The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) have announced the winners of the Scottish Cyber Awards 2021. Now in their fifth year, the awards mark the individuals and organisations at work on Scotland’s cyber security.
The 2021 awards were comprised of 11 judged categories, with a category, Best Customer Experience, chosen by the public and this year awarded to Ascent Cyber. In the final category of the night, the judges also identified Skills Development Scotland – Discover Cyber Skills as Champion of Champions. Terry A’Hearn, CEO of SEPA, received a special commendation award for his honesty and openness after the company suffered a cyber attack in December 2020.
Jude McCorry, CEO of the SBRC, which oversees the awards, pictured, said: “It’s encouraging to see that – despite cyber attacks increasing in number – the Scottish cyber security sector has worked hard to present a united front. From Memcrypt and Napier University’s development of a ransomware detection product, to Polydigi Tech’s collaboration with companies throughout the country; the nominees have proven their dedication and commitment to combat cyber threats that impact all individuals and organisations throughout Scotland.
“It was fantastic to celebrate with the winners in person and share their achievements but, truly, we’re all winners here: if these awards have shown us anything, it’s that Scotland is home to a united cyber defence community that shows no signs of slowing down.”
Andrew Scott, Senior Security Delivery Manager at Accenture and judge at the Scottish Cyber Awards added: “The calibre of entries this year were second to none, which made it harder than ever to declare a winner. In some cases, we felt that the title deserved to go to two individuals as in the case of Outstanding Woman in Cyber, as both women have excelled in encouraging others into the field whether that is through upskilling or while at school.
“While all the winners should be applauded for their work, we especially wanted to recognise our Champion of Champions. Skills Development Scotland – Discover Cyber Skills has done phenomenal work engaging with over 100,000 young people with the hopes of inspiring them to enter cyber careers and provided fantastic support to teachers across the country. In fact, they collaborated with most of the organisations who were shortlisted, showing their dedication to helping expand the cyber community in Scotland.”
The 2021 winners included:
Best Cyber Start Up, sponsored by Varonis: Polydigi Tech Ltd
Best New Cyber Talent, sponsored by Change Digital: George Milken, Education Scotland
Diversity Champion, sponsored by Sapphire: Lead Scotland
Collaboration with Police Scotland, sponsored by Check Point: Cyber Resilience Bulletin
Cyber Educator, sponsored by SQA: Colin McLean, Abertay University
Leading Light Innovation, sponsored by Scotland IS: MemCrypt with Napier University
Best Cyber Breakthrough, sponsored by Quorum Cyber: Capito Ltd
Best Cyber Education Programme, sponsored by BT: Skills Development Scotland – Discover Cyber Skills
Outstanding Cyber Team, sponsored by FullProxy: Cybercrime Harm Prevention Team, Police Scotland
Outstanding Woman in Cyber, sponsored by Gigged.AI: Sarah Cunningham, Waterstons and Ashley Beck, Police Scotland (tie)
Outstanding Leadership, sponsored by Closed Door Security: Detective Inspector Michael McCullagh, Police Scotland
Best Customer Experience, sponsored by The Tech Force: Ascent Cyber (chosen by the public)
Champion of Champions, sponsored by Accenture: Skills Development Scotland – Discover Cyber Skills
Individuals across Scotland nominated their organisation, themselves, or another individual they felt were helping to combat cybercrime. The judging committee included representatives from across the public and private sectors to reflect the wide-ranging impact of the cyber security sector. Visit https://scottishcyberawards.co.uk/.
