BT Chooses F-Secure to Power Its BT Cloud Online Storage

On Wednesday, it was announced that UK-based BT had selected F-Secure (News - Alert) to provide cloud technology for its BT Cloud service. End users will use the service as storage or backup for personal files, photos and other media.

Existing BT (News - Alert) broadband customers can sign up online to activate the cloud service at no extra charge. Customers can store up to 500GB depending on which level of service they choose. To use the cloud service, customers can download an application to their mobile device or PC. The app will take care of backing up and synchronizing all copies of the files.

Several factors influenced BT's decision to choose F-Select. F-Select has an extensive background as a solution provider for other service providers. Another reason was that F-Select provided a platform-independent solution for users of different devices and operating systems.

F-Secure was founded in Helsinki, Finland back in 1988. Originally, the company provided training and data solutions, but later shifted focus to anti-virus software. The company would eventually evolve into selling their security solutions as a service to network operators. The company headquarters remain in Helsinki and other offices are located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and San Jose, California.

A 2012 survey from GfK conducted for F-Secure in the UK revealed significant trends that would make a cloud service like BT Cloud compelling. Two-thirds of respondents said they trusted their broadband service provider when it came to storing their personal content. The value of such personal content was more valuable than the device it's stored on, according to 78 percent of users surveyed. Almost half had suffered a critical loss of data in the past.

The growth of backup and synchronization services can be seen in the States with the popularity of Dropbox (News - Alert), SugarSync and other similar providers. F-Secure not only has a solid background in security solutions, but also in adapting to changing trends. After seeing what user preferences were in the UK, they have positioned themselves to control a large portion of that market.