Katie Sanderson, Cyber Security Social Media Manager for Lockcode Limited and South East Cyber, was last year’s Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards Social Media Saviour, so I wanted to see how life has changed in the realm of cyber a year on from her achievement. Katie has been fantastic in helping amplify the Security Serious message and encourages everyone of all ages to get involved in nominating for this year’s Unsung Heroes Awards.
- What is the significance of the Unsung Heroes Awards for the cybersecurity community?
There seem to be hundreds of competitions and award ceremonies around, especially for companies. But it seems to be the same ones entering and winning each time. This is where the Unsung Heroes Awards really differentiates itself and allows those who are achieving great strides in cyber security, but still below the radar, to get a shout out and widen their networking circle to increase their knowledge even more.
- What are the new security challenges for businesses? What has changed in the last 12 months?
The imminent impact of GDPR and ongoing Ransomware attacks have definitely been the main hot topics within the last 12 months. You can’t go on any social media platform without seeing at least one post about GDPR every 5 minutes. One of the main challenges is that the market seems to be flooded with experts and conflicting advice. This is why we always make sure our advice comes from credible sources, such as the National Cyber Security Centre.
- What did winning the award mean for you?
Winning the Social Media Savour award really increased my confidence. I had only been working in the cyber security industry for just over a year, but I had been actively using social media platforms for years whilst growing up.
Working with cyber security specialists enabled me to increase my awareness of both the pros and the cons of using social media. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can greatly increase the reach of small businesses on a budget, but if not carefully utilised there is also a real danger of reputation damage.
I’ve utilised my social media skills to explore the internet for articles to post to raise awareness of threats, vulnerabilities and information to enable both businesses and citizens to keep themselves safe in cyber space. The guidance we share is from credible sources e.g. NCSC, NCA, CPNI, as well as the recent Europol updates.
Winning the Social Media Savour award gave me the confidence and motivation to achieve even more. I introduced cyber security newsletters for our followers, introduced Instagram to our social media accounts and am finalising the details of our new Social Media Packages. Our packages and training are aimed at cyber security organisations who want to increase their online presence – safely and securely.
- Why is it important to encourage people to get involved?
Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility and doesn’t acknowledge geographical boundaries. The Unsung Heroes Awards gives people an incentive to professional develop their capabilities. It also shows young people that there is an industry where they can utilise their existing technology skills which they grew up with e.g. using tablets, consoles etc. for games and talking to friends online into a career.
We millennials grew up with social media and technology from an extremely young age. Sharing on social media is second nature to us, but the associated privacy and security issues were never raised.
