BT has signed a deal with Rackspace Technology, the terms of which will see the UK incumbent operator basing its hybrid cloud services for multinational companies on Rackspace's technology in BT data centers.

The UK government is proposing new measures to raise security standards in the outsourced IT services used by many British businesses and to improve the way organizations report cybersecurity breaches. Under the proposals, firms providing essential digital services will face large fines if they fail to comply with their cybersecurity obligations. The plans follow recent high-profile cyber incidents such as the cyberattack on SolarWinds and on Microsoft Exchange Servers, which showed that vulnerabilities in the third-party products and services used by businesses can be exploited by cybercriminals and hostile states.

Maybe the Swiss government quickly needs to come up with some similar proposals: The Geneva-based International Red Cross has been hit with a cyberattack that has compromised the personal data of more than 515,000 highly vulnerable people, including those separated from their families due to conflict. As the Guardian reports, the hackers homed in on an external Swiss company that the Red Cross used to store its data.

Telia Carrier has rebranded as Arelion, an assemblage of letters which, according to the Swedish company, burnishes its credentials as a provider of connectivity services to the world's largest operators. In the purple prose of the press release, Arelion is "a reflection of the power, agility and passion we bring to the world … At its heart lies the English adjective 'reliable', and it takes inspiration from the strength, beauty and light of the names given to stars and constellations such as Aldebaran, Sirius and Orion." So there you are – and it sounds absolutely nothing like a new brand of washing powder. Got that?

UK mobile operator EE is hoping that six months' worth of "free" Apple TV and Apple Arcade (the gaming thing) can lure more customers into the fold. EE had already offered six months' worth of Apple Music and Apple News+ as enticements.

Orange Slovakia's data center, Orange TechPark, has a new client in the shape of Tatra Banka, a Slovakian bank. The relocation of the bank's data center took around two years, and because of COVID-19 had to be carried out with any face-to-face meetings.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading