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Why Hertfordshire needs a cyber security community
Hertfordshire is full of the kinds of organisations cyber criminals love to target: law firms handling client money, accountancy practices holding financial records, healthcare providers with sensitive patient data, and thousands of small businesses running on a handful of laptops and a Microsoft 365 account. Yet if you work in cyber security here, or you run a business trying to stay safe, there's surprisingly little locally to plug into.
When I started looking for a Hertfordshire cyber security group, I found good organisations doing valuable work, but nothing quite like a local community.
The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre offers police-led support to small businesses across the region. BCS Hertfordshire runs excellent events for IT professionals. The University of Hertfordshire has a well-respected Cyber Security Centre. But there's no regular, local place where security practitioners can share what they're seeing, and where business owners can ask honest questions without being sold to.
That's what Herts Cyber is for.
Two audiences, one room
Most security events are pitched either at experts or at beginners. We think Hertfordshire needs both in the same room, because the people defending small businesses and the people running them have a lot to learn from each other.
So each meetup has two halves.
The first half is for businesses. It's a plain-English talk on a real, current threat, such as invoice fraud, ransomware, phishing or what to do after a breach, followed by open questions. There's no jargon and no assumed knowledge. If you run a practice, manage an office, or simply worry about whether your business is safe, this part is for you.
The second half is for practitioners. It covers technical talks, lightning talks, tool demos and the occasional capture-the-flag challenge. We run it under the Chatham House Rule so people can speak openly about what they're dealing with. Everyone is welcome to stay.
In between there's time to talk, which is often where the most useful conversations happen.
Our one firm rule: no selling
This is a community, not a sales funnel. Speakers don't pitch products or services from the stage, and nobody will follow up your question with a quote. That goes for the organisers too. The group only works if everyone trusts that the advice is honest and neutral.
Why it matters locally
Cyber attacks on local organisations aren't abstract. Just weeks into a recent autumn term, six schools in one Hertfordshire academy trust had their systems taken down in a single attack. Incidents like that affect families, staff and suppliers across the county. Most small organisations don't have a security team, and many don't know where to turn for impartial help. A local community can change that.
Get involved
Our meetups are free, and everyone is welcome, whether you're a CISO, an IT support engineer, a student, or a business owner who's never thought much about cyber security. The next date will be announced soon.
You can help by:
- coming along and bringing a colleague;
- offering a talk, even a ten-minute lightning talk about something you've learned;
- suggesting a venue or topic;
- joining our mailing list so you hear about future events.