JT protects Australian consumers from fraud

JT International, a division of the JT Group headquartered in Jersey, Channel Islands, is partnering with mobile network operators across Australia to help businesses identify and prevent fraudulent activity. JT’s Fraud Protection Services (FPS) platform has the ability to access rich network data in real time, to help businesses identify and prevent fraudulent activity.

The Australian Telecoms industry (Comms Alliance and all the leading Australian Mobile Network Operators) have selected and implemented the JT FPS solution to identify SIM Swap activity. JT’s FPS was chosen as the only real time solution which could identify SIM Swap fraud across all Australian operator networks.

Implemented with a leading bank in Australia, the network data provided by the JT FPS solution has already proven to be highly effective in protecting their clients against account takeover fraud.

By working with mobile and virtual network operators worldwide, JT’s Fraud Protection Services provide the broadest global coverage possible to help prevent account takeover fraud. The service is widely used by banks, financial institutions and payment solution providers throughout the UK and around the world, providing additional security to mitigate risk; and is now available to all business sectors in Australia.

The risk of compromising personal and financial data remains a major challenge for many businesses as they seek to protect their customers from scams, despite stricter online security measures. In addition to rich data sources, JT provides an SMS firewall solution that protects consumers against smishing attacks. In conjunction with its Mobile Network Operator partners around the world, JT provides secure connectivity for mobile communication channels and authentication processes that validate transactions.

Clare Messenger, Head of Fraud Protection Services at JT, said: “Account take over by criminals is a significant problem. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have the ability to provide rich information that in turn helps businesses determine if a customer’s account has been compromised. Working on behalf of MNOs, JT has developed a platform that provides them with real time data, crucial to preventing scams such as Sim Swap Fraud. I’m delighted that our launch in Australia has been so successful.’’



Daragh McDermott appointed as CEO of JT Group

Following a rigorous appointment process, the Board of JT Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Daragh McDermott as its new Chief Executive Officer, who takes over with immediate effect from Interim CEO John Diamond.

He has worked in JT for over 20 years, with a key role across all strategic decisions during that time, from the rollout of fibre to the creation and development of JT’s recently sold IoT business. The Board concluded that Daragh’s experience and deep understanding of the business made him the ideal person to lead the company into its next phase of development.

Chairman of the JT Group, Phil Male, commented: “JT has a proud tradition of developing its people, and it is with great pleasure that we have appointed Daragh to the role of Chief Executive Officer.

“He has an exceptional track record of service to JT and understands the business and the ambitious five-year strategy recently approved by the Board and our shareholder. We ran a thorough process, overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, and I am delighted that we are now able to announce Daragh’s successful appointment. He thoroughly deserves this opportunity and I am certain that our people, our customers and our stakeholders will join me in congratulating him.

“I would also like to thank John Diamond for his hard work as Interim CEO – his calm and incisive leadership has been a real asset to all at JT.”

Daragh McDermott added: “It is a huge privilege to step up to the position of CEO and to continue working with the fantastic team here in JT to take full advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead, as well as manage some significant challenges that are coming down the line. Central to this will be putting customers interests’ at the very heart of what we do, while continuing to invest heavily in the Channel Islands’ critical national infrastructure and rebuilding and growing our international portfolio. Our ambitious investment plans for the next five years will see JT invest in excess of £100m in our networks and I want to ensure this is done in a way that benefits both the wider economies that we serve and every single customer that will be making use of the reliable and robust world-class networks that we operate.”



Understanding risk — the importance of managing the security of your vendors

Author:
John Bridge
Principal Cybersecurity Consultant, JT Enterprise

Third-party vendors have always been a key part of success, and with the rise in service providers and ‘anything as a service’, this is more true today than ever before.

But vendors can also create unexpected challenges for your business, not the least of which are cybersecurity risks.

This post will cover the unique risks that vendors can pose to your business and how you can guard your business against these risks.

The risks vendors pose to cybersecurity

Cybersecurity risk

As mentioned, one of the core risks that a third-party vendor creates for your business is cybersecurity risk. There are two primary ways that a vendor can create cybersecurity risk for your business.

First, sharing sensitive information with a vendor can prove risky. This creates an additional copy of data, doubling its vulnerabilities. If the vendor in question has poor cybersecurity policies, your risk only increases.

The second risk is networking. If a vendor has access to your network to provide you services, that connection can be exploited by a bad actor. In other words, a network breach for your vendor could lead to a network breach for you.

Compliance risk

These days, companies are concerned with keeping their cybersecurity policies strong against attacks and compliant with current regulations. The challenge with vendors is that you can have limited insight into their regulatory compliance.

