Cybersecurity dominated news headlines in 2016. As the threat landscape continues to evolve and expand, the IBM Security team in the U.K. and Ireland has been hard at work helping IT professionals across the globe stay one step ahead.

A Strong Start to 2016

We started the year with some important analyst recognition for our consultancy services: IBM was named a Leader in “The Forrester Wave: Information Security Consulting Services, Q1 2016” report in January. In February, IBM Security clients from the U.K. flocked to Las Vegas to take part in IBM InterConnect.

The following month, IBM’s Nick Coleman and Greg Davis were featured in Raconteur’s special report on cybersecurity. The report was distributed to 1.26 million readers through the Times National Newspaper.

Then, in April, IBM ran a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) preparedness workshop with five leading external industry experts. GDPR is an important topic for us, so we’ve planned more activities to address the challenges from a security point of view in 2017.

We actively encourage our team to share knowledge and insights on growing areas in security. One week in May, for example, three IBM employees in the U.K. published articles on blockchain, penetration testing and security for smart homes.

A Super Summer

IBM Security kicked off a fantastic June when it was named Best Security Company at the SC Magazine Awards Europe. IBM also won the Best Mobile Security Solution award for IBM MaaS360. During Infosecurity Europe, Peter Jopling recorded a podcast with the Information Security Media Group (ISMG) titled “IBM Brings ‘Watson’ Supercomputer to Cybersecurity Fight.”

A couple weeks later, Andy Murray won his second Wimbledon men’s singles title. In a bunker hidden underneath center court, IBM was working away to help protect Wimbledon from cyberattacks. Martin Borrett even took BBC Breakfast News behind the scenes to tell the story from the bunker.

Capping Off a Year of Achievements

In September, we were delighted to host Information Security Forum’s U.K. chapter meeting at our offices in Hursley. IBM was also a premier sponsor of the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit held in London.

IBM Business Connect: Security Leaders Day was a highlight of October. We welcomed over 80 security leaders and influential speakers in the security space, including Bruce Schneier, Misha Glenny and (ISC)2’s Adrian Davis, to the IBM Southbank London office.

The IBM Security family netted another award when Resilient won the Security Innovation of the Year honors at the V3 Technology Awards in London. To cap off 2016, Martin Borrett explained how IBM Watson is being trained to take on cybercriminals as we enter the cognitive computing era.

IBM Security Continues to Thrive in the UK and Ireland

IBM Security and its business partners participated in over 75 external events in the U.K. and Ireland in 2016. We increased our visibility, attracted and retained exceptional talent, and grew to over 250 employees. We will continue to work hard to build on our success in 2017.

Get more information on what IBM has to offer in the UK and Ireland