During the recent Leeds Digital Festival, KnowBe4 and aql hosted the inaugural CyberSecure Leeds: Human Risk & Connectivity Summit.

The event, which took place at aql’s Salem Chapel HQ in Leeds, was tailored for business professionals and government officials to learn and develop resilient defence strategies when it comes to phishing, social engineering, ransomware and AI-powered cyber threats.

The summit was hosted by renowned cybersecurity expert, Javvad Malik, who also hosted a dynamic panel discussion with other leading cybersecurity professionals, including:

• Alhannah Crewe, Head of Security Culture at Travelopia
• Fiona McGregor, Risk Manager at Arm UK
• Stacey Bull, Senior Manager Cyber-Human Threat at Reckitt Benckiser

Together, they explored the cybersecurity behaviours and attitudes of UK workers across remote, office-based, and hybrid environments from KnowBe4’s “TAPPED Out” survey – short for Tired, Angry, Pissed, Pressed, Emotional, and Distracted.

In an educational discussion, the panel covered the importance of helping employees understand the reasoning behind security measures, how to influence better security habits in their personal lives and how to ensure workers remain engaged in security awareness training.

The panel also discussed new attack vectors they’re seeing, such as threats over work collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and false meeting invite scams, as well as the importance of meeting people where they’re at to get the most from security awareness training programmes.   

“The summit provided a valuable opportunity for security professionals in the north of England from SMEs to large enterprises to network, share ideas, engage in discussions and explore potential collaborations to strengthen security measures,” said Dan Hindley, senior director of sales (UK&I) at KnowBe4. “It was fantastic to bring together like-minded individuals who care about security and want to help businesses in integrating a robust security culture into their daily operations.

“We are also grateful to aql for partnering with us to improve security education in the face of persistent cyber threats.”

Prof Adam Beaumont DL, Chairman of aql holdings, added: “Back in 2006, aql were the first tech business to invest and build infrastructure on the south bank of Leeds, putting the city on the global internet map.

“Over that time we’ve had the pleasure to support many businesses in the region and see them thrive. Last year it was my pleasure as a West Yorkshire Deputy Lieutenant to officiate the opening of KnowBe4’s offices – our new neighbours.

“More excitingly, last week, the aql and KnowBe4 team got together to deliver a tech event from aql’s historic grade II listed HQ to delegates as part of Leeds’ vibrant digital festival.”

For more information about KnowBe4, please visit:  www.knowbe4.com , and for aql: https://www.aql.com

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