Martin Smith, chairman and founder of The Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG) and The Security Company International (Ltd), has won a Lifetime Achievement award for his services to security.
The award was presented at this year’s Outstanding Security Performance Awards (The OSPAs) at the London Marriott Hotel on Thursday night, March 2.
Martin, pictured, gained the award for his contribution to the security sector, beating 12 other finalists. He said: “I am completely shocked. It’s not often that I’m left lost for words but this was so unexpected and a great honour to be awarded. Particularly, in a category with so many great nominees who have all played their part in contributing to security awareness and the wider security profession.”
The award recognises someone for consistently showing outstanding performance and having a substantial impact on defining and driving standards in the security sector.
About Martin Smith
He gained his degree in behavioural psychology before spending 15 years as a commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force, mainly assigned to counter-espionage and counter-terrorism duties in east and west Europe. After being awarded membership of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for this work, he left the service for a second career in the commercial sector.
He joined Touche Ross Management Consultants before becoming the Senior Director of Corporate Security for Kroll Associates, the commercial counter-intelligence and security consultancy. He then joined the Standard Chartered Bank as Head of Information Security before in 1997 forming The Security Company (International) Limited, based in Upper Dean in rural Cambridgeshire. In 2003 Martin founded the Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG) (www.thesasig.com) which he runs pro bono to further discussions around the human factor in cyber security. SASIG membership comprises organisations of all sizes public and private from around Europe, and all activities are free.
