Digital Origin, in partnership with Franklins Solicitors LLP, hosted an exclusive cyber security event at the historic Bletchley Park, bringing together business leaders and IT professionals to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing SMEs today: cyber resilience.
The event explored the evolving threat landscape and provided practical, actionable strategies to help businesses safeguard their operations. Sessions covered everything from ethical hacking and mobile security to email protection and business continuity planning.
- Rob Shapland delivered a compelling session on ethical hacking, demonstrating how attackers exploit human trust through techniques like Al-driven voice cloning and impersonation. His advice was clear: vigilance is critical. Employees must question everything because even the most convincing voice could be a threat.
- Adam Boynton highlighted the growing risks associated with mobile devices, from OS vulnerabilities to deepfake CEO scams. His message: mobile security is no longer optional, it’s a board-level priority. Solutions like Jamf can help secure endpoints without compromising user experience.
- Hiro Taylor emphasised the importance of planning for worst-case scenarios. Losing access to all data can cripple operations, so businesses must prepare. Tools like the NCSC’s Exercise in a Box offer practical ways to identify gaps and strengthen resilience.
- Robin Bingeman reminded attendees that over 90% of cyber incidents start with phishing emails. He showcased how solutions like Vipre use Al-driven threat detection, sender verification and email archiving to protect inboxes and ensure compliance.
- Matt Leonards closed the day with a powerful message: start with the fundamentals. Strong authentication, patching vulnerabilities, securing cloud environments and building robust incident response plans are the foundation of cyber resilience.
The key takeaways from the panel were:
- Be politely paranoid – question everything.
- Make security easy – biometrics and user-friendly policies drive adoption.
- Focus on the big pieces first – patching, MFA and foundational practices.
- Face-to-face training beats e-learning – it resonates and sticks.
The overarching theme? People are where attacks start. Train and empower them.
Stephen Richardson, CEO at Digital Origin Solutions said: “Cyber threats are evolving at an incredible pace, and SMEs need to stay one step ahead. Events like this are about sharing knowledge and building a community where business owners and IT leaders can learn from each other and tackle these challenges together. Every day we see the real impact of cyber incidents: lost revenue, damaged reputations, disrupted operations. By coming together, we can turn awareness into action and make resilience a shared priority.”
Simon Long, Managing Partner at Franklins Solicitors added: “Cyber security is no longer just a technology issue – it’s a people issue. Our event brought together business leaders to explore how awareness, culture and everyday decision-making play a crucial role in protecting organisations. At Franklins Solicitors, we see first-hand the legal and commercial consequences of cyber incidents, so helping our local business community strengthen its resilience is incredibly important to us. We were delighted to collaborate with Digital Origin Solutions on such an engaging and forward-thinking session.”
For more information, contact Franklins Solicitors via their website.
