Tech giant BT said it was "setting the bar really high" on its own cyber security as it hosted a major conference on the topic in Suffolk.

Top industry professionals gathered at BT's Adastral Park near Ipswich to consider how the sector should deal with the growing problem at its Secure Tomorrow festival.

They included guest speak and ex-intelligence officer Ben Owen of TV's Hunted series.

The communications group said it logs 2,000 signals of potential cyber attacks a second - or 200 million a day as it defends networks across the world.

BT Group chief executive Allison Kirkby told delegates about the efforts the company went to "get it right" in their own shop. "We are setting the bar really high internally," she said.

BT Business chief executive Bas Burger said companies wanted to be successful and all were either digitised or becoming so. "They know if I can't use my digital technology I won't be successful."

"It's the speed of evolution of new technology everybody is worried about," he said.

They were joined by BT's chief security and networks officer Howard Watson, chief digital and innovation officer Harmeen Mehta and security managing director Tris Morgan.

(Image: BT)

Mr Owen warned that hackers have become early adopters of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

UK organisations needed to match the hackers’ evolution by using advanced technology and tools such as BT’s security platform Eagle-i, which uses AI to predict, detect and neutralise cyber-attacks, he said. 

(Image: Sarah Chambers)

Data revealed at the festival showed web-connected devices are scanned more than 1,000 times a day by known malicious sources – an average of once every 90 seconds.

While some scans are conducted legitimately for security monitoring, three in four (78%) are not harmless.

These indicate hackers are looking for weaknesses in the online systems of businesses and essential public services as smart tech becomes common.

The figures show a 1,234% annual rise in new malicious internet protocol (IP) scanners recorded across BT’s networks in the 12 months to July.

IT, defence and financial services are the three most targeted industries - but sectors like retail, education, and hospitality are also finding themselves on the frontline.

“Businesses are connecting more devices and adopting new AI tools every day but hackers are using the same tech to break their defences," said Mr Owen.

"It’s an AI arms race that companies can’t afford to lose. Importantly, while advanced technology is set to boost the number of cyber-attacks and lower the bar for rookie criminals, it will not change their primary target – low-hanging fruit.

"Putting security first is the only way to protect businesses, their people and the economy.”