Padlock, a UK-based cybersecurity start-up, a platform that seeks to match UK businesses with cyber consultants on demand, has appointed Paul Cornish as a Non-Executive Director.
Having served in the British Army and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he has gone on to hold senior appointments including at Chatham House – at that think-tank, he set up its cyber security research project; the UK Defence Academy; the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s College London; the consultancy RAND Corporation (Europe); and the universities of Cambridge, Bath and Exeter.
Cornish’s work has covered national strategy, cyber security, international security futures, arms control, the ethics of conflict, and civil military relations. He participated in UK-China Track 1.5 discussions on cyber security and global cyber governance from 2013 and has advised several national cyber security strategies. He was co-director of the Cyber Security Capacity Building Centre at Oxford University from 2013 to 2018; and is director of his own consultancy company, Coracle Analysis Ltd.
Eoin Heffernan, Padlock’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer said: “I am delighted to be working with Paul, who is a leading voice on cybersecurity in the UK and around the world. I am confident that Paul’s background will provide Padlock with the additional thought-led capacity to continue to grow our services in the UK and abroad. Paul’s expertise in cybersecurity is complementary to Padlock’s offer and I look forward to working with him on key projects.”
This news follows Padlock’s selection as one of the UK’s 14 ‘Most Innovative Cyber Security Start-ups’ in 2019 by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), EY and trade body techUK.
Paul Cornish, pictured, added: “I could not be more pleased to be joining Eoin and the Padlock team. It’s widely understood that we face a critical shortage in cyber security skills – nationally and globally. But rather than admiring the problem, Padlock is doing something about it. Padlock’s grounded approach to cyber skills development is authentic, demand-led and timely and will contribute decisively to social, corporate and national resilience to cyber threats.“
Over the next few months, the company says, it’s set to launch a SEIS seed fundraising round; to expand into Canada and North America in 2021. Visit http://padlock.digital/.
