Declan Coombs, Partner, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Kerman Jasavala, Associate Partner, Healthcare & Life Sciences and Jason Finlayson, Associate Partner Cybersecurity Services, IBM Consulting

IBM has been selected by NHS England alongside Palo Alto Networks as the strategic partners for the next evolution of the NHS Secure Boundary service, strengthening cyber security across the healthcare perimeter system. 

IBM will lead on the migration of the existing service, onboarding of NHS organisations and management of the enhanced Secure Boundary service, leveraging their expertise in securing critical infrastructure. Palo Alto Networks will provide the advanced cloud-based security technology behind the solution. Together, IBM and Palo Alto Networks will as part of this NHSE Cyber offering, enable organisations to adopt this service, ensuring the nation benefits from secure, future-ready threat protection. 

NHS Secure Boundary will deliver an AI-enabled security capability designed to protect the NHS from digital disruption and support the safe, reliable continuation of patient care. It is designed to protect and filter internet traffic flowing to and from NHS organisations, helping to reduce cyber threats and keep systems secure. Designed to block digital threats, the service will help ensure that staff can access applications and the internet safely whilst keeping patients safe and protected from cyberattacks.

The new service, initially deployed across a significant proportion of NHS organisations, will introduce a modern, cloud-native cybersecurity platform that offers greater protection, flexibility, and local control than the previous generation. Its advanced architecture will combine AI-driven threat detection, built-in web application firewall protection, and broader connectivity options, including support for mobile and remote users. Organisations will benefit from centralised national threat intelligence and monitoring of Secure Boundary, which will be fully integrated with the NHS Cyber Security Operations Centre, while retaining traffic visibility and ability to tailor security policies locally.

As a centrally funded national service, it will remove the need for costly, compute-intensive local firewalls and multiple overlapping security products, delivering strong value for money and reducing operational overhead. By uniting continuous innovation, real-time threat prevention, and resilient cloud technology, the service is intended to help organisations stay ahead of evolving cyber risks, safeguard patient data, and minimise disruption to critical health and care services. The objective is a more resilient, efficient, and future-ready security foundation for the NHS.

Additional benefits will include:

• A core centrally funded national capability aligned to the NHS Defend as One approach in support of the NHS’ strategy of system-wide resilience and protection against cyber-attacks.  
• New capabilities and connectivity options, including greater local control and support for mobile users in the field.
• Local traffic decryption capabilities for organisations, enabling inspection without reliance on high-compute legacy perimeter firewalls, helping organisations reduce on-premise infrastructure, energy consumption, and environmental impact.
• A user driven value-add catalogue, enabling organisations to tailor elements of the service to local NHS organisation requirements.
• A structured approach to continuous innovation, ensuring the service evolves in line with user needs and the wider, dynamic cyber threat landscape.

NHS Secure Boundary is designed to meet the NHS’s cyber security needs today and evolve as threats change. It supports the NHS’s shift toward more community-based care by enabling staff to connect securely from any location and strengthening the move from analogue to digital services. By protecting sensitive data in transit, including information from monitoring devices and wearables, it helps clinicians spot issues earlier and act sooner. 

Rhodri Arrowsmith, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting UKI said: “IBM is proud to support NHS England as it delivers the next generation of the Secure Boundary service. Protecting vital national services requires a modern, scalable, and intelligence-led approach. By bringing together IBM’s experience, the NHS’s vision, and Palo Alto Networks advanced AI-driven technology, we’re helping to build a strong cyber-resilient foundation that allows clinicians and staff to focus on what matters most: providing outstanding patient care.”

Helmut Reisinger, CEO of EMEA at Palo Alto Networks said: "We are proud to work alongside IBM to bolster cyber resilience across the NHS, which will help protect the delivery of critical patient care. Palo Alto Networks AI-powered Prisma SASE is an essential part of the new Secure Boundary programme, and is integrated with the NHS England Cyber Operations Centre which will use it to defend clinical and business systems from emerging threats. We look forward to providing the NHS with an improved level of visibility and control over its environment as these are critical elements of building a future-ready security boundary."

A secure, resilient IT environment aims to allow frontline staff to deliver care with fewer cyber related interruptions, while strengthened threat detection, prevention, and response capabilities help protect the NHS from evolving threats and safeguard patient data. IBM and Palo Alto Networks will reinforce a safer, more resilient digital foundation for health and care services. 

Declan Coombs, Partner, Healthcare & Life Sciences

Jason Finlayson, Associate Partner, Cybersecurity Services

Kerman Jasavala, Healthcare & Life Sciences