KCOM Regulatory News (KCOM)

Security and resilience of our networks and IT systems

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We place significant reliance on the networks and IT systems both within our business and in the services we provide to our customers. It is therefore essential that we build security and resilience into the networks and systems to mitigate the risk from attacks.

We continue to monitor closely any attempted attacks and take actions where necessary to ensure we have robust security in place. We have held the ISO 27001 Information Security Management standard since 2007 and comply also with other security standards as required by our customers. We have also made significant investment in our IT infrastructure to improve the resilience of our key systems.

Accuracy, security and confidentiality of customer data

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Security of customer data, whether it belongs to a business or an individual, is of paramount importance to us. The risk to data security remains high as a result of the volume of external attacks seen across all industries.

We have run an information security awareness programme throughout the year to regularly remind our people of the importance of information security and their responsibilities in relation to this. We have a clear Data Governance policy in place and in the year have appointed data governance owners across the business to form a virtual team with responsibility for all matters relating to data governance. Any incidents, however minor, are investigated and control improvements are implemented where necessary to ensure that we keep our customer data secure at all times.

Customer service and delivery

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Delivering exceptional service to our customers is one of our key strategic aims and therefore the risk of failing to do this is a key risk for us to mitigate.

We have continued to invest in our people and our systems to ensure that we have the right people in the right roles and that they have the right tools to provide an exceptional service. We also work closely with our partners to ensure that they are aligned with us in delivering the best service possible.

Recruitment and retention of the right people

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Recruiting and retaining the right people is crucial for the success of the Group in meeting our objectives. This applies not only to being able to recruit people who embody our values, but also to recruiting people with specific technical skills where needed, some of which may be in short supply. It also involves developing the skills in-house and creating internal mobility around deploying those skills.

We are focused on creating a workplace that both attracts and retains people with the skills and behaviour that we need. During the year we have created a competency framework which will help us identify skills gaps for recruitment, enable us to create more opportunities for personal growth development. It also links into our performance management to help us ensure we are identifying and rewarding the people that embody the competencies we need to drive the business forward.

Reliance on key partners and suppliers

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Our business model means that we work with several key partners to deliver service to our customers; they include Amazon Web Services, BT, Cisco, ForgeRock, Microsoft.

We have dedicated teams to work alongside our key partners and we monitor all of our partnerships closely to ensure that our partners embody our key values and we can work together to resolve any minor issues before they become significant. We also have multiple partners in key risk areas to mitigate the risk in the event of failure of one partner.