Ian Edwards - From IT to Cybersecurity to Management

Welcome to the latest episode of the ZeroHour Podcast and I’m your host Karl Sharman. Today we are joined by Ian Edwards. After leaving IT in 2017, he moved into Cybersecurity. After quick progressions, Ian was appointed as Information Security Manager for MEDICA Group in 2018 and leads the Information Security and Risk team, maintaining the Group’s information security and quality management systems and leading on risk management and cyber security strategy. In the relatively short space of time with the company Ian has driven a security transformation programme. Ian is also delivering a fresh and modern security awareness programme to further develop MEDICA’s ‘human firewall’. Key Minutes 2:55 Hearing cybersecurity for the first time 3:30 Working local over city life 5:00 Getting to Medicaid 5:38 Arriving on site for the first time 6:46 Reporting lines 08:09 Having oversight 09:07 Stepping up to manage 09:48 Challenges in management 10:44 Time being a key issue in security 11:48 Focusing on data protection as a business need 12:45 How you learn regulations? 14:32 How can Data Protection and Cybersecurity work together? 16:35 Mitigating supply chain risk 18:58 Communication with third parties 20:40 How do you get senior buy in from a technical perspective? 23:35 The importance of getting recognised through awards 27:35 Planning your career ahead 28:55 Prediction of industry changes 32:10 Challenges around recruitment 34:23 Ten Quick Fire Questions Key Findings - Smaller organisations can be behind the curve in data protection or Cybersecurity normally because they lack the expertise they require. - Reporting into the decision makers of the company is highly important to achieve success as a security department. - You have to focus your time on prioritising the business outcomes. You can find Ian at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iandvedwards/ Company Website: http://www.medicagroup.co.uk Follow us: Twitter: @zero_hourpod Instagram: @zerohourexperience Website: www.beechermadden.com This podcast is sponsored by: BeecherMadden - www.beechermadden.com Cyber Security Professionals - www.cybersecurity-professionals.com