Detective Superintendent Paul Peters, Director of the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales - “Since the WCRC launched we have been regularly working with a host of talented and passionate students as part of the Student Services team. Their commitment to their roles within the team and their eagerness to be part of our organisation never ceases to amaze us. Savva Pistolas formally joined us in January of this year from the University of South Wales, studying Applied Cyber Security BSc. He is a great asset to us and here he puts into words his own unique WCRC experience.”

Why I work for the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales

As of January, I officially signed my contract and became a member of the Student Services team and Talent Pipeline for the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales (WCRC). I’m very excited to be working with the WCRC. Since I joined, I have enjoyed every meeting, interaction, and project with them.

What do I do for them?

As a member of the centre, I’m trained and prepared to deliver any of the eight services that it offers (predominantly to small businesses, charities, and other organisations). These are:

• Security Awareness Training: Providing simple and effective knowledge to help non-technical staff understand all aspects of the cyber security landscape.
• Internet Investigations: Collating and reporting upon the publicly available information about a given organisation or individual to encourage a better attitude around protecting reputation and sensitive information.
• Remote Vulnerability Assessments: Mapping the connections and possible vulnerabilities of an organisation and producing a technical report online with National Cyber Security Centre intelligence.
• Internal Vulnerability Assessments: Simulating internal access to a network and then scanning/reviewing systems and configuration to establish existing vulnerabilities, followed up by a similarly detailed technical report online with National Cyber Security Centre intelligence.
• Web App Vulnerability Assessments: Assessing websites and web services for OWASP top 10 web app vulnerabilities.
• Security Policy Review: Reviewing an organisation’s current security policies and producing a review that discusses its writing style and quality, produces a quality gap analysis and ensures that the measures outlined in all policies will actually hold water in a production environment.
• Cyber Business Continuity Review: A comprehensive review of the resilience of an organisation to cyber-attacks such as ransomware or a takeover of critical systems. This is done by reviewing the continuity plans in place by the organisation.

Why I’m a proud member

We’re not far out of an era akin to the “wild west” of the internet age and its risks. The still novel technologies that we can use to connect and help one another are all too often used to exploit and abuse people. My love for technology and the digital world initially grew from the shining examples of how we can actualise fantastic ideas to improve the world. Similarly, my passion for cyber security arises from the examples of how these same ideas are transformed into tools and processes to harm - and being incited to help correct that.

Coming across the WCRC felt like a great opportunity to put my money where my mouth is. The board is filled with members who are working on multiple projects that aim to make people’s lives better and enable responsible development. There’s a clear and transparent intention to find a good balance between public and private organisation, something that I think is necessary when we look at building cyber posture for small businesses.

Becoming an asset to the WCRC team

Throughout the interview process, and subsequent to my acceptance to the organisation, I’ve been treated with the utmost respect and kindness. I can really feel the attention that is being given to directing my workload to align with the long-term goal of building my professional skillset. This is nothing short of an investment in my future, for which I am really grateful.

Members of the Student Services team are to be given deep and relevant training to further develop their skills - and the jobs are given out to those who want to further expand their relevant experiences, and who possess the capacity to complete the jobs to a high standard.

During my employment here I’ve been able to develop my professional skill sets and cyber knowledge. The real benefit has been the ability to do that all whilst being a force for good in the world, so it really has been a win-win for me.

Looking forward

I’m currently working on one of many jobs I’ve done for the WCRC that I’m incredibly excited about. I’ve enjoyed every stage of the process so far and can already feel the benefits of the experience I’m having as well as the positive impact this will have on my future career in cyber security.

I’d like to give my thanks to all the team at the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales for this remarkable opportunity to develop my skills and build a portfolio of industry experience all while helping make the world a safer, easier place to be.

The Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales supports sole traders, micro-businesses and SMEs across the region. If you wish to speak to the WCRC about any of the student services mentioned here, then please contact a member of our team today. We also offer free membership which will inform you of the current threats and simple steps to take to reduce your vulnerability to an attack.