Steve Wilson, Head of Business at EC3. “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.”
BT became, earlier in the year, the first telecom provider to share information on malicious websites and softwares with other internet service providers (ISPs) via a free online portal, called the Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP), to help them in tackling cyber threats.
The company will now share that information with Europol to aid in cybercrime investigations.
“We at BT have long held the view that coordinated, cross border collaboration is key to stemming the global cyber-crime epidemic,” Kevin Brown, VP, BT Security Threat Intelligence, said. “We’re working with other law enforcement agencies in a similar vein to better share cybersecurity intelligence, expertise and best practice to help them expose and take action against the organised gangs of cybercriminals lurking in the dark corners of the web.”
BT currently has a team of more than 2,500 cybersecurity experts who have so far helped to identify and share information on more than 200,000 malicious domains.
