An employee at one of NI’s leading IT security and managed services providers, Outsource Group, has become one of the first people – and the first woman – in Northern Ireland to become an assured Cyber Advisor (Cyber Essentials).

Sandra Quinn from Cookstown who has been working at Outsource Group for 9 years, most recently in a Cyber Advisor position, is leading the way for women in the tech industry in Northern Ireland. She recently became a registered Cyber Advisor, making her the first female in Northern Ireland to hold this recognised and trusted position.

Cyber Advisor is the National Cyber Security Centre’s new Industry Assurance scheme delivered in partnership with IASME. It provides small and medium sized organisations with reliable and cost effective cyber security advice and practical support.  This has become increasingly important due to the adoption of digital technology for products and services, expedited by the pandemic. To gain this accreditation, all cyber advisors have passed an independent assessment which measured their knowledge and understanding of Cyber Essentials’ technical controls, competence in providing practical and hands-on support and ability to understand and work with small and medium sized organisations.

Outsource Group, headquartered in Antrim, was founded in 2000 and offers a broad range of technology support and services to customers in the UK and Ireland, with an increasing focus in recent years on embedding IT security in everything it does.  Outsource Group are now trained and licensed to assess and certify against all levels of the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme and provide guidance and assistance to organisations aiming to achieve certification.

Speaking of her achievement, Sandra commented: “I am delighted to be the first female in Northern Ireland to have achieved the status of Cyber Advisor (Cyber Essentials). At Outsource Group, we pride ourselves in offering a high-quality service and this is yet another step in our journey as a company leading the way as one of the fastest growing IT managed services companies.”

“As a female working in the male dominated tech industry, I know the challenges that we can face, and I hope that I can help to lead the way for other females in the tech industry.”

Terry Moore, CEO of Outsource Group, said: “It is fantastic to see Outsource Group lead the way in cyber security as we see an increasing demand for advice on cyber security in the industry. We are on a journey to being the number one managed services company for security and this is a really important next step in this journey as it further enhances our skills and showcases our abilities in this area.”

Sandra has also recently completed the Empowering Women to Lead programme which is a three-month unique cross-sector initiative, backed by industry and government, which aims to support the creation of a sustainable network of empowered female leaders in digital transformation and cyber security across the UK tech sector. The model for the programmes is built around regional cohorts of digital professionals from public, private and third sector organisations, who are selected from an open application process to take part in three months of intensive leadership coaching, culminating in a group project specifically designed around a key challenge facing civic society, which cyber security and information management can help to address.

Outsource Group is delighted to collaborate with IoD NI to present a keynote event for business leaders who worry about their organisation’s readiness to face a cyber-attack.

➡️ Gina McIntyre, CEO, Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) – European Funding
➡️ Paul Woods, Detective Chief Inspector, Head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Crime Centre
➡️ Scott Roberts, Cyber Resilience Director EMEA, Dell Technologies

Breakfast is included at this event and places are limited. This event is open to members and non-members of the IoD Northern Ireland

Please register now to secure your place https://bit.ly/3ofJGR7

Outsource Group is delighted to announce that we have gained two internationally recognised certifications, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies) composed of representatives from the national standards of organisations of members countries.

The first of the certifications to be recently gained by Outsource Group is ISO 9001, the world’s most recognised quality management system standard which is given to companies that have achieved management excellence in their quality management systems.

In addition to this, Outsource Group has also gained the accreditation of ISO 14001, the internationally recognised standard for the environmental management of businesses, prescribing controls for those activities that have an effect on the environment.

Terry Moore, CEO of Outsource Group, commented on this recent success: “I am delighted that Outsource has gained these excellent certifications which are a reflection of the business as we continue to grow. It underlines our commitment to our customers and our focus on quality as well as being proactive towards our environmental management and reducing our carbon impact.”.

With the increasing frequency of cyber threat due to the reliance organisations now place on IT, digital forensics has become an important part of the cyber security world. 

Expedited by the global pandemic, today data is stored on a wide range of digital devices, making it increasingly easy for hackers planning a cyber-attack. 

