NEBRC Cyber Careers Lab 2024 - Sheffield

The North East Business Resilience Centre (NEBRC) are a not for profit, police-led, award winning organisation working to protect businesses in the North East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber from online crime. Our Centre brings together all of the police forces in these Regions, alongside universities, and private sector cybercrime and fraud experts.

The Centre's "Cyber Careers Lab Events" provide bi-annual networking opportunities for local students either currently studying or interested in studying cybersecurity. It is a free opportunity for students to meet their peers from other universities and hear from senior experts in the industry regarding career paths. The speakers will discuss their careers, answer questions and give top tips for those considering roles within the industry. The event is kindly hosted by Sheffield Hallam University, one of our partner Universities who are keen to help us support students with careers. All students from any local university are welcome to attend!

During this lab, there will be talks from:

• Martin Wilson, Detective Inspector at Durham Constabulary and Head of Student Services at the NEBRC.

• Ray Stone, Director and Cyber Security Specialist at Data Connect.

• Greg Cooper, Security Consultant at Pentest People.

Refreshments and food will be provided during the event over some networking time with peers and the speakers in attendance!

You can read more about the speakers from their biographies below.

Martin Wilson:

Detective Inspector Martin Wilson of Durham Constabulary has 19 years policing experience across various policing roles. Prior to joining the NEBRC, Martin was part of the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) where he specialised in Cyber Protect, Prevent and Prepare work streams, leading on new and innovative work, helping businesses understand and prepare for cyber-attack. Martin has recently obtained an MSc in Cyber Security with distinction and is currently undertaking a Ph.D. in small business cyber security at Abertay University.

Ray Stone:

Ray has worked in cyber security for over 18 years since leaving university after obtaining a degree in Networks and Communication Systems. Initially working within a Security Operations Centre (SOC), Ray focused on network-based threat hunting before the phrase was even popularised! It was here where Ray really got into defensive security technology focusing on Microsoft, Check Point and Cisco security stacks.

Since then Rayhave also worked on the offensive side of security as a SANs Institute and Tiger Scheme certified penetration tester involved in network, infrastructure and web application testing as well as performing Payment Card Industry assessments. Ray has lead and managed security teams in the design and implementation of various networking and security projects as a specialist security consultant for public authorities and private companies of all sizes covering various industry sectors.

Ray is familiar and experienced with various cyber security standards and frameworks including ISO27001, PCI, NIST and Cyber Essentials for which he is an NCSC certified Cyber Advisor. Security operations (SecOps) is also very important to Ray as someone who likes to get hands on with the actual implementation of security controls and working with specialist security technology.

Ray has founded a couple of cyber security focussed service providers and today he is the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at Data Connect Group which he co-founded in 2017. At Data Connect Group we are focussed on helping organisations create and achieve their strategic agendas for improving cyber security.

Greg Cooper:

Having transitioned from working in traffic management and attending university, Greg earned a place on a graduate programme. He has since become part of the team of consultants at Pentest People and has also gained his qualification as a Cyber Scheme Team Member. Greg has gained experience through his extensive involvement in conducting web application and infrastructure testing. In addition to his virtual security experience, Greg has partaken in a series of physical intrusion assessments, affording him an understanding of physical security measures. This multifaceted skill set empowers Greg to integrate cyber and physical security strategies seamlessly, providing robust and holistic organisational protection.

Host or Publisher NEBRC