As the Head of Cyber for ScotlandIS, Bev’s role involves developing initiatives aimed at fostering growth and innovation, addressing challenges posed by the dynamic cyber threat landscape and cultivating the skills pipeline within Scotland’s cybersecurity industry, playing the role of facilitator between, industry, academia and public sector. 

Bev initially joined the ScotlandIS team to lead the IT Managed Service Provider Programme which aimed to create a network within this community that actively shares best practices and lessons learned. The culmination of this effort was the launch of the ScotlandIS ITMSP Best Practice Charter on September 28th, demonstrating a commitment to elevating standards and fortifying cyber resilience throughout the supply chain.  

Before her role at ScotlandIS, Bev served as a police officer for 28 years, in front line and community roles.  She contributed significantly to the role of the cybercrime harm prevention team and played a crucial part in implementing Police Scotland’s Cyber Strategy through the “Policing in a Digital World” programme. This transition underscores her adaptability and commitment to positioning Scotland at the forefront of global cybersecurity endeavours. 

Brian is an award-winning professional with an career spanning nearly over 35 years in Higher Education (HE), Further Education (FE) and the Public Sector. With an MBA from Strathclyde University and a Fellowship with the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Brian has consistently demonstrated strong leadership and management skills across a wide range of technical and service disciplines.  

Brian was CIO at the University of Aberdeen for 6 years, until June 2024. His expertise in team management and strategic planning has earned him recognition in the industry, culminating in being awarded the prestigious UCISA Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Year for 2024/2025 and, under his leadership, the IT Directorate at the University of Aberdeen was voted best IT Support in the United Kingdom universities in the National Student Survey of 2023/24. 

Having previously been Chair of Hefestis for 6 years, and a Board member of Inverness College, Brian formally took up the role of Hefestis CEO in August 2024, with objectives related to company resilience and growth, including working with commercial partners. 

With a wealth of experience and a commitment to excellence, as HEFESTIS CEO, Brian continues to support and drive innovation for the Education and Public sectors.

Declan Doyle is the Incident Management Lead at the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3), where he helps strengthen cyber resilience across Scotland’s Public Sector by leading and coordinating responses to cyber incidents and supporting effective recovery. 

He was previously a Senior Information and Cyber Security Officer at Social Security Scotland, responsible for ensuring that the products, services, and solutions used to facilitate and deliver benefits to the people of Scotland were secure and resilient to cyber attacks. Before this, Declan was Head of Ethical Hacking & Professional Services at the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, where he delivered a wide range of cyber services and support, managed a cohort of ethical hackers, and focused on embedding robust cyber security measures and a positive security culture across organisations. 

Alongside his role, Declan’s commitment to the future of the field is demonstrated by his active mentoring of Scotland’s emerging cyber security professionals, underscoring his passion for fostering STEM skills and bolstering national digital resilience. 

Scott Hunter Education Officer with responsibility for Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety at Education Scotland.  Scott is multi awarding winning teacher who has over 20 years’ experience of working and supporting the growth of cyber security education in the Scottish education eco system.  Scott has been involved in the development of the Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety curriculum and resources.   These resources can be found on the digilearnscot website and for the past three years he has been leading the National Cyber Security Centre NCSC  CyberFirst programme in Scotland.  This work has enabled us to establish a link between the setting up of devices and accounts to reducing the harms young people face while using social media.  As part of this work Education Scotland commissioned a literature review from Glasgow University to establish most effective way to teach young people about risk. 

As Infoblox’s Principal Cybersecurity Strategist, Craig Sanderson is at the forefront of shaping and implementing cutting-edge cybersecurity strategies to elevate organizations’ security postures. 

Spanning 25 years, Craig’s career experience and proactive engagement with government bodies, regulators, and industry groups make him a sought-after expert in the field. 

Craig’s passion for cybersecurity is evident in his commitment to promoting best practices through policy advocacy, regulatory frameworks, and the development of protective DNS adoption programs. His strategic insights and innovative approach have helped numerous organizations translate complex security concepts into actionable strategies and strengthened their cybersecurity defences. 

Derek has almost 20 years of police service working in a variety of roles from frontline policing in the East-End of Glasgow through to Specialist National Departments. Having a significant amount of service in national intelligence and investigatory roles including online child protection investigations.  

