For the first time since 2021, the final quarter of 2024 was not the most prolific period of the year for cyberattacks. The attack rate peaked at 2,192 per day in the third quarter of 2024 before declining to 2,063 per day in Q4. Despite this reduction, the final three months of 2024 were only the third quarter on record when the average number of cyberattacks encountered by UK businesses exceeded 2,000 a day.

Previously, 2023 was the worst year on record for cyberattacks on UK businesses, when companies encountered an average of 720,252 malicious attempts to breach their systems each. Before 2024, the average number of attacks in a single quarter had only exceeded 2,000 in Q4 2023.

Remote IoT devices attract most cyberattacks 

Hackers attacked remotely controlled devices connected to the Internet of Things most frequently in 2024. Business firewalls encountered more than 161 daily attacks targeting applications such as building control systems, security cameras, networked printers, remote monitoring, and industrial automation systems. 

Web applications, remote desktop software, and company databases were also frequently targeted, with businesses typically attracting more than 20 individual attacks daily for each of these systems in 2024.

Beaming tracks a quarter of hackers to locations in China

Beaming’s analysts identified over a million IP addresses being used to launch cyberattacks on UK businesses in 2024 and traced almost a quarter (241,019) of them to locations in China. Beaming also identified significant and increasing volumes of cyberattacks that appeared to come from areas inside India (87,144 attacking IP addresses) and the USA (81,112) in 2024.

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming, said: “The rise of automated cyberattacks means the internet has never been more dangerous, and we expect it will become even more so as hackers use AI. The good news is that we are not seeing record numbers of companies crippled by hackers because businesses have got better at protecting themselves and ISPs such as Beaming are working hard to prevent malicious activity at a network level.”

The Comms Council UK, which represents the United Kingdom’s national Unified Communications and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has today announced that they’ve appointed new Chair, Tracey Wright, to replace Eli Katz, who, after 20 long years of service, stepped down as Chair on the 6th of January 2025.

Tracey has been selected by CCUK’s Council in light of her past contributions to the association and industry. These include leading CCUK’s Industry Developments Working Group, and co-founding the Women in Telecoms group, which now supports 188 members. She will act as Chair in a voluntary capacity, leading the Council in acting as the voice of advanced communications in the UK, alongside her role as MD of Magrathea, a CCUK member.

Meanwhile, Eli Katz has been conferred with the title of Lifetime President by the CCUK Council. Eli’s tenure began with the establishment of CCUK (then known as ITSPA) in 2005, with him overseeing the association’s significant growth from a founding group of 12 members to its current thriving community of 100 companies. These include network operators, service providers, consultants and more.

Tracey Wright, Chair of CCUK, said:

“I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of Chair in an exciting year for CCUK as we celebrate our 20th anniversary. I’ve been involved in the association from the beginning, and we’ve gone from strength to strength; with a whole lot more to come in 2025. Alongside some celebrations and reminiscing, I will ensure that CCUK remains a leading voice in the sector as the UK moves to all-IP communications and remain laser-focused on key issues for our sector, including fraud, the upcoming Fixed Voice Telecoms Market Review and continuing to champion women in telecoms.”

Little-known fixed wireless ISP Kijoma Broadband (Kijoma Solutions), which generally covers rural parts of West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire in England, appears to have vanished (including email and website) after appearing to suffer a service outage that started just before 9am yesterday morning.

Firstly, there’s a good chance that many of our current readers might never have heard of Kijoma, which wouldn’t be surprising as the last time we had anything to report on them was a decade ago. But despite the market’s many changes, the little provider has continued to operate, and their most recent micro company accounts show that they’re home to just two employees with £154.4k in capital and reserves (down from £174.6k in 2022)

However, Thinkbroadband reported last night that the ISP was being impacted by a service outage that started yesterday morning and is still ongoing, which they claim could possibly be due to an outage on one of the operator’s backhaul (capacity) links. The situation also appears to have taken Kijoma’s website and email offline.

