Q3 Wealth & Finance Cyber Defence Adviser of the Year 2023 (UK): Cameron Brown As a leading cyber defence expert, what exactly is it that you do? I am a Director at Deloitte in the UK, one of the global ‘Big 4’ accounting and consultancy firms, where I lead on cybersecurity in technology, media and telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and life sciences. We help organisations deal with present threats and ever-growing future risks posed by cybercrime. My remit is to support clients in neutralising threats, help protect and fortify their business value, and sustain customer trust. Beyond that, we share our knowledge and experience in managing threats to help protect all organisations, businesses, and individuals from the impact of cybercrime and unauthorised data access. As the pace of digital transformation accelerates and the world becomes increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats, our aim is to guide clients in maturing strategic and tactical security capabilities, incident response measures, proactive defence, resilience investments, and in devising effective countermeasures to insider threats, whether malicious or unintentional. This includes direct specific advice and support delivered as trusted advisors and project leaders, but also through publishing research findings, thought leadership, contributions to conferences, and via comments to the media. How did you develop your skills in cybersecurity? The work I do for clients is, I think, heavily influenced by my early career choices. These took me from being a music composer and producer, to becoming a practising lawyer, a digital forensics specialist for the police, and then to the government in Australia, and later the United Nations. So, when I joined mainstream consulting in the field of cybersecurity, I had already acquired a useful skillset in advocacy, conflict resolution, creative problem solving, deductive reasoning, and communicating complex information with clarity and brevity. Some of the hardest earnt skills that I developed were gained hacking all flavours of devices for law enforcement and appearing as an electronic evidence expert in matters associated with serious crime. What are the core values that guide you when making business decisions? I am passionate about teamwork and knowledge sharing, as when done well, it ensures that work produced is consistently precise, relevant, and useful. The quality of the team’s service delivery is really influenced by how we treat each other. As a leader, I support initiative and seek avenues to improve service quality and the value we can deliver for our clients. Being able to think creatively and break out of the box is a superpower and it’s important to take time to understand individual strengths across the whole team so that they can be integrated and fostered. Cybersecurity is a team sport, and you achieve success by attracting and retaining high calibre, diverse talent, and proactively driving an inclusive culture through coaching and effective leadership. How do you stay ahead of competitors and what gives you an edge in the market? Studying forensic psychology, behavioural science, investigation and interviewing techniques, and music performance has given me a very practical understanding and unique perspective on human nature, personality types, and how to manage groups of individuals. I work at building partnerships and alliances. I also welcome differences of opinion. Success in working across many domains with a security mandate (legal practice, policing, international relations, anti-corruption, infosec and compliance) requires an equal measure of flexibility, forward planning, and creativity, whether advising prosecutors, diplomats, CEOs, or government officials. The foundation guiding my career journey springs from the pleasure derived from working with diverse personalities, cultures, and unique organisations. What solutions do you offer and how does your background make an impact? Each new project I lead benefits from extensive coalface experience and operational fieldwork expertise which enable rapid trust building and responsiveness to changing Deloitte is a leading global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and related professional services. Cameron Brown, Cyber Defence Adviser and Data Protection Strategist, is a Director within the UK firm. He is described by his colleagues as a handson, collaborative, and pragmatic leader. In light of Cameron’s recent success within the Cyber Security Awards 2023, we now gain an insight into his career trajectory and developments within the cyber security industry, in his own words. Jun23353
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