Having joined us in 2021 as a technical apprentice fresh from local secondary school, Longsands Academy, Archie Roberts has started to build an impressive career at MASS. As well as being seconded to the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre, he has become a Cyber Advisor under the recently launched NCSC and IASME Cyber Advisor scheme and very recently became a CREST Practitioner Security Analyst.
Archie is part of a select 100 cyber advisors in the UK and one of the youngest in that group, a remarkable achievement. We sat down with Archie to talk about the new scheme, what it means for MASS as well as his personal development – here’s what he had to say:
First, congratulations on being among the first 100 Cyber Advisors in the UK and one of the youngest, how do you feel?
I feel incredible! It’s a real honour to be given this sort of opportunity to improve myself and gain new skills. I’m very thankful that MASS supported me through this process.
You recently won an award at the MASS Achievement Awards; ‘Outstanding Personal Achievement Award’, how would you say your development at MASS has been in your time there?
My development so far has been nothing but positive. MASS have assisted me at every step in my career and given me the opportunity to flourish.
Tell us about the Cyber Advisor accreditation and how it works?
Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials is a scheme designed to assist small and medium businesses with implementing the Cyber Essentials 5 key controls. Some companies do not have a technical team capable of making use of these controls, which is where the Cyber Advisors come in to offer their experience and advice.
What does this mean for MASS’ cyber offering?
MASS is now able to offer standalone support for the Cyber Essentials self-assessment process. This means that we can give a lot more practical, actionable guidance relating to Cyber Essentials, giving the customer a much better understanding of their systems and a good idea of how best to improve.
How can customers get the best out of it?
Customers interested in achieving Cyber Essentials, without confidence of being able to meet the requirements, would benefit the most from this new scheme. However, any company interested in improving their understanding of their system security would have a lot to gain from this scheme.
Find out more about what Archie and our cyber security team do on our website or email us at contact@mass.co.uk.