At the time of writing, the provider has not issued any public service updates about the situation via their social media channels (these haven’t seen any posts for years – see on X and LinkedIn). We have attempted to contact the provider via LinkedIn for a comment and will report back if they respond.

Customers of budget internet provider TalkTalk, specifically those who take their Pay TV service, have had it confirmed that the ISP will be phasing out their single billing integration of Sky’s NOW TV streaming service (i.e. customers will no longer be able to add NOW TV Plans to a single bill from the ISP). Netflix integration was also removed last month.

The change was first spotted earlier last month after several of the ISP’s customers noticed (community forum) that they could no longer add NOW TV’s streaming plans (e.g. NOW TV Entertainment or Cinema) to their existing TalkTalk service (credits to one of our readers, Mehran, for the news tip).

As one customer, Nick_89, asked: “Why has TalkTalk taken the decision to end the association with Now TV because if I make any changes to the Now boosts I won’t be able to get them back. Does TalkTalk really think people will sign up for what is essentially a Freeview plus box for £5 per month? It’s Freeview! Most TV’s have the apps that are on the TalkTalk TV box anyway.”

According to a member of TalkTalk’s support team, the ability to add both Netflix and NOW TV to an existing TalkTalk bill/account has now “been withdrawn” and is “no longer available” (i.e. customers would need to go directly to NOW TV in order to add a subscription): “For now, existing subscribers will still continue, however this will be phased out at some point in the new year. Customers will be contacted beforehand when this happens. As yet I have no dates for this“.

A spokesperson for TalkTalk told ISPreview:

“We regularly change the offers available to our customers. We do not currently have any NOW or Netflix deals available with TalkTalk TV, but customers can continue to access these streaming services through their TalkTalk TV device. TalkTalk TV customers with an existing NOW or Netflix subscription via TalkTalk can continue to use their package.”

The mention of Netflix above relates to the fact that the ability of existing customers to be billed for this through TalkTalk was separately stopped on 9th December 2024. In a brief web update, Netflix said (here): “Netflix billing through TalkTalk is not available for new or rejoining customers and will be unavailable for existing customers as of December 9, 2024. If you are currently billed by TalkTalk, you need to update your payment method to continue enjoying Netflix.”

News

Conservative MP John Hayes has asked Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to refer the enquiry to the newly appointed Covid corruption commissioner

Back in December, a group of franchisee’s running Vodafone’s high street shops in the UK filed a court case against the operator, claiming the company had “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense.

The case itself primarily revolves around cuts to commission Vodafone introduced in 2020, during the height of the coronavirus crisis. At this time, with the high streets largely deserted, many of the franchisees applied for support in the form of governmental financial assistance to keep their businesses afloat. The claimants allege that Vodafone used its knowledge of this financial support to subsequently slash commission rates paid to franchisees – in effect, absorbing the benefits of the government relief funding.

The claimants also say they were also forced by Vodafone to pay large fines for minor administrative errors.

Many franchisees say these actions pushed their businesses into the red, often forcing them to take out further loans to stay afloat.

In total, 61 of Vodafone’s roughly 150 franchise operators are part of the lawsuit, which is seeking over £120 million in compensation.

In a letter this week, Conservative MP John Hayes has asked Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to refer Vodafone and the case to Tom Hayhoe, the newly appointed Covid corruption commissioner.

In this novel position, Hayhoe has the power to investigate misuses of public funds during the pandemic. This will primarily focus on the fraudulent procurement of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), but also includes scope for investigating cases related to business grants and other government support schemes.

Vodafone says that it “strongly refutes” claims that the company “unjustly enriched” by exploiting government funding.

In a statement to The Guardian, the operator said that its internal investigations into the matter had “concluded that some actions between Vodafone and franchise partners had not always adhered to the standards we expect, however no evidence of misconduct was found”.

