Dear friends and family

As we all know, this was intended originally as Jo and my joint “retirement” party but as we all also know, that’s not quite turned out as planned despite the best of efforts from all concerned. Since September we – with our inimitable MD Danny King – are once again in the driving seat. SASIG is back better than it ever was, and we have great plans for its future.

I wish I had a pound every time someone has since said “we knew you’d never retire” and there’s a grain of truth there. As far as retirement goes, I’ve reconciled that I will likely never retire, so now the aim is to establish a level of work that Jo and I can live with and we’re getting there.

We wanted still to throw a party, we just needed an excuse, so now it’s to celebrate my 50 years working in the security industry. To say thank you to the industry that has given me so much. To say thank you to those fellow professionals who have travelled alongside me over that half-century; to acknowledge their support and friendship. To say thank you to our family, our wonderful seven children and their spouses/partners and our nine grandchildren. To say thank you to our closest friends, some stretching back to my university days and RAF times, to my early civilian career and thence to The Security Company and finally SASIG. (These latter two account for 30 of the 50 years!)

So first and foremost, thank you all for joining me and Josephine this evening. We held our wedding reception here in 2012, in this very room, some of you were there with us. We’ve applied the same rule to our guest list this evening that we used back then – you have to be in our lives and that we love you. Tonight, we can give you no greater complement.

Not everyone could be here. Many from my early career are now irreversibly dead. Many more are spread around the world but have nevertheless sent us their best wishes for an enjoyable evening. Jo and I wanted partners here as well, that was important to us. Too often you are forgotten, rarely invited to the “corporate” events. We wanted you to see what your other halves get up to, and how highly in regard we hold them.

Jo and I realised the other evening that we’ve been flying alongside each other for nearly 30 of these 50 years. From my perspective, she has been: colleague, lover, wife, sage, muse, mentor, boss, best friend, sheet-anchor, rock, lighthouse, co-conspirator – all these things and more. My beautiful wife hates me drawing attention to her, which makes me love her even more (and of course do it even more!) But I know – indeed YOU all know – that without her I’d just be a shadow on the wall. So thank you, Jo, from the bottom of my heart for the underserved faith and perseverance you have awarded me without hesitation, repetition or deviation. In the words of the great Dave Coaches “it’s been a blast”.

My career – like that of most of us in the room this evening – has been one of years of the usual drudgery and endless thankless application. But for me this journey has been punctuated by occasional but profound and utter lows. In 1980 the day I nearly started World War Three, in 1986 my almost-Court Martial and associated banishment to the RAF Provost equivalent of Slough House, in 1995 redundancy from a CISO role that I completely screwed up, in 1996 losing my entire fortune to an international con man, in 2007 nearly being killed by accident in three different ways over the space of 2 memorable weeks, going bust in 2012 – I have many more examples.

But to counterbalance; the army of friends I have amassed around the world over this same period – to witness just look around you this evening. Being privileged to be at the very start of the UK’s computer security discipline and contributing to all that has followed since. Championing the human layer of cybersecurity. In 1990 being awarded the MBE – yes, I’m very proud of that, which is why I wanted others to wear and be proud of their awards this evening, too.

The establishing of a community of some 12,000 cybersecurity professionals working together, learning from each other, creating something far greater and more powerful than its individual parts.

Having fun. Bringing on new team members, training them and then watching them fly on to great things. Making a difference. Earning the respect of those I respect and admire, at home and at work. Again, to witness just look around you.

But the single event that stands out the most, and which holds the greatest pride for me, was SASIG’s response to lockdown. Overnight – and already many have forgotten how dark those days were – we were all shut away at home with our wives and husbands and partners and children and dogs and cats – and it was only really the dogs that loved us back. We were all going to die – the Government told us so, and nightly Huw Edwards confirmed it. We were all going to lose our jobs. We were going to run out of toilet paper. The grid was going to shut down and the Internet fail. The Russians were going to take us into nuclear war via Ukraine. The world as we knew it was drawing rapidly to a violent end. Certainly, SASIG could no longer put on its regular cybersecurity meetings in London!

But on day three of lockdown, Danny and I and Jo came up with the plan to pivot to online. We’d do webinars – not occasionally, not even just regularly, but DAILY! We would be the place for the cybersecurity community to gather each morning at 11am. Regardless of the topic, there would be 100, 150, 200 mates all surrounding the same virtual water cooler. And this went on for 2 years, before we started venturing back into the real world. Our membership rose from just under 3,000 to more than 9,000 and it has continued to grow steadily since. That was 5 years ago now, but still our members remember and remain loyal to us – 12,000 of us now and growing daily. And still the webinars [thrice weekly] and in-person events [twice monthly] continue. SASIG has survived and grown but only because of everyone’s efforts. Most recently, thanks to the generosity and humanity of Peter Jones and Alison Jackson at Nineteen, we are again independent and free to continue this journey in our own way. “For the community, by the community”. And thanks to Danny of course, and Nadia. And Nicole. And Avril coming home. And now the new bloods Liz and Andy and Meagan and Jay – well, as they say “the world’s our scallop”. Watch this space.

Some of the key personalities of this past 5 years’ journey are here this evening. You know who you are. My closest SASIG allies, strongest supporters (in both senses of the word), staunchest lieutenants, tightest wingmen. Many more aren’t here – there would be just too many. Hundreds of speakers, hosts, facilitators, chairs, panelists. Thousands of members. Dozens of Supporters too, who gave and still give the financial, emotional and physical help that enables us to do all of this great work and in return just want to be part of this great movement. So that’s what this evening is all about – not simply to say thank you, but to acknowledge publicly that this is SASIG. You. The Collective. The Community. The Greater Good. That’s where ultimately my career was heading all the time. And now fate seems to have decreed that it’s not yet time for me to stop.  

Jo and I are incredibly proud of what SASIG has and will continue to achieve. This evening is but a small thing to express our gratitude for all that everyone has done and is doing to enable this important work. But equally, our friends and family. You have supported us in countless other ways and enriched our lives and grounded us and sustained us. Thank you, too.  

SASIG is defined by its irreverence, its informality. SASIG has never been about the money but about the mission. We’ve always viewed it through the lens of public service. Of course we need to be commercial, we have our bills to pay, and we’re very good at this. But our profit has never been measured in pounds sterling but in how much good we all are doing, how much we all are contributing to making the UK “the safest place to live and work online”. SASIG has never sought the limelight, we leave that to others. Our growth has been by word of mouth, our reputation hard-earned. Our priority has always been the member – from the most senior CISO to the most junior analyst, those at the coalface. The academic, law enforcement, government, the student. We’ve therefore remained below the radar.

I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it means we’re the best-kept secret of the cyber world. I just wish we could bring the SASIG to so many more – users and vendors alike – who still don’t know about us.

But if the last 50 years have taught me one thing alone, it’s perseverance. SASIG is indeed re-born, we are here to fight another day/week/month/year. It feels like we’ve changed up a gear since the summer. There is still so much left to do, and Jo and I and Danny are determined to continue doing it. With the Team, of course. With the community’s help, of course. “For the community, by the community”. With our friends and family’s continuing support, of course. And hopefully blessed still with our good health and energy.

I can’t promise another 50 years in harness since I started in security. Or 30 since TSC, or 20 since SASIG. But I’d like to try for another 10! We’ll host another celebration then – January 2036. Here, in this room. Put it in your diaries now.

So please, let’s all be upstanding and make a toast to…

…the next 10 years.