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Aspire Cyber Summit 2025 Replay

We’re pleased to share the informative sessions from the Aspire Cyber Summit.

Session Links

Why Cyber Security Demands More in 2025

Chris Fraser – CEO

Chris founded Aspire in 2006 and now leads the board of directors. Chris is responsible for Aspire’s technology strategy to ensure they continue to deliver the most innovative solutions to customers across the UK and beyond.

Session Overview

Chris Fraser opens the summit with a high-level look at the evolving cyber landscape and the priorities shaping strategy in 2025. Drawing on Aspire’s work with organisations across sectors, he’ll set the tone for a day focused on practical insights and strengthening resilience.

Headline Speaker: Inside the Mind of a Fraudster: How Human Behaviour Fuels Attacks

Tony Sales
Britain’s Greatest Former Fraudster

Known for his unmatched insight into how criminals think and operate, Tony communicates risk in a way few others can — cutting through complexity to reveal the real vulnerabilities facing organisations today. A regular presence on TV and radio, his sessions are thought-provoking, eye-opening and not to be missed.

Session Overview

One of the few people in the world to have operated on both sides of cyber crime, Tony Sales, once dubbed “Britain’s Greatest Fraudster”, is now a leading authority on social engineering and cyber crime. In this keynote, Tony reveals the psychological tricks used in social engineering attacks. Expect real-world examples and candid insights. Tony brings the human element of cyber risk into focus. Delegates will leave with practical steps to reduce exposure and strengthen awareness across their organisation.

Inside the SOC: Live Hacks and the New Face of Threats

The Aspire SOC Team


Session Overview

The cyber threat landscape is changing in unexpected ways. Join Bob McKay, Cyber and Infosec Director and members of the Aspire SOC team as they share shares insights on the latest attacker tactics and trends. From deepfake scams to advanced intrusion techniques, this session uncovers how modern attacks can play out, what the team is seeing on the ground, and the key lessons learned from defending against them every day.

Talking Tech to the Board: Turning Cyber Risk into Business Strategy

Lisa Forte
Global Keynote Speaker and Cyber Security Expert

Lisa Forte is an internationally recognised speaker, named as one of the Top 100 Women in Tech, who is renowned for her expertise in cyber crisis management, ransomware, risk management, insider threats, and social engineering.

Session Overview

Cyber security is a board-level issue, but how do you make it land with executives? In this session, you will discover proven strategies for translating technical risk into language that resonates at the exec level. Expect a session that is practical, grounded, and empowering for anyone responsible for securing leadership support.

Headline Speaker: Real-World AI in Security: What Works, What Doesn’t (Yet), and Where All This Is Going

Ben Hanson
Senior Security Strategist & Advisor, Microsoft

Ben Hanson is a Senior Security Strategist at Microsoft with over 25 years of experience in cyber security and technology. He advises global financial institutions on aligning security with business goals and cultural change.

 

Session Overview

AI presents a major opportunity for security teams to move beyond traditional reactive models and take a more preventative, proactive approach to protecting their organisations. In this session, Ben Hanson, Senior Security Strategist and Advisor at Microsoft, shares practical insight into what this shift looks like in the real world. He’ll cut through the hype highlighting what works, what doesn’t (yet), and where AI use in security is heading. He will also focus on the critical-but-overlooked human skills that are essential to making the most of AI. Expect honest insights, practical takeaways and ideas to help you get more value from AI, however your security operations are delivered.

Leading Through Crisis: Executive Lessons in Response and Recovery

Joanne Morgan
IT Service Director at Gateshead

Joanne is an ITIL Managing Professional with an extensive track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering resilient, secure IT services across Gateshead Council’s complex environment of more than 4,500 users and 200 sites.

Session Overview

Cyber incidents are defining moments for leadership. This session offers a first-hand account of how Gateshead Council managed a serious attack, working across teams to protect core services, maintain public confidence and support employees through a period of uncertainty.Joanne Morgan, IT Service Director at Gateshead, shares how priorities were clarified, how internal and external communication was handled, and how the experience helped to shape future strategy and organisational culture. The session highlights the structure, focus, and leadership that supported a successful recovery, along with the lessons that continue to influence the council’s approach to risk and resilience. This is a practical, senior-level perspective on responding to a cyber attack in a public sector context, where services must continue, scrutiny is immediate and the response has to hold up to both.

Lessons Identified: What Happens When The Cyber Dust Settles

Dr Zibby Kwecka
Chief Information Security Officer at Arnold Clark

Zibby is the previous Head of Information Security at Heineken UK, vCISO in the shadows for many well-known brands, and now Chief Information Security Officer at Arnold Clark.

Session Overview

In this session, Dr Zibby Kwecka, Chief Information Security Officer, shares what the aftermath of an attack and speed of recovery can reveal about an organisations cyber readiness and the effectiveness of its incident response. This will include lessons identified at Arnold Clark during a large-scale cyber incident in 2022, as well as first-hand insights of response and recovery from other enterprises breached by cyber criminals in recent years.

Ransomware Under the Microscope: A Forensic Investigation

Paul Abbott
Consulting Specialist and Former Director of KNP Logistics Group

Following a devastating cyber attack that forced the closure of a 158-year-old haulage business, Paul Abbott, previous Director at Knights of Old Group, is now a spokesperson and educator. Paul shares his first hand experience of how the attack unfolded and trying to save the organisation from closure.

Session Overview

Back by popular demand, Paul Abbott returns to our stage to reflect on the ransomware attack that led to the collapse of KNP Logistics Group: a 158-year-old organisation that entered administration following a major breach in 2023. In this session, Paul is joined by Bob McKay, Aspire’s Cyber and Infosec Director, to examine the technical side of the incident.

Expert Panel Q&A

Expert Panel

Session Overview

Regional experts, cyber leaders and incident response pros come together for a discussion on what is happening now in cyber. What are the most common gaps? How are threats evolving locally? And what are successful organisations doing differently? Join the conversation and put your questions to the panel, live on Slido.

Expert Panel:

  • Ben Hanson, Senior Security Strategist and Advisor at Microsoft
  • Paul Abbott, Consulting Specialist and Former Director of KNP Logistics Group
  • Laura Hill, Commercial Litigation Partner and Lead for AI Litigation at Ward Hadaway
  • Bob McKay, Cyber and Infosec Director at Aspire
  • Hosted by Chris Fraser, CEO at Aspire