Security News
As the 4th Industrial Revolution continues to accelerate business demand for high-speed broadband and presence in the cloud, Lumen Technologies has expanded its fiber network infrastructure in Europe, strengthening its service capabilities in France, Switzerland and Spain. The infrastructure extends fiber reach in and between major hubs of business and finance, bringing connectivity to new cities and providing dense coverage in key areas to connect multiple enterprise buildings and third-party data centers to the robust Lumen network.
Growing adoption of cloud-based services is propelling the expansion of the European IT and business services market, with the region setting a new record for as-a-service spending in the second quarter, according to the latest state-of-the-industry report from ISG. The EMEA ISG Index, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value of $5 million or more, shows ACV for the combined market, which includes both as-a-service and managed services, reached $6.3 billion, up 31 percent against a soft quarter last year during the onset of the pandemic, and up 4 percent against the first quarter of 2021. "Europe has traditionally lagged behind other regions in its adoption of cloud-based services but now growth is accelerating," said Steven Hall, president of ISG EMEA. "COVID-related digital transformation has advanced cloud adoption by three to five years, and as-a-service ACV will soon surpass 50 percent of the market. We are near a tipping point."
Little will happen until and unless the European Data Protection Authorities begin to enforce Schrems II. One year after the so-called Schrems II decision was made by the European Court of Justice, little has changed. Participants should note that privacy activist Max Schrems is watching; and he is not known for giving up where he has the law on his side.
The Luxembourg's Quantum Communications Infrastructure project, coordinated by the Department of Media, Telecommunications and Digital Policy of the Luxembourg Ministry of State, and supported by the European Space Agency and the Luxembourg Space Agency under the Luxembourg National LuxIMPULSE programme, will create a secure communications shield against cyber threats based on quantum technology. To design the LuxQCI, Luxembourg has put in place a consortium comprising InCert, itrust consulting, LuxConnect, LuxTrust and the University of Luxembourg, that is led by SES's fully-owned affiliate SES Techcom.
Accelerating its push to aggressively grow global deployments and its market presence worldwide, NanoLock Security expanded its executive team to add deep utilities and security expertise with several new appointments including David Stroud who has joined NanoLock as GM of Europe and APAC. Stroud, who will be based in NanoLock's UK office, is an industry-recognized leader with over 15 years of deep international experience, along with direct expertise in the energy and metering sector - including through his successful tenure as executive director of EDMI Europe, a leading smart metering solution provider, and as general manager of Advanced Metering Services, New Zealand's largest metering provider. Stroud's presence in Europe and his highly relevant knowledge of this market will enable NanoLock to pursue further strategic partnerships in Europe and APAC with utilities and manufacturers.
A banking trojan named Bizarro that originates from Brazil has crossed the borders and started to target customers of 70 banks in Europe and South America. Bizarro is under constant development as its author keeps expanding the list of supporting banks and they modify it to improve anti-analysis protections.
Beyond Identity announced its expansion into Europe with a series of new hires to its sales, marketing and engineering team as well as a new Frankfurt data centre. Launched in April 2020 by Silicon Valley heavyweights Jim Clark and Tom Jermoluk, Beyond Identity has introduced a revolutionary passwordless identity management solution.
Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire Openminded, a France-based cybersecurity services company that provides advisory, cloud & infrastructure security, cyber defense, and managed security services. Once completed, the acquisition would bring approximately 100 highly skilled cybersecurity professionals to Accenture Security's workforce of nearly 7,000 professionals globally and extend Accenture's cybersecurity presence and capabilities in France and in Europe.
Attention, Android users! A banking malware capable of stealing sensitive information is "Spreading rapidly" across Europe, with the U.S. likely to be the next target. FluBot, a nascent entry in the banking trojan landscape, began its operations late last year, with campaigns leveraging the malware infecting more than 60,000 users in Spain, according to an analysis published by Proactive Defence Against Future Threats in March 2021.
The data center market in Europe is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2021-2026, according to ResearchAndMarkets. Data center operators have adopted innovative and energy-efficient cooling infrastructure solutions, aiming to reduce power consumption by up to 50%. This is expected to grow during the forecast period as market vendors are introducing innovative high-efficient cooling systems.