If you’re working with a vendor that isn’t compliant, it can affect your compliance as well. If they’re not securing data as they should, networking properly, or authenticating users with approved protocols, then by extension, neither are you.

Reputation risk

In some ways, any kind of security risk that a vendor presents doubles as reputation risk. Companies affected by cybersecurity breaches are deemed non-compliant by regulators or that face other types of threats are also likely to suffer blows to their public reputation.

Working with a vendor that already has a bad reputation (or could potentially develop one) can result in that image rubbing off onto your business. It’s vital to vet a vendor’s reputation before doing business with them.

Financial risk

Financial risk occurs when a vendor directly influences a portion of your finances or is collecting, monitoring or reporting your financial data. These services can be as helpful as they are harmful.

For instance, a vendor billing your business and promising to provide a certain ROI percentage could be failing to do so without you knowing it. This could lead to a decrease in your overall revenue, and it would be difficult to pin down why from your side of things.

Another possibility is that a vendor who monitors and reports your finances could be reporting false numbers. This could be due to a mistake, a bad actor, or potentially even fraud.

Operational risk

While some of the risks mentioned in this post might be exclusive to one vendor or another, operational risks can come from any vendor you depend on because your operations are linked with theirs.

If the vendor you’re working with has to shut down, pause, or restructure their operations for any reason, this could hamper your ability to provide a critical service or product.

Strategic risk

Strategic risks occur whenever a vendor can make strategic decisions on your business’s behalf. For instance, a vendor might make a decision that affects your reputation or impedes your goals.

Understanding how much control each of your vendors has is key. Otherwise, a vendor could make a significant decision without your input or control.

Why it’s important to manage your vendor security, and how JT can help

JT offers various risk protection services, including vendor assessments for determining and counteracting the risks posed by your vendors. Below are two key ways we can help.

Use JT’s risk assessment framework

JT offers a risk assessment framework that uses industry standards like ISO27001 and NIST SP800-53. This service gives you an accurate and holistic view of how each of your vendors impacts your risk potential.

This risk assessment framework analyses financial, operational, strategic, and compliance risk factors. You can use it to predict and reduce the potential harm a vendor can do to your business, intentionally or otherwise.

Take advantage of the modules in the JT Centraleyes Compliance Platform

We also offer a JT Centraleyes Compliance Platform. This platform offers a variety of compliance and cybersecurity features, and works together with our risk assessment framework. That means customers can access all modules in both systems, providing maximum support.

Reach out to JT today and see how the JT Centraleyes Compliance Platform can reduce your vendor risks.

Secure your FREE Cybersecurity Assessment

Cyber threats are continually evolving, and its imperative that your business is protected to prevent the latest information security threats, vulnerabilities and risks.

Reliable security can only be built on a combination of well-trained people, sound governance, accurate reporting and delivered by correctly configured technology.

Our FREE no obligation Cyber Assessment will examine each of these areas, producing a comprehensive study for your whole business.



The Importance of Identity Management

Author:
John Bridge
Principal Cybersecurity Consultant, JT Enterprise

In celebration of Identity Management Day, which started just last year in 2021, we're going to be taking a closer look at what identity management is, its benefits, and how you can implement it at work and at home.

We all have various online accounts that keep us connected, and it's essential that we keep these accounts safe. 

Jump to section:

  1. Why is identity management important for businesses and consumers?
  2. The benefits of identity management.
  3. How to protect your identity online.
  4. Book your FREE Cybersecurity Assessment.

Why is identity management important for businesses and consumers?

Identity management is the process of managing your digital identity. If you're more analogue, that might look like keeping a notebook (or even a series of sticky notes) containing your emails and passwords for various websites. A more high-tech version may look like an app that does this tracking for you or even a set of practices that anonymise your digital footprint.

Whatever the case, it's crucial that businesses and individuals have some form of identity management in place in 2022. 61% of all security breaches happen when user credentials are stolen. And 79% of organisations have experienced an identity-related breach in the last two years alone.

For these reasons and more, businesses and individuals should be on guard, taking measures to ensure they don't become another statistic.

 

The benefits of identity management

Guard against security breaches

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First, proper identity management helps you guard against security breaches. Like any security-related policy, identity management centres on putting strategies into practice to reduce the likelihood of an account breach.

That could be something as simple as using randomised passwords across your accounts or as complex as launching two-factor authentication support across your business.

Identity management can also mean having a centralised system for accessing data, which allows you to more easily guard the endpoints of your identity access. However you go about it, these measures go a long way toward warding off attacks.

