BT Group expanded its partnership with cloud specialist Zscaler, an agreement enabling the operator to boost its enterprise security services based on the latter’s AI-powered platform.

In an announcement, BT explained the managed security solutions will reduce IT infrastructure complexity and protect customers from cyberattacks and data loss by “securely connecting users, devices and applications anywhere”.

The offering features three functionalities covering: a secure web gateway which delivers a cloud-native, AI-powered threat protection and zero trust access to the internet and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps; a cloud-native service giving users secure access to private apps and Operational Technology (OT) hardware and “digital experiences providing visibility into the complete path between the user and app to pinpoint performance issues”.

BT claimed Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform deploys AI-driven insights, analysing more than 400 billion daily transactions and extracts more than 500 million signals.

Zscaler, which has been a long-term partner of BT will also provide the UK-based company with solutions to protect its own operation.

“With digital innovations constantly changing how businesses operate, the threat landscape continues to expand,” said Tris Morgan, managing director for security at BT, adding the extended partnership allows it to provide “new zero trust cybersecurity solutions for customers and making sure we’ve got their back as they go through their digital transformation”.