The term forensics has been used for many years and has its origins in the Latin word forensis, meaning “pertaining to the forum”, or as we now refer to it, the courts. Cyber crimes are not easy to investigate because the crime scene exists in the digital world.  Digital forensics is a branch of cybersecurity which focuses on the recovery and investigation of material found in digital devices. It is the process of identifying, preserving, analysing, and documenting digital evidence to a standard that can be presented as evidence in court, if required. 

This can include civil cases, employment tribunals and even internal disciplinary hearings. A common factor is that all hearings will require evidence to be produced to the highest possible standard before it can become admissible. 

In a digital forensic process, the type and location of data may not be known or fully understood. It could involve the recovery and analysis of deleted or hidden data and the analysis of artifacts from inaccessible areas of the file system which need to be interpreted by the expert and ultimately presented and explained to the court. This will often require an opinion to be given, which in a court will require the person providing the evidence to be considered an expert in their field. 

Businesses seeking digital forensics services need to act fast to ensure the digital evidence is preserved for the investigation process.  One of the most common issues in digital forensics is that an organisation will request an investigation into something that happened months prior, only to discover that their software licencing only retains log files for one month or that logs have been overwritten before being backed up to a secure location.  It is not uncommon to find that computers have been in regular use since the alleged incident or even that they have been wiped and reallocated to another member of staff. This can often have a negative impact on the outcome of the investigation.  

An unwanted incident can lead to a wide range of issues including insurance claims and legal matters. Therefore, having a forensic readiness plan in place can assist your organisation in its response to any incident by ensuring that vital digital evidence is collected, preserved and protected by competent staff using approved methods. Having a forensic readiness plan can also minimise the costs of investigations, block the opportunity of cyber threat and show due diligence and good corporate governance as well as determining the next logical steps your business needs to take to ensure your cybersecurity. Indeed, many government departments and agencies are now required to have a forensic readiness policy in place, as the government security policy framework states that, “well-tested plans, policies and procedures will reduce organisations’ vulnerability to security incidents”. 

Effective leadership is a critical component of good security and accountability. It is ANSEC’s recommendation that the leadership team in any organisation should give serious consideration to the implementation of a forensic readiness policy if they have not already done so. 

While many organisations are currently aware of the need for business continuity plans, they should also consider the need for a forensic readiness plan to minimise the potential issues that could arise and to ensure that digital evidence is gathered appropriately and treated with due care. 

The importance of forensic readiness for businesses – The Irish News

ANTRIM-based IT security and services firm Outsource Group has landed a significant deal with a leading consumer goods company in Dublin to provide a full refresh of its IT infrastructure.

The contract – worth close to €500,000 – has been done with Stafford Lynch Ltd, the sales, marketing and distribution company for major brands like San Pellegrino, Schwartz, Dr Oetker and Tony’s Chocolonely.

As well as creating a new highly secure IT infrastructure for the client, the project includes the provision of a fully integrated service desk, software and hardware updates, and full disaster recovery.

Terry Moore, chief executive of Outsource Group, says this will help Stafford Lynch, which has more than 100 staff, to ensure it operates modern and robust IT and to continue to deliver best in class services to its customers.

He said: “Stafford Lynch is a well-established and highly successful business with world-leading brands as customers. They understand how crucial modern and robust IT is to their operations and we are pleased they have entrusted Outsource Group with this vitally important project.

“The objective of the project is to provide a reliable, secure and supported modern IT estate, enabling the highest levels of system availability to underpin the continuous operations of the business.

“The new IT infrastructure will be highly secure, well-integrated and optimised to reduce support complexity,” he adds.

Outsource Group employs almost 100 people and offers a broad range of technology support and services to customers in the UK and Ireland, with an increasing focus in recent years on embedding IT security in everything it does.

Stafford Lynch, based in Ballycoolin and operating for nearly 50 years, provides distribution and marketing and sales activation services to many industries including retail and grocery, food service and pharmacy. Other brands it works with include Wilkinson Sword, Baxters and Tetley.

Its head of finance and IT Triona Kelly said: “We are excited to partner with Outsource and have full confidence their expertise and solutions will enable us to enhance our services to customers and continue our growth in the Irish FMCG industry.

“We tendered across the island of Ireland and felt Outsource Group put together an outstanding proposal that adds significant value to our business.”

Outsource Group recently announced plans to increase its workforce, and with a series of new contract wins, continues to recruit for a range of technical and non-technical roles.