Derek currently leads three cybercrime departments including Cyber Investigations for the West of Scotland. With a passion for training, Derek has supported the Scottish Police College to develop better training for police to get the best outcomes for victims of cyber enable and dependant crimes. 

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston ​is the Police Scotland executive lead for Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism and Intelligence. 

ACC Houston’s portfolio consists of the following business areas: 

• Organised Crime 

• Counter Terrorism 

• Border Policing 

• Intelligence Support 

• Specialist Crime Support including International Unit 

• Fraud, Cyber Crime and Digital Forensics 

• Covert Policing 

ACC Houston was appointed to his current portfolio in February 2025, having previously been the ACC for the Professionalism and Assurance portfolio since August 2023. 

He has previously performed command roles within Intelligence Support and Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit within Specialist Crime Division. 

ACC Houston joined Lothian and Borders Police in May 1996 and has undertaken a number of investigative roles across Local Policing and Specialist Crime Division. 

George’s career in social services began supporting adults with learning disabilities, then people and families affected by problematic substance use. He has over 15 years’ experience of national workforce development, having been Operations Manager at STRADA and Workforce Development Manager at Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF). 

He leads the Digital Learning Team at SSSC, the regulator for the social work, social care and children and young people’s workforce in Scotland. 

He is interested in the opportunities and challenges posed by increasingly digitalised social services and how to equip the workforce to keep the people they support and their data safe. 

George is a board member at SDF and volunteers as a Children’s Hearings panel member. 

Alison is a recognised  digital leader in Scotland with a wealth of experience of many ground-breaking digital programmes across the public sector.  She has worked with many organisations across the Justice sector including Disclosure Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts and Crown Office.  Her experience also includes a 2.5 year secondment as Head of the Digital Transformation Division of the SG Digital Directorate, during which she was involved in the Digital Justice DESC programme.

Alison is a former Chair of ScotlandIS and now works as a digital transformation strategist working with public and private sector to drive digitally enabled change. 

Derek is a globally recognised cybersecurity and technology leader with over two decades of experience shaping cyber-defence strategy across financial services, government, and advanced technology sectors. Formerly Chief Product Owner for Security, E-Crime and Cyber Defence at one of Europe’s largest financial institutions, he led major transformation programmes across SOC operations, insider threat, IAM, vulnerability management, advanced intrusion testing, cryptography, threat intelligence and cloud security — guiding more than 30 product owners and specialist teams. 

Derek brings deep expertise in emerging technologies as an Advisory Council Member at MITRE (CTID) and Research Director for AI & Quantum Computing at ISACA, where he influences global standards and the future of cyber-operations in an era of AI-driven threats and quantum disruption. 

His insights into adversarial tradecraft, cyber-forensics, enterprise security architecture and next-generation detection models strengthen Acumen’s mission to deliver world-class advisory, intelligence and operational support to governments, financial services and critical-infrastructure organisations. 

In his role as Non-Executive Director and Strategic Advisor, Derek will support Acumen’s strategic growth, product direction, and international expansion — helping clients build resilient, intelligence-led cyber capabilities that match the sophistication of today’s threat landscape. 

Paul joined the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2019 from West Midlands Police where he was Head of Intelligence in the Regional Organised Crime Unit and prior to that, Deputy Head of Covert Operations. He has previously worked in Counter Terrorism, Offender Management and a range of operational policing roles.

On joining the NCA, Paul initially worked in Intelligence across the full breadth of Serious Organised Crime threats before being appointed to lead the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) in 2022.

As Head of the NCCU Paul is responsible for all NCA cybercrime operations and capabilities plus the strategic leadership of the UK Law Enforcement response to the threat. He also chairs the Five Eyes Cybercrime Community of Practice.

Justin joins Risk Ledger after a career supporting the US Government in cyber security. He worked as a technical director for cyber security operations at the US Department of Defense (DoD), which included a secondment to the UK National Cyber Security Centre. Most recently, he advised senior executives of top global corporations and investment firms on enhancing their management of cyber risk. 

Professor Lynne Coventry is Director of Abertay cyberquarter . She is a researcher specialising in usable security, human factors in cybersecurity, and the psychology of secure behaviour. Her work focuses on understanding how individuals and organisations make security decisions and on improving secure behaviours without increasing user burden. 

