The new SOC is an impressive example of the evolution of security operations, and uses machine learning in addition to human analysts to find, classify and mitigate threats across client networks and digital ecosystems.
In the same building is a Customer Experience Centre will offer the opportunity for BlueVoyant clients, business partners, and local organisations to learn about cyber security threats and best response tactics, including how to incorporate ML.
With a raft of legislation and regulation such as NIS2 and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) coming down the track in both the UK and EU, BlueVoyant will use the new facility to educate clients on how to achieve compliance and to hold other customer focused events.
“Improving the cyber defence posture of organisations in the UK and across EMEA with advanced technology and threat intelligence remains a priority for BlueVoyant,” said James Rosenthal, BlueVoyant’s CEO and co-founder.
“Our new SOC and Customer Experience Centre shows our commitment to and investment in the UK, and builds on our rapid growth and expansion in the region.”
The company’s cutting-edge technology has garnered industry recognition, including from Microsoft, which named BlueVoyant the MISA Security MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) of the Year in the Microsoft Security Excellence Awards 2023. BlueVoyant is also a member of the Microsoft Copilot for Security Design Council.
Digital Northern Powerhouse
The choice of Leeds as the location for a UK SOC and Experience centre speaks volumes for the booming digital economies in the North of England. Leeds is – according to Lloyds Bank – the fastest growing digital economy in the UK, worth around $6.5 billion annually. In addition to BlueVoyant, the city has attracted Sky and Channel 4, as well as a multitude of start-ups and scale-ups. Investment is flowing into the city. Tech vacancies – and salaries – are increasing.
“BlueVoyant is excited to add its name to the list of tech companies in Northern England that are pushing the boundaries of innovation,” said Robert Hannigan, BlueVoyant’s head of international business and former director of GCHQ. “The UK remains a strategic priority for BlueVoyant. Our advanced ML brings clients across EMEA full-spectrum cyber defence to help solve their cybersecurity challenges.”
The new SOC is managed by Hollie Mowatt, a seasoned cybersecurity leader and director of SOC operations. What attracted her to Blue Voyant?
“I’ve worked at other managed cybersecurity services providers, but what appealed was the external as well as internal analysis. I got a bit fed up with being the person who told people that something bad had happened. I wanted to be with people who were going to prevent it and help clients understand overall risks rather than take a more piecemeal approach.”
Mowatt leads a young team, and is enthusiastic about the cybersecurity talent available locally – enthusiasm shared by the BlueVoyant C-suite. According to Milan Patel, Global Head of MDR, it’s the human element that distinguishes BlueVoyant.
“What makes the service different from a pure SaaS based solution is the human layer on top,” says Patel. “This is analysts reviewing and finding vulnerabilities in our customers’ vendor base. If given authority we can reach out to those vendors directly. What we find is a significant decrease in the number of vulnerabilities lurking in our customers’ vendor base, which would otherwise would be there for extended periods of time.”
Patel says about some of their larger customers:
“They want us to do the heavy lifting – the software, automation and people but they keep three or four highly skilled people that might have a background in forensics or incident response. The last mile they do on their own.”
An example of a customer doing just that present at the event was Beeks, which provides hardware, software and connectivity for global capital markets and financial services organisations. Oscar Neill, CISO at Beeks Group explains:
“It’s all about low latency trading, sub one millisecond trading environments,” he says.
BlueVoyant provide MDR for Beeks’ financial services clients. “We wanted to focus on moving the business forward in terms of security posture rather than dealing with day-to-day incidents,” he says.
“We could easily employ 10 people to look after operations and monitor things 24 x 7 but it’s not cost-effective for us to do that and it’s difficult to retain the talent to do it.”
Where does Neill think the biggest challenges lie right now?
“In the financial services world, supply chain is where the risks are. We’re seeing it with the new DORA regulation. Fines will start coming to force in terms of operation resilience in 2025, and third-party risk management is a key element of that.”
The globally connected nature of the financial institutions that form Beeks’ customer base constitutes real risk.
“We saw it with Solar Winds and Kaseya. We try to eliminate a lot of third-party risk by building a lot of our own software internally and apply known security frameworks like ISO27001 and SOC2.”
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