Core to Cloud Ltd - Experts & Thought Leaders

Cybersecurity specialist, Core to Cloud, has appointed a new Head of Cyber Security, Laurence Bentley, as the multi-award-winning company launches a programme of new services, as part of its strategic transition to a fully managed service provider. Laurence Bentley New responsibilities Laurence Bentley, who has over 26 years of experience in cybersecurity, is working in partnership with Chief Technology Officer - Phil Howe. He will oversee the service delivery team as the company launches three new managed services this month, including its Dark Web Monitoring, fully Managed 24/7 Detection and Response, and Crisis Simulation services. Work experience He has a reputation for successfully delivering enterprise-level cybersecurity systems Before joining Core to Cloud, Laurence held roles in the finance, healthcare, and retail sectors, including Bupa Global, The Co-Operative Group, and Barclays Bank. He has a reputation for successfully delivering enterprise-level cybersecurity systems, specialising in areas such as incident response and management, systems security, vulnerability, and malware management, risk assessment and security testing, network management, and policy design and compliance. Comments On joining Core to Cloud, Laurence said, “Core to Cloud has an industry-wide reputation for working collaboratively and in true partnership with its clients to design and deliver bespoke, sustainable cybersecurity systems and strategies that not only protect organisations but also build upon, educate and inform our clients’ workforces too." He adds, "The company is going through an exciting period of growth and transition. It’s been fantastic working with the team, and our partner vendors, to deliver our new range of services to the market.” Core to Cloud Core to Cloud was founded in 2015 by business partners James Cunningham and Mark Liddle. It supports an expanding portfolio of private and public sector clients, including the high street retailer Fat Face, global consumer intelligence agency GFK, University College London, and over a quarter of the NHS Trusts in England and Wales, as well as working closely with National Services Scotland, which provides services to Scotland’s 14 health boards. Cybersecurity solutions Core to Cloud provides network visibility, validation, governance and control, and incident response tooling Having established itself in the market as an innovator in cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, Core to Cloud provides network visibility, validation, governance and control, and incident response tooling and services. Its new Cyber Crime Underground Monitoring, Managed 24/7 Detection and Response, and Crisis Simulation as a service is part of a programme of services that the cybersecurity specialists will be launching over the coming months. Dark Web Monitoring service Laurence Bentley explained, “Our Dark Web Monitoring service provides alerts and insights for our partners to identify potential threats to their business. It enables organisations to quickly pivot to focus on specific threats, minimise risk, identify exposed data, accelerate incident response, and profile threat actors." He adds, "Credentials sold on the dark web are often initial routes into an organisation for cybercriminals and can lead to numerous types of attacks, such as email and server compromise and data exfiltration." Managed 24/7 Detection and Response The launch of Core to Cloud’s other two services, Managed 24/7 Detection and Response and crisis simulation as a Service, comes as findings from the Government’s Cyber Breaches Survey highlighted the continued prevalence of phishing attacks on UK organisations. It reported that 79% of businesses experienced a phishing attempt over the last 12 months. This follows a KnowBe4 benchmarking report which also found that 1 in 3 employees are likely to fall for a phishing attack when they’re not cybersecurity trained. Digital asset management and monitoring Our new service improves threat detection and aligns with ISO27001, NIST, Cyber Essentials, MITRE ATT&CK" Laurence Bentley continued, “In today’s digital age, where threats are a global issue, coming from anywhere at any time, managed detection and response is an essential tool for organisations, allowing them to monitor their digital assets 24/7, 365 days a year." He further said, "Our new service improves threat detection and aligns with ISO27001, NIST, Cyber Essentials, MITRE ATT&CK, and Kill Chain security frameworks and controls." Crisis simulation Also, a company’s employees should be one of the first lines of defense in a robust cybersecurity strategy. Crisis simulation can help play a key role in educating people at all levels, helping to build resilience. Through gamification, so no death by PowerPoint it challenges teams to make critical decisions when dealing with emerging incidents, such as ransomware outbreaks, insider threats, data breaches, and phishing attacks. It can also help organisations to understand their readiness for a potential breach, and also where potential areas for improvement could be.” Enterprise-level cybersecurity systems and strategies Co-Founder and CEO - James Cunningham stated, “Laurence brings with him a wealth of experience in the delivery of enterprise-level cybersecurity systems and strategies. He’s a fantastic asset to the team and has played an instrumental role, alongside the whole team, as Core to Cloud enters the market with a new range of cutting-edge cybersecurity fully managed services.”

