Digital Forensics Magazine

UK Cyber Security Council Hosts International Women’s Day Event To Celebrate Vital Role Women Play In The Sector

Posted on 1 March 2022 by DFMTeam

Ahead of International Women’s Day (8^th March), The UK Cyber Security Council has revealed how a more diverse workforce can plug the cyber industry’s skills gap and bolster the UK’s resilience against online threats.

With an ambition to ensure the UK becomes the safest place to live and work online, the UK Cyber Security Council has partnered with Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS UK) for an event on 8th March 2022.

Exploring sector diversity and barriers to entry, the virtual sessions will hear from high-profile individuals working within cyber, which aims to inspire current practitioners and educate potential entrants to the industry.

The event will be chaired by Laura Wellstead (WiCyS), with keynote talks given by thought leaders from across the industry, including Dr Claudia Natanson (Chair, UK Cyber Security Council), Lindy Cameron (CEO, NCSC) and Angelique Faye Loe (Head of Cryptography, Jaguar Land Rover).

Although the UK’s cyber sector employs an estimated 52,700 individuals, diversity has been identified as a key area of growth as the sector tackles increased cyber risks. An estimated 16 percent of the workforce are women, 17 percent come from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and just 9 percent self-describe as being neurodiverse.

According to the UK Cyber Security Council, the importance of the sector is growing exponentially in line with our increasingly connected and digital lives, however increased demand has also created a skills gap. The Council believes overcoming barriers to entry and a push for greater diversity is a pivotal issue for the sector which, if overlooked, could leave the country more vulnerable to future cyber-attacks.

The UK Cyber Security Council’s CEO, Simon Hepburn, said: “One of the government’s key aims is to establish the UK as one of the safest places to live and do business online and to do that, the Council will work to bridge the industry’s skills gap.“

An intrinsic element for that ambition will be for the Council to help remove barriers for entry, helping individuals across a broad range of demographics and backgrounds to recognise just how rewarding a career in the sector can be.”

Despite contributing £5.3 billion in GVA to the UK economy, there is an annual reported shortfall of 10,000 practitioners within the industry, and half of businesses in the UK report a basic skills gap when it comes to cyber, despite the increasing importance of digital resilience to counter threats.

Dr. Claudia Natanson, The UK Cyber Security Council’s Chair, said: “We want the sector to be truly representative of all sections of society, and for every employee, contractor or supplier to feel acknowledged, respected and able to be their best”.

Dr Claudia Natanson (Chair, UK Cyber Security Council)

Ethics aside, it also makes for a compelling business argument. According to a recent study by Cleverpop, more gender-diverse teams make better business decisions due to fresh perspectives being brought to the table.

In addition to worsening the sector’s skills gap, a less diverse workforce can stifle innovation and can lead to intrinsic biases within organisations, which cyber criminals can, and will, take full advantage of.

The sector has a long way to go to achieve gender parity, but we’re excited to be partnering with WiCyS for this event to take initial steps to overcome the problems. It’ll be a great session for people to engage with each other, learn more about routes into the profession, career development opportunities and best practice in this exciting industry.

Formed as the voice of the UK’s cyber security profession, the Council provides broad representation for the industry and promotes excellence across the profession. In accordance with the UK government’s National Cyber Security Strategy, its role is to develop, promote and align professional standards, and encourage progression along cyber security career paths.

For more information on the UK Cyber Security Council, please visit:https://www.ukcybersecuritycouncil.org.uk/events

And to sign up to the International Women’s Day event, please visit:
https://hopin.com/events/uk-cyber-security-council-iwd

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Digital Forensics Magazine Survey

Posted on 6 July 2010 by Admin

As part of the Training & Education theme for Issue 5 Digital Forensics Magazine is carrying out a global survey. The survey asks digital forensic practitioners around the world to complete the survey with a view to ascertain the level of qualifications held.

The survey investigates the thoughts of practitioners on what they believe are the core competencies required of a digital forensics practitioner. They are also asking what knowledge would be required if there were practitioners graded at basic, intermediate and advanced levels.

Tony Campbell, one of the DFM publishing team said, “By asking the practitioners opinions with regard to international standards on training we hope to inform the debate going on in a number of forums on this topic.

The survey will be open over the next 3 months and we are encouraging all parties with a vested interest in the subject to take the survey to help us all understand the current status of training and education in Digital Forensics and shape the future. This is your profession, help us inform and guide those that are setting standards and making decisions about our profession. “

Readers are urged to take the 3 minute survey today at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dfm to make sure their thoughts and opinions are captured.