The Business Secretary has yet to deliver an official response.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news from around the world with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
VEON and Starlink to launch Direct-to-Cell Satellite connectivity in Ukraine
Swisscom completes acquisition of Vodafone Italia
Equinix to buy BT’s Irish data centre business for €59m

News 

The funding aims to close the digital divide, giving rural residents the same opportunities as urban areas 

The UK government has announced the latest tranche of Project Gigabit funding, with £289 million in contracts being won by Openreach to bring high-speed broadband to some of Britain’s most isolated areas under the ongoing Project Gigabit. 

The four contracts targets areas including the Dee Valley, the Isle of Anglesey, Shropshire Hills, and regions in North and Southwest Wales, Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Essex, Northeast England, and Worcestershire. 

The contract will see Openreach deploy fibre-to-the-home networks across included areas, offering faster speeds and greater reliability for residents.  

In total, around 131,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses are expected to benefit from improved connectivity.  

“We are determined to deliver the infrastructure this country needs to thrive, and I am thrilled to see so many homes and businesses in all areas of the country getting access to the fastest broadband speeds on the market through Project Gigabit,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle in a press release. 

“With today’s £289 million investment, we are not only boosting connectivity, but making it easier to access remote healthcare, online education, shopping online. As part of this government’s Plan for Change, we will plug digital divides, helping to make the UK a more equal society where everyone is given a fair shot in life.” 

For Openreach, these latest contracts add to the £800 million won by the company back in August, which pledged to pass 96,600 rural homes and businesses. “Our Full Fibre network already reaches over half the UK, and we aim for 30 million premises by 2030. This investment ensures rural areas won’t be left behind,” said Openreach CEO Clive Selley. 

Currently, over 85% of the UK can access gigabit-capable broadband, a figure the government aims to raise to full national coverage by 2030. Since Project Gigabit’s establishment in 2018, over £2.2 billion has been committed through dozens of contracts involving a mix of large and independent broadband providers. 

Join us at this year’s Connected North, 23-24 April in Manchester. Get discounted tickets here! 

Also in the news:
Microsoft earmarks $80bn for AI data centres in 2025
Digital Edge bags $1.6bn in data centre expansion funding
Amazon readies entry to UK satellite broadband market with Project Kuiper  

News  

Italy is in advanced negotiations with SpaceX for a €1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) contract to enhance the country’s telecoms security, according to media reports 

The proposed five-year deal will focus on implementing encrypted government communications, enhancing military operations in the Mediterranean, and providing satellite services for emergency responses to natural disasters or security threats. 

As part of the deal, SpaceX’s Starlink system will be deployed to boost connectivity across the country, with a particular focus on underserved regions where high-speed internet access is limited. 

The agreement includes plans to test Starlink’s satellite services as early as this month.  

The initiative is part of a broader strategy by the Italian government to address the digital divide and improve nationwide access to reliable and fast internet services. 

The partnership with SpaceX is the latest step in the deepening relationship between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and tech billionaire Elon Musk, something that may prove invaluable as the latter is set to play a key role in the incoming Trump administration.  

Meloni has also recently returned from a trip to visit Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, over the weekend. 

The Italian government has confirmed that discussions with SpaceX are ongoing but stressed that a deal has not been reached yet

“The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business,” the government said. 

Last month, Ukrainian telecoms group VEON has announced a new partnership with Starlink, a division of SpaceX, to bring direct-to-cell satellite connectivity to Ukraine.   

The deal will see Kyivstar, VEON’s Ukrainian subsidiary, offer these satellite-based connectivity services to its customers across the country.  

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter  

Also in the news:
Microsoft earmarks $80bn for AI data centres in 2025
Digital Edge bags $1.6bn in data centre expansion funding
Amazon readies entry to UK satellite broadband market with Project Kuiper  

Press Release

Brightspeed, one of the nation’s largest fiber broadband builders focused on empowering more homes with ultrafast, reliable internet, today announced its multi-gig-speed network has passed approximately 1.82 million locations — surpassing its year-end goal of 1.75 million fiber-enabled premises across its 20-state footprint. The company rolled out more than 17,600 miles of fiber cable in 2024 bringing the total fiber deployed since the build launch to more than 103,000 miles. Brightspeed’s high-speed internet service is available immediately for installations to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in more than 160 communities, empowering more customers who lack quality connectivity options with ultrafast, reliable internet.

