Internet security for Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council is now being provided through a managed services partnership with public sector digital specialist TNP.
The move is designed to deliver greater value for local stakeholders while maintaining optimum protection for the council’s digital infrastructure.
Security pressures
Management of the main digital infrastructure for Trafford Council will remain in-house, but the new partnership arrangement to manage security reflects the intense pressure on local authorities to retain the expertise required to safeguard digital services.
The contract scope for TNP involves developing and maintaining a cyber-security strategy in conjunction with Trafford Council to demonstrate framework compliance. It includes the implementation of continuous antivirus application control, and intrusion monitoring, detection and alerts based on Fortinet technologies, with a direct link to TNP’s Security Operations Centre ensuring an immediate response.
TNP will analyse and monitor traffic trends to aid capacity planning and reporting, maintain daily backups of the firewalls and all security appliances, and automatically back up appliance configurations.
TNP’s lead consultant to Trafford Council will act as an extension of the council’s team to provide advice across all matters within Trafford’s networking and security landscape.
In demand
Cllr Laura Evans, Executive Member for Transformation and Resources said: “Security specialists are increasingly in demand for both the public and private sectors. That makes partnering with a specialist provider to manage security an attractive option for Trafford Council to deliver high calibre cost-effective support. We are not prepared to compromise on cyber security and will continue to maintain the highest standards of protection and resilience for our own services and the wider community.”
TNP commercial director, Chris Wade added: “Key elements for safeguarding a digital system are constantly monitoring its performance, ensuring the latest updates are in place, and having the resources to deal quickly and decisively with incidents which arise, to maintain the service and neutralise threats.
“Digital security is particularly important for local authorities with the increasing move to cloud-based support services and software packages, alongside the focus on safeguarding users of the council’s internet services within the local community.”
Related reading
Government heads to the top of the Cyber Attack List
New research reveals that cyber attacks on the government sector doubled in 2016
Greater Manchester Police fined for losing interview videos
Greater Manchester Police has been fined £150,000 after three DVDs containing footage of interviews with victims of violent or sexual crimes got lost in the post
Personal data of millions put at risk by councils with no disaster recovery plan
Research reveals personal data of 3.5million citizens put at risk by councils with no disaster recovery plan
Hull City Council to introduce Digital Enablement Suite
Partnership will facilitate the roll-out of a Digital Enablement Suite to increase the efficiency of back office automation