A summary of the results will be released in forthcoming monthly newsletters available to Digital Forensics Magazine newsletter subscribers, and the main findings will form the basis of an article in the main magazine published later this year.

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5 Reasons for Digital Forensic Examiners to Use Content Marketing

Posted on 18 June 2010 by Admin

For the Issue 3 (May 2010) of Digital Forensics magazine’s newsletter, I posted a short article about content marketing, the best way to share your expertise with clients and prospects alike. Here, I want to go into more detail about each of the five points I raised.

1) The people you serve come to trust you. Content shows the thinking that drives the service, the combination of knowledge and personality that sets you apart from competitors. These days, it’s not just the product that’s valuable enough anymore. Customers are cynical about being “sold to,” and in the event that your product doesn’t quite meet expectations, it’s important to provide value in different ways so that your customers will keep the faith that the next time around, you’ll improve.

Of course, this begs the point that you know in advance what content your customers (and prospects) need. This kind of market research can come down to Internet polls, informal surveys or interviews, social media monitoring, and other means of information gathering. It can come from your most loyal customers – who are usually more familiar than anyone else with how your product or service solves their problems – and from your most coveted prospects, which may appreciate challenging you to help them. The best content is tailored to each group’s specific needs.

2) Social media make it easy to share. Whether a slide or video presentation on SlideShare or Prezi, a white paper on Scribd or DocStoc, or customer success stories on YouTube or your blog, your content is now available to a wider community.

This can be very important when you’re targeting different market segments. One of the most popular social sites for digital forensics examiners is Twitter, and to be part of this community is a good idea. But what if you’re not selling directly to examiners? What if, instead, you’re selling to law firms or banks or small businesses? You’d want to find the social sites they’re on, become part of their communities too, rather than expect them to come to yours.

Content variety is also important from the standpoint of search engine optimization. YouTube is a particularly powerful SEO, so video content tagged with those all-important keywords, embedded on your website, can potentially accomplish two things: 1) drive traffic back to your site and 2) raise your site’s search rankings.

Just make sure the keywords you choose are the ones your customers are actually using, or are likely to use. (Hint: if you’re using Google Analytics to track site performance, take a look at the searched-on keywords that brought people there.)

3) You can highlight new or underrated aspects of what you are doing. This is the “marketing” side of content marketing – what services help your market, and why?

This goes hand in hand with #2 above, but also with #1, as it helps both existing clients and prospects get to know you better. However, be careful not to “sell,” but rather to educate, to show people how the products or services solve their problems both large and small. A case study about how data recovery helped a small business recover from a breach, or about how a customer got creative and figured out how to use your software in ways you never anticipated, does the “heavy lifting” in terms of showing – not just telling – about the relevance you have to the market.

4) You can highlight problems your community or target market is facing. What do you get the most calls about? What kinds of cases do you most frequently work on, involving what types of technology?

As with #3, here it’s important to educate. Without giving up clients’ or citizens’ identities, you can talk in general terms about an interesting question involving employees’ personal digital devices in the workplace, or trends you see among victims of a certain type of crime (for example, identity theft), or even little known, but important facts about investigations, security, and so forth.

5) An ounce of prevention… show people how to protect themselves, and they’ll call you just when they really need you. That saves time and money, along with your staff’s brainpower, for true challenges!

Back to #1 and trust building. It’s easy to get frustrated with victims. “Don’t they know better?” you might complain after your password-integrity training falls on deaf ears, or the media has been covering identity theft extensively, yet you still get calls from people with drained bank accounts or maxed-out credit cards.

People hear and process information differently, so use your cases (where feasible) to improve your training. Use a series of short blogs or video entries to focus in on specific aspects of password integrity, or target identity theft education to small groups in your community – teenagers, seniors, parents, and business owners.

Talk to them using language and concepts they understand, and they’ll not only remember the information, but you’ll be the one they call when their best efforts fail.

Content marketing is well worth the time and effort put into it. If you know your subject and can present it for average people to understand, you’ll build loyalty for the long term. Do create a schedule for regular content production, do know who in your organization is most capable of producing the highest quality content, and do integrate the content into your other marketing efforts.

By Christa Miller

Christa M. Miller is a public relations strategist specializing in digital forensics and law enforcement. A trade magazine journalist for nearly a decade, she now works with clients on content strategy and creation using a mix of traditional and digital media. She resides in South Carolina, USA with her family. Visit her website at http://christammiller.com

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