BT Ireland has opened a new security operations centre at its Riverside Tower building in Belfast as part of efforts to guard public and private sector bodies against threat of cyber attacks.

The specialist centre is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and will monitor networks and IT infrastructure of BT Ireland customers on a 24/7 basis, combining the group's own threat intelligence with information from partners and government agencies to detect and analyse cyber threats in real time.

Northern Ireland's Department of Finance will be the first BT customer to use the security operations centre.

Peter Evans, director of commercial and wholesale at BT Ireland, said: “Security is at the top of the agenda for many organisations, ensuring that their businesses run safely and that staff and their customers are protected. 

"Using a wealth of talent from local cyber experts, the BT Security Operations Centre in Belfast will help to tackle the unprecedented challenges of sophisticated cyber threats.

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“By further strengthening our capabilities on the island of Ireland, we can advise customers on how to mitigate threats and defend their networks all from a location a short distance away.”

BT operates an international network of security operations centres, employing more than 3,000 cybersecurity professionals.

BT Group posted revenue of £21.3bn and profit before tax of £1.8bn last year. The company has around 1.2m enterprise customers in the UK and Ireland.

Photo: (l-r) Peter Evans; Paul Duffy, Director of NICS Enterprise Shared Services, Department of Finance, Northern Ireland; and Mark Fagan, Head of Data Centre and Security Services, BT Ireland.