Her research bridges psychology, cybersecurity, and design, with particular emphasis on social engineering, phishing, digital identity, and the security of emerging technologies. 

Professor Coventry has extensive experience collaborating with industry and the public sector to translate research into practice. She has held senior academic roles, contributing to strategic development in cybersecurity education and interdisciplinary research. 

Don Smith leads the Threat Research team in Sophos Counter Threat Unit: a global team of experienced threat analysts, researchers and data scientists who, through the application of established intelligence practices, deliver technical capabilities and actionable intelligence products on the most relevant threats to protect and inform Sophos clients.  
 
Don is a member of the UK Cabinet Office National Cyber Advisory Board, the industry co-chair of the Strategic Cyber Industry Group in the National Cybercrime Unit at the UK National Crime Agency and a member of the Scottish Government NCRAB (National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board). 

Peter King is a cybersecurity professional at Acumen Cyber, specialising in helping organisations strengthen their resilience and respond effectively to cyber incidents. He has worked with a range of clients across sectors to enhance their security posture, improve incident readiness, and develop pragmatic strategies for managing cyber risk. Peter is passionate about empowering teams to build robust defences and recover swiftly when challenges arise. 

With 29 years’ experience in IT, including over 20 years specialising in cyber security, Robert has worked across large and complex enterprise environments. This includes time with a global printer manufacturer operating across Europe and Asia, where secure and resilient operations were critical to the business. 

Since joining Qualifications Scotland (formerly the Scottish Qualifications Authority) in 2014, he has established and developed the organisation’s cyber security capability. Over the past 12 years, this has grown from a single role into a dedicated team of six, strengthening governance, improving resilience, and enhancing protection against an evolving threat landscape. 

With over 25 years’ experience driving business transformation, Gavin has worked on projects and systems from supporting critical national infrastructure to solutions for major UK telcos. Dedicating the last nine years to cyber security, Gavin joined Chess Group with the acquisition of Foursys in 2017 and was appointed CyberLab CEO in 2023. 

Alan Gray is the Head of National Cyber Security and Resilience for The Scottish Government. A Security leader with over 15 years of experience within government, professional and public sector organisations, Alan has managed a wide range of security activities from strategic capability development to operational response. Previously as Chief Information Security Officer for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with responsibility for the cyber security of all core technologies and services both at home and across posts and embassies worldwide, he was also a member of the Government Security Board as representative for the CISO community across government. Drawing on past experience in National Security, academia, central government and the private sector, Alan has joined the Scottish Government to drive the consolidation and expansion of Scotland’s cyber security and cyber resilience activities, and to lead the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3). 

David is the CISO for the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government.  The Digital Office provides digital transformation services to all Scottish Local Authorities including advice and support for cyber security. 

David has a 27-year career in IT and has worked in the public sector for 18 years.  He has worked in a variety of roles in including programmer, support engineer, administrator, and digital transformation as well as cyber security. 

His goal is to support Local Government and the public sector in general to transform into secure digital organisations fit for the future that can provide the vital services that Scottish communities rely on from their local councils. 

Dr Zibby Kwecka, FCIIS, is the Chief Information Security Officer at Arnold Clark, one of Europe’s largest independently owned automotive retailers, where he leads enterprise scale security across a fast-moving digital landscape.  

Previously Head of Information Security at Heineken UK and a vCISO to major brands, Zibby brings a rare blend of hands-on technical experience, deep expertise in cryptography and privacy, and executive leadership. 

Over the years he has helped organisations in banking, manufacturing, retail, and the public sector strengthen their security postures, simplify complex environments, and embed resilience into day-to-day operations. Known for driving clear, outcome focused security conversations at all levels of the organisation, Zibby also works closely with industry and academia to advance cyber, privacy, and digital business resilience. 

Sam Black is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with a specialty in high level network defence, data-centric security and Cross Domain Solutions. He leads the Engineering and Development teams at 4Secure in delivering secure data exchange solutions that unlock strategic insight and digital transformation. Sam has extensive experience working across Government, Defence and Critical National Infrastructure.  

‘With more than 12 years’ experience in IT, Jessica leads Infrastructure & Operations at The Weir Group, with responsibility for networks, data centre and hosting, enduser compute and services, and security operations. A firstclass honours graduate in Ethical Hacking from Abertay University, Jessica has delivered largescale security transformation across global organisations. Her background spans both offensive and defensive cyber roles, underpinned by a strong focus on threat intelligence and practical risk reduction.’ 