Core to Cloud, an innovative cybersecurity solutions provider that enables secure digital business in a world of growing threats, announced the recent appointment of Phil Howe as Chief Technology Officer. Phil Howe joined the business to drive forward several new technology initiatives, working closely with customers to ensure that their needs are met, but more importantly that they stay one step ahead of the cyber-criminals. Particularly in the current post-pandemic environment, where there has been a significant reported increase in cyberattacks, it is now more important than ever that organisations have the right cybersecurity strategies and solutions in place. With in-depth industry experience and a strong focus on healthcare, education, compliance, and security, Core to Cloud creates bespoke solutions that effectively help organisations with visibility, validation, governance, compliance and response to cyber threats. Innovative solutions Core to Cloud was an integral part of our team and really hit the mark, bringing innovative solutions to us" Along with its extensive work within the public sector, its unique, consultative approach has positioned the firm as one of the most trusted cybersecurity specialists out there. In the last couple of years, Core to Cloud has quickly gained a reputation for bringing highly disruptive security technologies to market and this was one of the key reasons why Phil took on the new role. Phil Howe, CTO, Core to Cloud comments: “The tech Core to Cloud has in its product stack is best of breed and very innovative. I have worked with Core to Cloud for the past five years and have been a customer when I was deputy CTO at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. At the Trust, we had a small IT security team and I needed a partner who could work alongside my team, who really understood my needs, who I trusted, who listened and came back with solid recommendations to help overcome some of the challenges we were facing.” “Core to Cloud was an integral part of our team and really hit the mark, bringing innovative solutions to us that were really fit for purpose. They helped us build out the security for the organisation and I was so impressed with the company culture and ethos, not to mention its growth ambitions, that I decided this was the right place for my next career move and I’m really excited about the opportunity.” Lack of time and resources Phil Howe is a highly experienced senior IT manager with hands-on knowledge of developing new technologies" James Cunningham, Founder and Director, Core to Cloud adds: “We are delighted that Phil has joined us. We work with a lot of NHS Trusts and it is great to have someone on the ground, in our team, who can really relate to the challenges that some of these Trusts are grappling with. Most have relatively small teams, a lack of time and resources, and are being hit daily with requests while also trying to defend against the bad guys, so it is great that Phil can immediately relate to this and has the experience to help remediate.” “Having spent over 18 years working in the NHS, Phil Howe is a highly experienced, multi-skilled senior IT manager with hands-on knowledge of developing new technologies within large and critical IT infrastructures.” Prior to joining Core to Cloud he was Deputy Chief Technology Officer at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Here he led the third line and projects team, focusing on technical strategy and programme management as well as developing, funding and delivering key IT projects and systems to support IT security and the delivery of patient care within a large and complex organisation. Emerging technologies He joined the Trust in 2008 and worked for over a decade in several senior technical roles before being promoted to Deputy Chief Technology Officer. Prior to joining Bolton NHS, Phil Howe was a senior IT specialist for Ehealth at NHS Dumfries and Galloway. Cylera reduces security risk and provides key information for segmentation, and for IT and DSPT returns as well A Prince2 practitioner, Phil Howe also has extensive experience working in the private sector and spent more than four years at Northgate Information Solutions as a senior technical project specialist and engineer. Now, as part of the Core to Cloud team, he will help the business grow and move to the next stage in its rapid development. Looking forward, Core to Cloud is committed to delivering best of breed solutions for its clients and, even in the last six months, has brought several new and emerging technologies to market that exactly meet client requirements. One specific technology that NHS Trusts have identified a gap in is security for their IoT medical devices. A number of Trusts reached out to Core to Cloud, who had just partnered with Cylera, who provide a complete asset list of all connected devices. Granular device information Phil Howe adds, “We had multiple customers asking us for an IoT solution that would provide a complete asset list of all their connected devices and provide a clientless way to secure medical devices as well as highlight their vulnerabilities, show granular device information and utilisation as well as provide the information needed for segmentation. We researched and tested the market and found the best fit was the new Cylera solution, which is custom built for hospitals and provides rich information for IT, IG and Medical Engineering.” There are clear use cases for Cylera. The product ensures providers regularly patch their devices, (the large majority will not allow client installs to monitor this). It also provides rich device information to assist around device life and replacement, allowing Trusts to plan this into their capital programmes. And finally, Cylera reduces security risk and provides key information for segmentation, and for IT and DSPT returns as well.

Cylera, the foremost healthcare IoT (HIoT) cybersecurity and threat intelligence company, has announced the addition of Core to Cloud to the company’s Global Channel Partner Programme. Based in the U.K. Core to Cloud delivers innovative cybersecurity solutions that enable secure digital business in a world of growing threats. “With in-depth industry experience and a strong focus on healthcare, education, compliance and security, Core to Cloud creates bespoke solutions that effectively help organisations with visibility, validation, governance and response to cyber threats. This creates the perfect opportunity for Cylera to partner with a strong industry-leading provider with clear success in the U.K. markets,” said Timur Ozekcin, Co-Founder and CEO of Cylera. “We are already seeing success through enhancing Core to Clouds offering with Cylera’s HIoT cybersecurity platform.” Cybersecurity specialist Core to Cloud has gained a reputation for bringing highly disruptive security technologies to market Along with its extensive work within the public sector and healthcare, Core to Cloud's unique, consultative approach has positioned the firm as one of the most trusted cybersecurity specialists out there. In the last couple of years, Core to Cloud has quickly gained a reputation for bringing highly disruptive security technologies to market and this was one of the key reasons why Cylera chose to partner with the organisation.  “With a go-to-market strategy that provides a solution-led approach that puts the customer needs first, we are excited to add Cylera’s technology to our capabilities and aid the expansion of the relationship,” said James Cunningham, Managing Director at Core to Cloud. “This collaboration will enable both Core to Cloud and Cylera to be jointly competitive in the U.K. market.” “We have already seen demand with multiple NHS customers asking us for an IoT solution that would provide a complete asset list of all their connected devices and provide a clientless way to secure medical devices as well as highlight their vulnerabilities, show granular device information and utilisation as well as provide the information needed for segmentation. We researched and tested the market and found the best fit was the Cylera solution, which is custom built for hospitals and provides rich information for IT, IG and Medical Engineering.” Contextual awareness Cylera is a contextually aware platform for asset management, risk analysis and threat detection. The platform is purpose-built for complex, high-impact environments, and combines comprehensive contextual awareness with a deep understanding of operational workflows. Cylera’s insights and recommendations simplify response playbooks, decrease time to remediation, and enable informed decision making.