Former spy gives cyber security tips

TO FIND NEXT CROP OF EXPERTS

A FORMER spy boss is urging the region’s bosses to look within their own organisations for the next generation of cyber security experts.

Robert Hannigan, former head of GCHQ, believes hobbyist coders and tech fans could plug the cyber security skills gap.

Speaking at the recent IP Expo conference in Manchester, Hannigan said: “There is a lot of doom and gloom about the lack of skills. There’s things the government needs to do, getting the curriculum right, but in the short term we need to be cleverer about identifying the aptitude.

“There are a lot of people in every company who do tech at home in the evening or weekend, who enjoy it. We need to tap that pool rather than wait for 10 years for the next generation.”

Hannigan, who served as director of GCHQ from 2014 until last year, is now using his expertise in the private sector.

“Most of my career, including now in the private sector, I have been with organisations or clients who are either really worried about cyber security, as they should be, or recovering from an attack,” he said.

“The last thing you say to them is that ‘it is exciting,’ but to a lot of people in here and the wider industry, it is. Not just because of the commercial opportunities but because these issues are problems to solve - and we are all problem solvers.”

Hannigan says cyber crime is increasing in volume and sophistication, and no one is immune from its potential destruction.

The solution, Hannigan claims, or at least part of it, is making cyber security a priority and investing in tech and skills.

“Doing the basics right is the best way to protect yourself from 80-90 per cent of the threats,” he said. “We need multi level layer security and to prepare for a successful attack - it’s the only way.”

Hannigan says there has been a notable cultural change in businesses taking cyber security seriously. “Ten years ago when I was going around to boardrooms trying to get people interested in cyber security, it was quite tough because the response you got was that this was a job for the IT department,” he said. “That has changed radically. “When I talk to CEOs, at banks for example, they are experiencing the opposite, a level of interest from the board that is not always welcome, but the good news is that it is being taken seriously and now there is investment going in.”

IP EXPO Manchester, now in its fourth year, covered the latest developments in cloud and IoT, cyber security, networks and infrastructure, data and analytics, DevOps and AI.

It returns to Manchester Central on April 3 to 4, 2019.