William (Bill) J Buchanan OBE FRSE  is a Professor of Applied Cryptography in the School of Computing, Edinburgh and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. He is a Fellow of the BCS and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. Bill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to cybersecurity, and,  in 2024, he was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).  His social media tagline reflects his strong belief in changing the world for the better: “A Serial Innovator. An Old World Breaker. A New World Creator.” Bill also has a strong belief in the power of education and in supporting innovation from every angle and currently leads the Blockpass ID Lab and the Centre for Cybersecurity, IoT and Cyberphysical.   Bill works in the areas of cryptography, blockchain, trust and digital identity. He has one of the most extensive cryptography sites in the World (asecuritysite.com), and is involved in many areas of novel research and teaching.  He has published over 30 academic books and over 450 academic research papers. Along with this, Bill’s work has led to many areas of impact, including a number of highly successful spin-out companies (including Zonefox, Symphonic Software and Cyan Forensics), along with awards for excellence in knowledge transfer and for teaching. He recently received an ”Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge Exchange” award and was included in the FutureScot “50 Scottish Tech People Who Are Changing The World”, along with being a regular keynote speaker at a range of conferences. Bill’s true academic passion is building, analysing and breaking cryptographic methods. 

Clare is the Head of Cyber Resilience in the Scottish Government. Clare leads on the development and oversees the implementation of the cyber resilience strategy for Scotland, working closely with partners across public, private and third sectors, as well as the UK Government and internationally. She is also currently the Chair of the Cyber Resilience Learning and Skills Network. Clare has led numerous national initiatives and campaigns in cyber, including setting up the CyberScotland Partnership and the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3). She is a strong advocate for offering cyber security skills across the lifelong learning system, recognising the importance of reaching people from diverse backgrounds and making cyber careers attractive to young people and girls. 

Before starting her Civil Service career in the early 2000s, Clare worked in business development and education, in the UK, Japan, New Zealand and Germany. Clare has over 20 years’ experience in policy development including developing Scotland’s cyber resilience strategies and associated Action Plan, contributing to the UK Cyber Strategy and writing Scotland’s first strategies for Adult Literacies and English for Speakers of Other Languages. 

From the public to the private sectors and back again, Scott has worked in information and cyber security for over 20 years. Having held CISO positions in the private sector, he joined NHS NSS in 2020 and leads the mission to deliver a world class cyber security operations capability for Scotland’s Health Sector. He is excited by the opportunities that new technologies and ways of working bring to society and an advocate of cohesive security strategies to exploit these opportunities safely.

Maggie is an extremely experienced and respected Leader, Board Chair and Advisor. She worked within national law enforcement for over 30 years and then a further 5 years in the Finance sector. Her last position was Director Intelligence and Incident Response at Lloyds Banking Group. She combines that unique blend of a senior private sector career with the highest level of international law enforcement management.   

Within her current portfolio she chairs the Scottish Government’s National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board and, in 2025, was appointed as the Board Chair at Cyacomb, an Edinburgh based digital forensics company. Cyacomb’s technology quickly and thoroughly scans digital devices for known harmful content and enables law enforcement agencies worldwide to detect evidence of child sexual abuse.  

Maggie is also a strong advocate for new and emerging sectors and skills.  She is a mentor and advocate for promoting diversity in cyber skills.  

Murat Dilek is a public sector cyber-resilience leader focused on fortifying Falkirk Council’s critical digital systems, modernising the technology estate, and ensuring operational continuity against evolving threats. As Senior Manager for Digital Technology & Resilience, he champions a proactive, risk-based security approach that protects citizen data and essential services while enabling transformation. 

Murat’s career is grounded in perseverance and continuous learning. Arriving in Scotland thirty years ago without formal qualifications, he built his path through commitment and hard work an ethos he now applies to building resilient teams, secure-by-design services, and practical controls that stand up to real-world pressure.
 

Passionate about serving the public good, Murat brings a pragmatic, people-centred perspective to cybersecurity where resilience is not just a technical strategy but a personal philosophy. He looks forward to connecting with leaders and experts across Public Sector IT, Cybersecurity, and Digital Transformation.