Ryan Ackroyd, the man who famously hacked Sony, Fox and the FBI, is guest speaker at a thought-provoking Cyber Security seminar, which is being hosted by the IT Solutions team at PKF Cooper Parry. Ryan, a former black hat hacker, is one of a panel of experts taking part in the event at the firm’s East Midlands Airport office on Friday 4 November from 9am - 12.30pm.
A staggering two thirds of businesses have been hit by cyber-crime over the past 12 months alone, with the cost of resolving a cyber-crime incident averaging at around £358,956. Yet surprisingly, only 10% of those companies and organisations breached had a cyber security incident plan in place.
This half day Cyber Security seminar aims to give businesses an insight into the true nature of cyber-crime and the devastating effect it can have on a company, as well as underlining the need for investing in a secure IT system.
Ryan Ackroyd was the founder and one of the six core members of hacking group “LulzSec”. The group was responsible for the penetration of multiple military and government domains in 2010 and 2011, undertaking many high profile intrusions of companies including PBS, Sony, Fox Entertainment and the InfraGard Atlanta user database – a company that was affiliated with the FBI.
Ryan now uses his insight and unusual expertise to help secure systems rather than break them. Joining him at the Cyber Security Seminar will be will be university lecturer, Dr David Day and Neil Richardson from Snake Trap. David is a National Crime Agency special officer working with the National Cybercrime Unit. Neil is an academic, consultant and chapter lead for the Open Web Application Security Project.
Ex-programmer Chris Tate from Datto and Nick Ross, an IT Security Specialist from Sophos will also be taking part in the seminar.
Speaking about the Cyber Security Seminar, Victoria Playford, IT Partner at PKF Cooper Parry IT Solutions, said:
“There's nothing more terrifying for a business than the threat of cyber-attack. This really is a unique opportunity for the region’s businesses to learn more about the dangers that cyber-crime poses to their business and what they should be doing to combat it.
“You rarely get the opportunity to gain a unique insight from an individual who actually used to break into cyber systems just for fun, so this is sure to be a really enlightening and thought-provoking seminar,” added Victoria.