NHS Digital enters three-year strategic IBM cyber partnership

NHS Digital has entered into a three-year strategic partnership with IBM to enhance data security and cyber security response and provide additional defence against increasingly complex, evolving threats in the healthcare sector.

The additional services will enhance NHS Digital’s current capability to monitor, detect and respond to a variety of security risks and threats across the NHS, and offer expert advice and guidance.

The Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) will also be expanded as a result of the partnership, and will see NHS Digital able to offer tailored and specialist advice to individual NHS organisations, and will give NHS Digital access to IBM’s X-Force repository of threat intelligence to provide insight, guidance, and advice so health and care organisations can take appropriate action to prepare for, or mitigate against, identified risks and threats.

The CSOC expansion will also include security monitoring pilots across selected NHS organisations, a n innovation service which will allow NHS Digital to quickly access new tools technologies and expertise to address new threats as they emerge and enhancement of NHS Digitals current monitoring capability.

Dan Taylor, Programme Director, Data Security Centre at NHS Digital, said: “This partnership will enhance our existing Cyber Security Operations Centre which is delivered from NHS Digital’s Data Security Centre. It will give us, during times of increased need, the ability to draw on a pool of dedicated professionals from IBM.

“It will build on our existing ability to proactively monitor for security threats, risks, and emerging vulnerabilities, while supporting the development of new services for the future and enabling us to better support the existing needs of local organisations. This will ensure that we can evolve our security capability in line with the evolving cyber threat landscape.

“This partnership will allow us to share knowledge and skills from the information security industry, whilst continuing to develop our internal expertise and supporting health and care organisations to build their own cyber resilience. This partnership will strengthen how we help to keep patient information and services safe and secure, enabling NHS staff and patients to have confidence in the security of our system.”