Cyber security for punks. This IT company do things differently.

Video by Influence Media.

Computers are everywhere. All businesses rely on computers, IT infrastructure and the internet for at least some day-to-day operations and wherever there’s computers, there’s also a threat.

Statistics suggest that rather than being a thing of the past, cybercrime is on the rise across the world. But it’s not the hobby of a few bad eggs. Cyber criminals are often highly organised, with considerable resources at their fingertips.

The 2022 Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum warned that 'cybersecurity measures put in place by businesses, governments and individuals are increasingly being rendered obsolete by the growing sophistication of cybercriminals.’ The 2023 UK government cyber security breaches survey reported that 59% of medium businesses and 69% of large businesses reported a cyber breach or attack in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, analyst firm Gartner predicted that by 2025, 45% of global organisations will be impacted by a supply chain attack.

It's a real and scary prospect for businesses of all sizes, and one on which many IT support contracts are won. But one company is taking a different approach.

Punk Security, who are based in C4DI Northallerton, are unique in several ways. For a start their multi-coloured, mohawked Zebra logo is a welcome splash of colour in an industry that isn’t always known for its vibrancy and represents their more positive approach to cybersecurity.

Why the Zebra? It’s the punk of the animal kingdom according to co-founder Daniel Oates-Lee. "We were told that nobody would like the company logo, by multiple graphic designers. But everybody loves it, and the stickers. They love the fact that it's completely different from everything else. We wanted to be different. We didn't want to just blend in with the rest of them." It seems like a pretty good strategy, and it seems to be working. They’ve grown to a team of 8, mostly remote workers, in two and half years.

We caught up with him to find out more about the company and the state of cybersecurity today.

Co-founders Daniel Oates-Lee and Simon Gurney

Helping the human squishy things

Punk Security’s approach to working with clients is not about fear mongering, says Daniel. “We help companies understand where they're weak and show them where they need to get to and help them along that process. Rather than selling this idea of fear and everywhere burning to the ground. We promote what we believe is going to help customers the most rather than just bolting everything down, so that nobody can do anything.”

Some cybersecurity measures can feel over the top and many businesses may feel that they’re not big enough to be targeted. The reality is of course, that any business is theoretically under threat and the weakest link is the human rather than the tech.

According to Deloitte, 91% of cyber-attacks begin with email, even if the final attack was administered differently. And in 2022, phishing attacks (those which attempt to trick the recipient into opening a malicious link or file) increased by 61%. They fall into the wider category of social engineering attacks which are increasingly becoming the primary weapon in a hacker’s arsenal. You can have all the latest anti-malware software on your system but there will always be a way into a company. The employees.

“Cybersecurity is getting better over time. But the biggest vulnerability we have unfortunately is the squishy things, the human elements,” says Daniel. “We help secure the human by doing live demonstrations, carrying out simulated phishing attacks, or we will give good security advice to employees about how to protect themselves on social media? What settings should they be enabling? How can they better protect themselves at home? Because that will leak into their business life as well.”

Of course, any technical advancement in cyber will soon develop vulnerabilities as criminals find a work-around, so it’s ultimately down to individual human awareness and procedure to ensure a company stays safe. He feels it’s not worth banging on about the multitude of threats that are out there.

“Everybody knows that bad things happen if you don't secure yourself properly.” They acknowledge that is a very real possibility but take a more pragmatic approach from there.

Working with the community

Punk Security started off the back of an 8-year friendship between the two co-founders, Daniel Oates-Lee and Simon Gurney and has grown since then, hiring developers and other roles along the way. The team is scattered across the UK with Simon being based in Northallerton and Daniel in Leek. But the advent of remote working tools means they’re able to easily work on projects concurrently.

As for what they work on? It’s quite varied. And often bespoke.

Clients vary “from the military, which are several 1000 people strong, to online music retail companies, which might have 20 people.” And the work they do all depends on the customer. Military contracts are understandably stricter and more directional whereas businesses may come with a problem, they just don’t know how to solve.

“We also do a lot of open-source projects. That’s where we are developing capabilities for the community to use our software for free and to enhance their cybersecurity posture.” They’re very much involved in the cybersecurity and developer sphere and are hoping to do more training around DevSecOps. This endeavour goes beyond setting up systems after the fact but rather feeds security into the very early processes of development at a software company. And it was a key part of setting up Punk Security. It's a creative and innovative side of the business that is not always found in IT companies and it fits with their ethos of sharing what they know and working at the cutting edge of IT.