“When we launched in 2022, we made a multi-billion-dollar investment and a pledge to bring transformative fiber broadband connections to the communities we serve. 2024 proved to be a milestone year for us,” said Brightspeed CEO Tom Maguire. “Our well-planned execution and the landmark reinvestment and support from our financial stakeholders has paid off, generating the momentum to move closer to achieving our upsized goal of passing more than four million locations with our fiber network build across our territories. With our proven operational expertise, we are well-positioned to exceed our goal.”

“I am incredibly proud of our team members in the field who have stepped up to the challenge to reach millions of locations with our fiber network by working with local municipalities and constructing efficiently, all while continuing to serve our current customers,” said Brightspeed Chief Operating Officer Manny Sampedro. “Various storms and hurricanes in 2024 severely impacted many of our customers across our southern communities and our teams worked around the clock to restore their services. Thanks to our industry-leading cloud platforms these challenges didn’t interrupt our end-to-end fiber network construction workflows helping us deliver fully connected homes and businesses to our customers — many more than we expected.”

The company is actively building its Brightspeed Fiber Internet network in 17 states, leveraging the latest XGS-PON (10-Gigabit Symmetric Passive Optical Network) technology to deliver multi-gig-speed symmetrical upload and download capabilities. The technology provides consistent responsiveness that enables multi-device households to connect, work, study, stream, communicate and game efficiently and reliably. Brightspeed Fiber Internet service plans also include a Wi-Fi router, ensuring optimal speed and performance in every room of today’s device-dense homes and offices.

High-speed internet equals opportunity for households and businesses alike, and access to fast, reliable and affordable internet and Wi-Fi will help close the rural-urban digital divide. In addition to Brightspeed’s multi-billion-dollar investment in deploying next-generation fiber-optic technology, the company has been awarded more than $238 million in local, state and federal broadband grants and funding, which includes the company’s first BEAD program award from the state of Louisiana. These local, state and federal investments will expand the company’s planned network build by nearly 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed continues to pursue state and federal grants and funds to further augment its planned build in the states that it serves, including BEAD program funding.

Families and businesses across our footprint are seeing more Brightspeed trucks in their local neighborhoods as crews work to bring families and businesses online. Customers can check for fiber availability in their area by visiting www.brightspeed.com/brightspeed-fiber-internet/ and sign up to receive alerts when service is available at their location.

Meet Brightspeed
Brightspeed are Gold sponsors of the Broadband Communities Summit taking place on June 23rd – 25th, 2025 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Texas. Find out more about how to get involved on the website bbcmag.com/summit

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today revealed that broadband usage across their UK network increased by 10.5% in 2024 (higher than the c.9% recorded for 2023 and 2.5% in 2022) to total 103,590 PetaBytes (PB) of data, with December 2024 being the “busiest month of the year for broadband traffic” (1st Dec 2024 was the busiest day).

The operator typically supplies numerous broadband ISPs (e.g. TalkTalk, BT, Sky Broadband and hundreds more) across the country and as such their platform often sees the impact of major events, such as big software updates, online video game releases or live video streaming and sporting events.

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said: “Fast, reliable connectivity is essential for the UK, and the increased traffic on our broadband network is evidence that customers are increasingly reliant on it in their daily lives.” In order to help underline this point, the operator has included a bullet point summary with some of the key traffic trends they saw during 2024, which we’ve summarised below.

Just remember that demand for data is of course constantly rising and home broadband connections are forever getting faster, thus new peaks of usage are being set all the time by every ISP and network operator.

