HKT (SEHK: 6823) – HONG KONG, June 23, 2021 – In a concerted effort to protect local enterprises from a massive surge in cybercrime that affects businesses worldwide, HKT joins forces with Microsoft Hong Kong to expand its offering of Managed Security Services for enterprises deploying Microsoft cloud solutions.
As Microsoft’s first Managed Security Services Provider in Hong Kong, HKT will offer enterprises Managed Security Services solutions powered by Microsoft Azure Sentinel, a cloud-native Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that combines the power of Azure and Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this expansion of Managed Security Services portfolio, HKT will now be able to offer a total and secure solution for workloads running on Azure and for Microsoft 365 users, accelerating enterprises to adopt Microsoft cloud solutions for digital transformation.
COVID-19 related cyber-attacks have increased by 667% globally since the end of February 2020, according to a recent report[1]. In 2020, 36.5%[2] more enterprises in Hong Kong said they had encountered external cyber-attacks when compared to 2019, as reported by the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (HKCERT). HKCERT also reported that the number of phishing cases in Hong Kong had increased by 35%[3] year-on-year in 2020.
Mr. Fred Sheu, National Technology Officer of Microsoft Hong Kong, said, “Machine Learning enhanced AI holds great promise in addressing many of the global cyber challenges we see today, giving cyber defenders the ability to identify, detect, and block malware, almost instantaneously. Protecting companies in the cyber space is our priority. Microsoft is in a unique position to help companies leverage our complete security portfolio to improve their security system and keep costs under control, enabling companies to simplify their security operations and scale as they grow.”
Azure Sentinel leverages built-in AI and Machine Learning to analyze large volumes of data across an enterprise rapidly. This enables security operation professionals to effectively eliminate the noise, false alarms, time consuming tasks and complexity that are currently weighing them down, so they can prioritize and handle the most critical security events.
Azure Sentinel is deeply integrated with Azure and Microsoft 365 services. Together with the broad portfolio of Microsoft Threat Protection solutions including Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection and Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Sentinel takes security to the next level by giving organizations a comprehensive view of their entire threat landscape and providing holistic protection.
HKT Managed Security Services are backed by its ISO27001 certified Next Generation Security Operations Center (NG SOC). Combining HKT’s 24/7 NG SOC operations with Azure Sentinel, HKT’s team of cybersecurity experts can provide threat monitoring of Microsoft Azure workloads and Microsoft 365 services, such as Detection of Phishing, Data Breach and Account Compromise. The wide scope of these services also includes investigation followed by guided responses that are continually growing on demand.
HKT’s security experts at NG SOC hold a wide range of professional cybersecurity certifications including the GIAC CertificationsThe highly skilled NG SOC security analysts provide comprehensive HKT Managed Security Services to enterprises including Threat Management Services, Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and Incident Response Services, supporting them to minimize any potential losses arising from cybersecurity events.
Mr. Steve Ng, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing and Solutions Consulting of Commercial Group, HKT, said, “Under the new normal, we see that the demand of enterprise digital transformation continues to grow and therefore security protection becomes more important. While many enterprises are having insufficient IT resources and internal cybersecurity expertise, our enhanced Managed Security Services and NG SOC will be vital in helping them safeguard their businesses from today’s rampaging cyberattack.”
Mr. Ng added, “As a leading digital solutions provider, we believe that our strong partnership with Microsoft, together with the development of new technologies, such as 5G, AI, cloud, IoT and AR/VR, will ensure that we will continue to find innovative ways of helping enterprises and Hong Kong to reap the benefits of digital transformation within a secure environment.”
HKT has been working with Microsoft for over six years to accelerate cloud adoption among local enterprises and became Hong Kong’s first Microsoft Telco Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) in 2015. Since then, HKT has been a CSP and Licensing Solutions Provider (LSP) helping more than 30,000 enterprises adopt Microsoft cloud technologies. HKT has won the “Microsoft Top CSP” title in Hong Kong from 2016 to 2019, underscoring the company’s ability to equip businesses with Microsoft cloud solutions, including Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
[1] Source: Barracuda Networks, 2020 (https://blog.barracuda.com/2020/03/26/threat-spotlight-coronavirus-related-phishing/)
[2] https://events.hkpc.org/1613633199/SSH-HKECSRI2020.pdf
[3] https://www.hkcert.org/press-centre/hkpc-urges-enterprises-for-cyber-security-strategy-for-the-new-normal-and-new-technologies