“The idea of DevSecOps is about bringing developers and operations teams together so the developers can help operations teams deploy their software and diagnose problems. So as the developers write their piece of code, we will scan it for what we call secrets. These are like hard coded passwords, or API keys or certificates that shouldn't be being leaked in the source code.”

“We’re building a platform to be able to upskill people and teach them more about it and we've got a few more open-source projects that we're planning on working on as well.”

Such is their commitment to open source and community that they’ve made use of the C4DI community to run events. Joining C4DI was about having a central physical presence in Northallerton and Daniel says that “from there, we started using C4DI for its events and its connections to the wider area.”

"In conjunction with C4DI, we ran a cybersecurity event in Hull where we carried out a live Hack taking business people through what would happen in a ransomware event and then showed them how to prevent it. That was also in conjunction with Northeast Cyber Resiliency Centre which is a police funded charity organisation. So, the police gave their experience of various different cyber-attacks, along with our live demo."

Their involvement in military projects as an Armed Forces Covenant signed business is also relevant to an area of cybersecurity that is growing.

A classic devs laptop emblazoned with the Punk Security logo (top right) amongst others…

Where is cyber heading?

Cyber in the military is a topic that our speaker is familiar with as a member of a reservist unit, and hackers are increasingly being deployed in warfare.

As far as why it’s being used, he says “it's being able to carry out an action without firing any typical weapons” that will make it increasingly appealing as time goes on. But he cautions the threat is not solely from the likes of “Russia and China, that people do seem to focus on. There are also some really good hackers in Brazil. Or North Korea.” The totalitarian state in particular is renowned for being a hotbed of ransomware and ultimately there are links back to China and Russia, relaying internet through the former and activity often being linked to Russia.

But innovation will continue and there are positives to hold onto about how companies like Punk can stay ahead of the criminals. One such innovation that has entered every part of industry is, of course, AI. Daniel is open minded.

"We've been investigating how we can use it as part of testing our systems. And we've got it to build what we call zero day attacks in a matter of hours. So I think this is going to be another useful tool to help bolster our cybersecurity. But on the flip side, it's also going to make our adversaries, the attackers, lives a little easier as well.”

Ultimately the reason companies like Punk exist is to ensure most employees and workers don’t have to worry about these threats too much. For them, the focus is clear and Daniel talks about “building a firewall inside the person”. Stay alert and take your time to establish whether what you see in front of you is legitimate. And you’re doing the best you can.

The East Yorkshire charity changing children’s prospects and getting them excited about business

Video by Influence Media

‘All it takes is one day.’

One day can alter the course of your life. At least that’s how it was for one girl from Hull when she visited the houses of parliament.

Walking around the iconic halls on a trip organised by Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University, Saffron had a light bulb moment. Prior to that she’d barely left the estate she was born on and had never been on a train.

From that moment on she decided politics was for her. She ended up studying the subject at the University of Hull, graduated, and has commenced further studies in law. According to HEY CU CEO, Rose James, she’s said that one day changed everything.

That inspiring story communicates the vision behind the Children’s University. Taking children from disadvantaged backgrounds and providing them with opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t get, to inspire and educate.

They’re a brilliant local charity who have made regular trips to C4DI with the children they support. We spoke to CEO Rose to find out more.

Charity CEO Rose James

Lighting up a new path

We speak to Rose at their offices on Cottingham Road in Hull. The building sits in front of the University of Hull’s stunning business school and although they are an entirely separate entity, the setting makes for an appropriate reminder of the work they do.

“The aim of the charity,” Rose says. “Is to give children who are living in the most disadvantaged areas of Hull and East Riding opportunities that they otherwise would miss out on because of where they live.” Many of the children they meet have a similar story to Saffron and don’t have access to the opportunities that many children take for granted.

“Until they reach their teens, many won't leave their local area. And some of them don't know someone who works. They have no experience of the world of work. So we think, ‘How can those children aspire to be anything if they don't know what's out there?’ They might know jobs like doctor, teacher, police officer, or somebody who works in a supermarket. But if they don't want to do those jobs, they might think, work isn't for me.”

“We want to light up all the different paths that those children can take when they leave school. It could be founding their own business. It could be going into an apprenticeship or going to university. We want them to see that those things are available to them."

It's admirable and vital work and it’s helping more and more people each year. When Rose started working at the charity in 2013, they were working with 1800 children year. Now it’s 11,000 children a year.