Key findings for the UK’s broadband use during 2024 include: 

• The busiest day across the Openreach network was Sunday, December 1st, when 405 PB of data was consumed. This was unusually high due to a surge in online spending as people sought ‘Black Friday’ bargains, and downloaded the latest content update for popular online multi-player game, Fortnite.
• The 2^nd busiest day was Thursday 26^th December, which was due to new gaming consoles being used, and 8 Premier league games being streamed on Amazon Prime. More than 367 PB of data was consumed across the Openreach network.
• The next busiest day was Sunday November 24th, when 355 PB of data was consumed.
• The busiest months in 2024 were December at a usage of 9,707 PB, an 8.5% rise on December 2023 and November at 8,953 PB – an 8% increase on November 2023.
• The busiest day of the week is typically a Sunday.
• The busiest time on the network is usually between 8pm and 10pm
• The busiest hour during the festive period was between 20:00 and 21:00 on the 26^th December.
• Live football (Amazon Prime) and online gaming continue to have the greatest impact on UK’s broadband consumption.

Separately, Ofcom recently reported that the average monthly fixed broadband data usage is now 531GB (GigaBytes) per connection across “all technologies“, which rises to an average of 766GB when only looking at full-fibre connections. However, due to a change in the regulator’s methodology, we can’t compare this with the previous year’s results.

Press Release

A ten-fold increase in customers in the space of a year has led Red Helix, a market leader in cyber security and network performance, to invest £1million in expanding the capacity of its UK-based 24/7 security operations centre (SOC), increasing headcount by 150%. The company expects its SOC team to grow further in 2025, as demand for its specialised cyber services continues to soar.

Despite the global cyber skills shortage, Red Helix has been successful in recruiting and retaining SOC analysts who understand real-world security in small and medium-sized companies. The investment has been dedicated to creating innovative workspaces to support this talent, building a first-class team, and deploying an integrated suite of tools to ensure Red Helix can continue delivering industry-leading cyber security services tailored to the unique needs of SMEs.

Since its launch, Red Helix’s round-the-clock SOC coverage has brought enterprise-level security to the small and medium-sized businesses that often lack the in-house skills or resources to evaluate, integrate, and manage the security platforms they need.

As Red Helix CEO, Marion Stewart explained, “Our mission is to bridge the gap between the needs of small to medium businesses and the high-degree of complexity in security solutions they need – which are usually only accessible to larger enterprises.”

“By investing in our SOC,” she continued, “we’re able to protect more UK businesses from ever-evolving cyber threats. For many SMEs, one breach could jeopardise the entire company. Moreover, as small suppliers can be targeted to reach larger enterprises, there’s increased pressure on all supply chain members to uphold strong security. Each member of our SOC team understands the critical role our services play in protecting businesses from cyber disruptions. They are dedicated to providing proactive, reliable security, giving companies confidence that they’re in safe hands.”

The SOC, based at Red Helix HQ in Buckinghamshire, combines best-of-breed technologies with human expertise and provides a service that protects companies’ users, devices, networks, data, and applications in cloud, on-premise and hybrid environments. Through the company’s innovative pod structure, its team of analysts gain an in-depth understanding of each client’s systems and behavioural patterns. They then configure tailored triggers to detect anomalies and security breaches, taking swift and appropriate action as required.

“Taylor Howse, Cyber Security Analyst at Red Helix, said, “We equip our skilled SOC team with top-tier tools to deliver exceptional service. In the ever-evolving cyber world, every day brings new challenges, so staying ahead of threats requires constant readiness. Our structured training ensures we’re prepared. Each day, I analyse security logs and investigate anomalies – not just because I love the work, but also because Red Helix plays a vital role in safeguarding our customers’ environments, and being a part of that is hugely rewarding.”

The expansion of the SOC team comes as Red Helix continues its growth trajectory, having recently announced the appointed former British Army officer, Tom Exelby, as its new Head of Cyber Security. The company was also named as one of the top 40 cyber security companies in the UK and Europe 2024 by TechRound.