SANS Institute appoints NCSC Founder Ciaran Martin to lead CISO Network and Summits EMEA

Global cybersecurity leader joins world’s largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to ease pressure upon security decision-makers

Bethesda, MD, January 10, 2023 – The SANS Institute today announced the appointment of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) founder and former head Ciaran Martin, CB, as Director of SANS CISO Network and Summits EMEA.

Respected as a world leader among public authorities for cybersecurity, Martin is able to offer SANS and its global community a unique perspective on successfully managing global cyber threats at a national level.

As Director of the SANS CISO Network and Summits in EMEA, Martin will look to facilitate further preparedness and resilience among a community facing a rapid increase in cyberattacks. With Martin at their helm, the SANS CISO Network and Summits will continue to ease the pressure of working as a security decision-maker amid today’s tough threat landscape, providing an environment in which ideas and lessons-learned can be shared amongst a peer group of influencers and thought leaders.

Martin’s belief in the collaboration of government and industry to enhance cybersecruity makes him as an ideal lead for today’s Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). A 23-year veteran of the UK Government, Martin hasheld senior positions at HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office, as well as six and a half years on the board of the NCSC, which he founded.Under Martin’s leadership, the NCSC managed more than 2000 nationally significant cyber-attacks against the UK, including the so-called Wannacry attack against the NHS in 2017. Martin also led the detection work that prompted the Government to call out, for the first time, cyber aggression from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

One of Martin’s first outings in his new SANS role will be to attend the CyberThreat conference, taking place in January 2023. The conference – a joint event between the NCSC and SANS - seeks to support and advance the UK Government’s commitment to equip practitioners with the skills and knowledge required to defend against cyber threats.

Ciaran Martin said: “SANS Institute is a force for good in global cyber security. Its principles are strongly aligned with my own; to help people cut through the fear and hype of today’s extensive threat landscape by relying on high quality expertise.

“I want to work with SANS to develop a safe, expert space for today’s CISOs to learn from the best, and collaborate with each other, as they face the frontline of cybersecurity in the years ahead.

“By training those in the cybersecurity industry to the highest standard, we are hugely increasing the capabilities of the country and our allies to respond to cyber threats. It has always been a privilege to play a part in that; my work now continues at SANS, an organisation I admire and trust.”

CyberThreat 2022, hosted by SANS and the NCSC, takes place on 16-17 January 2023. To find out more and sign up, please visit the SANS Institute website.

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions worldwide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cybersecurity events and on demand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on technical certifications in cybersecurity. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's and bachelor's degrees, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to manage their "human" cybersecurity risk easily and effectively. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community, including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners representing varied global organizations, from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community. www.sans.org