Vee Gough delivers an accessible intro to cybersecurity using 2025 retail breaches, exploring cyber risk, resilience, and career pathways.
Speaker
Vee Gough
Agenda
6:00pm - Refreshments and networking for venue attendees.
6:30pm - Event start with talk by Vee Gough - for online and venue attendees
7:30pm - Questions and answers
8:00pm - Event close
Synopsis
The Perfect Storm. This session provides a clear, accessible introduction to cybersecurity, exploring what it is, why it matters, and how people, processes, and technology all play a role. Using the major 2025 “Cyber Hurricane” retail breaches of M&S and Co‑op as real‑world examples, Vee breaks down how attackers infiltrated systems, what went wrong, and what organisations can learn about resilience, supply‑chain security, and human vulnerability. The presentation also introduces the UK Cyber Security Council’s career framework, showing how different specialisms - from incident response and threat intelligence to governance, architecture, and leadership - all contributed to managing and recovering from the incidents. Attendees will gain both a foundational understanding of cyber risk and a clear view of the varied and meaningful career pathways across the cybersecurity profession.
About the speaker
Vee Gough PgDip CISSP CRISC is a Principal Cybersecurity Consultant and Technical Services Lead at North Tower Consulting. With a 22‑year career in the Royal Signals behind her, Vee has extensive experience in secure communications, incident management, cyber operations, and risk leadership. She now specialises in helping organisations strengthen their resilience through Cyber Essentials, IASME assurance, and strategic cybersecurity consultancy. Passionate about developing the next generation of cyber professionals, Vee champions clear career pathways and practical, real‑world understanding of cyber risk.
Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.
This meeting is conducted in accordance with the BCS Code of Conduct for Meetings.
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Please note: if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk, and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.
For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.
This event is brought to you by: Cheltenham and Gloucester branch