Easily access the accounts you need

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Identity management makes it easy to access the accounts you need. We've all undoubtedly forgotten the password or username to an account at one point or another, leading to a headache-inducing and time-consuming recovery process.

With proper identity management you and your staff can avoid these mishaps. From using an app or software solution that keeps track of your credentials for you to implementing a single sign-on solution across your estate, you can save everyone time and frustration and reduce the chance you’ll need to call in your IT team for account recovery.

Reduced costs

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And taking advantage of effective identity management practices can help businesses and individuals alike cut costs. This is mainly done by freeing up your IT teams. When they aren't spending time on account recoveries, they can dedicate that time to more high-value work, creating additional value for your business.

Identity management also cuts costs by preventing security breaches, which can be extremely costly for both businesses and individuals. By keeping your accounts safe with identity management, you can prevent these costs from ever being incurred.

 

How to protect your identity online

Centralise your identity management

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First, you should consider creating a single environment where all identity management is managed.

By centralising identity management your IT team can easily create, modify and remove user access in one place, without having to remember to do the same to each individual login.

Find a software solution that works for your business

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Something that can go a long way towards helping you centralise your approach is a good software solution. There are plenty of apps for individuals and businesses alike that make keeping up with your identity management a breeze.

For individuals, devices from Apple and Google come with identity management tools built-in. These tools suggest randomised passwords and even anonymous emails, which you can use to keep your information private and difficult to crack.

There are plenty of enterprise solutions for businesses that will keep your accounts safe on a broader, more secure scale.

Implement a defence in depth security model

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Don’t just rely on your users to keep their identity secure, ensure that you implement a defence in depth security model. By introducing changes, such as enforcing multi-factor authentication across your entire IT estate, implementing the principle of least privilege or even segmenting your estate into trusted zones, you can safeguard your business data from day one.

Score your identity management strategy today

To see how well your business is embracing proper identity management practices, you can sign up for a FREE no obligation Cyber Assessment from JT’s expert Cybersecurity and Risk Advisory Unit.

Book your FREE Cybersecurity Assessment

Cyber threats are continually evolving, and its imperative that your business is protected to prevent the latest information security threats, vulnerabilities and risks.

Reliable security can only be built on a combination of well-trained people, sound governance, accurate reporting and delivered by correctly configured technology.

Our FREE no obligation Cyber Assessment will examine each of these areas, producing a comprehensive study for your whole business.



JT awarded for commitment to innovation

JT awarded for commitment to innovation

Channel Islands telecom company JT has been named on a national stage as Innovation Partner of the Year by Mitel, a global market leader in business communications services.

JT was chosen as Innovation Partner of the Year ahead of many other UK & Ireland leading businesses after not only setting up its own state-of-the-art Mitel Contact centre but also for completing a world-class, multi-dimensional and complex migration process of IT systems for the Government of Guernsey. The accolade has further strengthened JT’s reputation as a leading telecoms company, achieving the ultimate recognition within Mitel’s award-winning partner programme.

JT achieved Mitel’s highest level of accreditation two years ago, when it was awarded Platinum Partner status, a partner level that is only given to a select few. JT is the only technology company in the Channel Islands that has been granted that status.

Rob King, IT and Facilities Manager, Healthspan, said: “We take 3,000 calls a day, and there was absolutely no downtime in terms of those phones ringing from one day being in the office to the next when those agents were working from home. We had the backup of JT’s people to help us and be on hand at that changeover to answer any questions. Most of our staff are still working from home and want to continue to do so and I think if the technology or functionality wasn’t right there certainly wouldn’t be that high percentage of staff wanting to do that.”

JT also worked with Mitel to update the Government of Jersey’s communications systems and enabled leading online supplements business, Healthspan, to move its call centre agents from the office to their homes without interruption to their services.

Daragh McDermott, Managing Director, JT Channel Islands, said: “Thanks to the ongoing partnership with Mitel, JT continues to push ahead with innovative products, providing exceptional services to business customers all over the world. That comes with hard work and commitment from our team who work closely with our partners at Mitel to provide a high level of service to our customers. Mitel rightly demand exacting standards and to go beyond those is an amazing achievement.”

Nick Riggott, Country Sales Director from Mitel, added: “JT have always represented a true partnership with Mitel, and this award is testimony to the collaboration, creativity and engagement we share. It’s one thing to develop world class enterprise communication solutions, but it’s another thing to really make them come to life. JT have delivered solutions from the broad scope of the Mitel portfolio, providing quality, secure and reliable solutions for their customers without compromise in any way.”