They partner with schools to provide opportunities and trips. “For us to work with a school, 50% of the children need to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. We give those schools a menu of options, and they choose what they’d like to do.”

“They could come to London with us for the day, they could go to Edinburgh, they could go to a local business. We take the children out of school during school time and we give them that experience, because the schools can't do that themselves.”

Giving children great experiences since 1996

It was in a school setting that it all started. Rose explains that the charity was set up in 1996 by Dr John Buttrick whilst he was a teacher. He’d been running extracurricular activities for the children and “realised that it really had an impact on those children, on their confidence, and on their thoughts for their future.” He saw there was something in it.

The tragic death of his son, Tim, changed everything. “He decided to leave teaching altogether and set up Hull Children's University, to give children experiences they otherwise wouldn't have, in memory of his son.”

This vision has been carried through to today. The Hull and East Yorkshire branch of the charity has grown from strength to strength employing more members of staff including one of Rose’s colleagues Jess who took part in one of the very first programs. She’s said, “how much that meant to her as a child”.

There is arguably a greater need for their help than ever. Rose is excited about “reaching more children and providing them with even more exciting experiences.” Their trips to London can involve sleepovers in the Natural History Museum or on HMS Belfast and tours of the capital. “We top it off with a visit to the West End, to see a show, which for those children, many of whom have never been to a panto, is just amazing.”

But there’s possibility for much more and some of the most rewarding trips are to local businesses, such as Rix or Reckitts.

“We also bring children into businesses, who open their doors and the children spend a day there. They do a rotation of activities throughout the day, so they could go with the finance department, HR department, marketing department, and meet people doing those jobs, try hands on things and learn about that sector.”

“I'd like to get more businesses on board, opening their doors to our children, and hopefully inspiring their future workforce.”

Another way they can provide inspirational experiences is through their partnership with C4DI.

Introducing children to tech

“We've been members at C4DI for a few years now,” says Rose. HEY CU have used the space for hot desking and training, but it also presents a great opportunity for their work with children. “We bring the children in for a C4DI experience where they spend time with different businesses there.”

Companies they’ve worked with in C4DI include Sauce, T=Ø, Octovision and Influence Media. “They've delivered sessions to the children, showing them about their areas of work, getting the children doing hands on activities, and learning about different jobs.”

Apart from “learning that geeks are cool” the day introduces children to careers that probably wouldn’t have been presented to them otherwise. It helps of course, that the “C4DI team are fantastic and every time I come they're so helpful with the children.” We didn’t pay Rose to say that, honest!

It has presented great networking opportunities too. “Being members at C4DI has meant we can access fantastic networking events like the Techy Breaky’s, so we can meet people from different businesses. As a result, we've been lucky enough to have some come on as official partners like Sauce” You can read more about them in our last Real Stories interview, here.

What do children want to do today?

We wanted to know what children thought of the program so Rose filled us in on some of the responses.

“At the end of all our experiences, we ask the children for some feedback to measure if anything changed during that experience. Is there increased confidence? Have they been exposed to jobs they didn't know existed before? Have they had a new dream for the future? And we often get some exciting feedback.”

Of course, the dream jobs of today are different to what they would have been even 10 years ago, with the media that children consume changing all the time. It’s no surprise that “some of them would like to be content creators - because a lot of them have idols, who are YouTubers and things like that.”

And whilst for some that will be a genuine goal, being exposed to businesses like the ones in C4DI can perhaps provide them with a realistic path of how they might get there, or in fact pursue a slightly different but related path.

“After the C4DI experience we have a lot of children saying they want to go into software development and coding.” And whatever the dream, “exposing them to people who are working in that sector, means they listen to stories of how those people have gone into those jobs. Then they see a clear path of how to get there rather than it just being a pipe dream.”

Careers beginning in Hull

Rose believes Hull “punches above it’s weight” when it comes to jobs in tech and has exciting prospects for young people here. Of course, HEY CU encourages them to explore beyond their immediate surroundings and hopefully gives them hope for the future but it’s comforting to know that there are opportunities at home too.

“I'm happy that we can collaborate with C4DI and the other businesses to show the children that these opportunities are there. They don't need to go to another city to be successful in that sector. And actually, they can be in companies who are leading the way.”

It’s clear that this charity is doing excellent work in inspiring and equipping the next generation. We certainly hope that one of the children who’s turned up here on a school day and been wowed by what they see, goes on to take their first steps in a career at one of the companies in our network. Watch this space.