CYFOR Group invests in cyber security and digital forensics operations

Former principal investigator at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Poole will lead the CYFOR Secure cyber security business unit. The team delivers security audits, cyber insurance support and incident response for a host of organisations and is particularly keen to assist SMEs in mitigating cyber risk.

Having gained five years’ experience of leading cyber response and investigations for the ICO, Poole brings first-class incident response and recovery skills in tandem with forensics capabilities to the incident response team. At a time when cyber attacks are more prolific and sophisticated than ever, his core responsibility is to channel direct knowledge of common weak spots and organisational footholds to better prepare organisations against future incidents, while also helping victim organisations to remediate active breaches on a faster and more effective basis.

Poole’s regulatory background also enables him to ‘supercharge’ the company’s advisory business, offering a vital perspective for organisations in the wake of an attack and underpinning any reporting efforts.

Speaking about his new role, Poole informed Security Matters: “Today’s cyber threat landscape is formidable. While a breach should be considered something of an inevitability, very few in-house security professionals have much exposure to real-world incident response. I’m looking forward to delivering critical support for our customers, helping them to respond quickly and securely and ensuring that they can learn from each successful attack in the long-term.”

Upscaled offer

As CTO, Andrew Frowen will champion CYFOR Group’s ambitious growth targets by upscaling the company’s offer and infrastructure to meet today’s demand for digital evidence.

In addition to his technical expertise, Frowen brings two decades’ worth of experience to bear in providing digital forensics support and strategic guidance to the prosecution market. His new role will be central to CYFOR Group’s mission of reducing the police backlog and helping to foster a closer working relationship with law enforcement.

With the average UK household now owning nine connected devices, digital forensics has never been more central to criminal investigations, nor has it been more arduous. As such, digital forensic science providers submitting evidence in UK criminal justice cases must now hold ISO 17025 accreditation, which is a statutory requirement in the United Kingdom. Accreditation signifies that the laboratory where investigations are carried out has demonstrated technical competence and the ability to produce accurate and reliable results.

ISO 17025 accreditation assures clients that the laboratory operates with established procedures framed by recognised information security and quality management systems.

One of Frowen’s key priorities will be to ensure that, as an ISO 17025-accredited forensic science provider, CYFOR Group can alleviate the demands placed on both defence and prosecution teams through the delivery of new innovation and market offerings.

Enviable reputation

Commenting on his appointment, Frowen stated: “CYFOR Group has an enviable reputation as an expert in providing digital forensic reports in support of criminal defence teams. I’m delighted to be supporting the Crown Prosecution Service through partnering with law enforcement agencies as it tackles what is an immense backlog of digital evidence.”

Frowen continued: “Accredited digital evidence is increasingly central to achieving reliable and validated results in a Court of Law, but the proliferation of data and devices presents something of a challenge. We in the digital forensics space have a duty to uphold the justice system with science-led, balanced and unbiased reports, all the while working as trusted partners.”

Before joining CYFOR Group, Frowen served in commercial and technical roles across both the public and private sector. After working as director of forensics at organisations such as CCL Forensics and Disklabs, Frowen went on to become founder of IntaForensics, the digital forensics provider.

*Further information is available online as follows:

CYFOR Forensics (www.cyfor.co.uk), CYFOR Legal (www.cyforlegal.co.uk), CYFOR Secure (www.cyforsecure.co.uk) and Biotas DNA Testing (www.biotas.co.uk)