25 Oct 2018
We recently caught up with Saph, who has been speaking to MPs along with fellow apprentices about the global cybersecurity skills shortage and how we’re addressing it.
Cyber security is a broad and multifaceted subject, which nobody can afford to ignore. It’s important for BT as there is a huge rise in cybercrime, therefore, there is an increased need for security.
I worked in a fraud beforehand, so dealt with customers that had their details leaked as a result of a company’s security breach. This made me want to protect the customers before this happened, and raise people’s awareness. Unfortunately, security is not at the forefront of people’s minds, despite everything around us. I want people to be aware before they are victims, because then it is too late.
We spoke about the importance of cybersecurity, why they should be interested and ways that the awareness could be promoted. Also, we spoke about BT’s apprenticeship scheme and how we believe that the learning opportunities were beyond what we imagined.
I am currently working on the physical aspect of cyber security – I recently attended a site audit, which was insightful to see how the company protects its own and company assets from being compromised. People tend to forget that there is a physical threat to the integrity of information, and that it is just as important to protect from physical threats as it is to protect from them in the cyber world.
My team is extremely multi-skilled, covering a wide range of security aspects from the physical and cyber space, whilst ensuring that international accreditation standards are met (ISO27001).
