Community & Insights
Fostering Collaboration, Diversity, and Education Across the Tech Ecosystem.
As co-founder of Cyber Scotland Connect and a regular industry speaker, my mission is to build safe, judgment-free spaces that empower the next generation of digital professionals, share cyber insights, and drive community ecosystem authority.
Ecosystem & Community Leadership
My contribution to professional networks, public sector working groups, and mental health charities in a voluntary capacity.
Scottish Cyber Awards
Splunk
CompTIA
Nightline Association
CIISec
South of Scotland Digital Skills Hub
Edinburgh Napier University
Skills Development Scotland
Cyber Scotland Connect
Positive Realities
Edinburgh Nightline
First Aid Africa
Speaking & Publications
A record of public keynotes, workshops, panels, and writing contributions on proactive cybersecurity and platform management.
2025
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: Leith (Edinburgh) Meetup!
Presented on Emerging Technology: Threat Detection, Investigation & Response Platform Architecture
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: Dundee Meetup!
Wrote Cyber Scotland Connect Post: Centralised Resources and Community Support
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect / Extrahop
Presented on Digital Skills - Whiteinch Primary School
2024
Presented at Salute My Job
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect at Trustpilot
Presented on ADP: F1 & F2 - Intrusion Detection and Analysis & Incident Management
Presented at Le Tour Du Hack
Presented on Digital Skills - St Blane's Primary School
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect at Trustpilot (OT/ICS, Diversity, AppSec, Third Sector)
Presented on Digital Skills - St Charles' Primary School
Interviewed for AS Expert Insights
Interviewed for Stax on MDR Services
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: Inaugural Dundee Meetup!
2023
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: November Meetup!
Community meetup providing a platform for Scottish cybersecurity professionals to connect and collaborate.
Presented on CIISec ADP12: F1, F2 Intrusion Detection and Analysis & Incident
Presentation on SecOps for CIISec.
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: September Meetup!
Community-focused networking event for cybersecurity enthusiasts and professionals in Scotland.
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: August Meetup!
Community meetup providing a platform for Scottish cybersecurity professionals to connect and collaborate.
Interviewed for SenseOn
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect: Summer Meetup!
A key seasonal gathering for the Cyber Scotland Connect community to share insights and build partnerships.
Wrote: Cyber Scotland Connect Receives Sponsorship from Community Supporters
Presented at West Lothian College
Presenting at West Lothian College
Presented at 6th Intl. Conference on Big Data, Cybersecurity
Big Data Conference - Panel
Presented at BA Life 2023
Presenting at BA Life 2023
Presented at Cyber Security Community of Practice
An event for Scotland's Careers Advisers.
2022
Hosted Cyber Scotland Connect Event
CSC event.
Presented on Cybersecurity Operations: Starting From Scratch, Bulking Out, Reporting To The Boss
Presented at DIGIT Expo 2022
Presented on Cybersecurity Operations: Starting from Scratch, Bulking Out, Reporting to the Boss
Presented at CIISec ADP
Presenting on Intrusion Detection and Analysis & Incident Management
Presented on Being Blue: An Overview of Security Operations
Presented at BeerCon4
Presented on Being Blue: An Overview of Security Operations
Presented at ScotSoft 2022
Presented on: Security Operations 101: Working in/with SecOps! at ScotSoft 2022
CAP15: Intrusion Detection & Analysis
Prepared and delivered a 1-hour presentation on intrusion detection and analysis for CIISec.
ICSF Exam Presentation
Prepared and delivered a 1-hour presentation on SOC 101 for CIISec.
Spoke at Cyber Insight Panel at Napier University
Careers event focused on giving students an overview of cyber careers.
2021
Presented on CIISec Apprentice Programme: Secure Operations Management
Presented to the CIISec apprentices about Secure Operations Management.
Co-hosted: Lessons from Working in Cyber During the Pandemic
Co-hosted an event where a round table of attendees shared with an audience their personal experiences of working within the cyber profession during the pandemic.
CompTIA Guest Speaker
Presenting at a CompTIA event targeting those just starting their careers into cyber. Giving them an overview of myself, my career and how to get into Security Operations.
Hosted ScotSecure 2021: CSC Workshop on Modernising Security Operations
Prepared, presented and hosted a 1-hour presentation and workshop on Modernising Security Operations.
Presented at Napier University (My Journey in Cyber)
I prepared and presented a 1-hour presentation on my journey into cybersecurity, common skills and behaviours which are needed within the profession.
Co-hosted: Cyber War Stories: Challenges & Triumph (CSC Virtual Event)
A round table discussion about the experiences of responding to being under attack, tough challenges and valuable lessons learned.
Hosted Edinburgh Virtual User Group - Risk-Based Alerting
Demonstration of Risk-Based Alerting in Phantom, and a round table on implementing large-scale Splunk Infrastructure.
2020
Presented on Modern Security Operations Centre (Edinburgh Napier University)
Interviewed by Bill Buchanan OBE
Wrote for Cyber Scotland Connect Post: The Scottish Tech Army needs you
Presented at Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Splunk .conf19 Overview & Boss of the SOC (Adarma HQ)
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
2019
Wrote for Adarma Tech Blog: ATT&CK Use Cases with MaGMa!
Presented at Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Platform Management at Scale: Configuration Management for Automation & Recovery
Hosted the Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Presented at Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Storage Special: SmartStore Overview, Practical Lab & On-prem Options
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Security-focused: Phantom, Endpoint Data Model & Security Essentials App
Hosted the Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: SPLing Bee Battle Royale! (Interactive SPL competition)
Hosted the Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Collecting AWS Logs at Scale & SmartStore Intro
Hosted the Splunk Edinburgh User Group
2018
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Metrics/mstats, KV Store + Javascript, and .conf 2018 News
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Special Event: Splunk Discovery Roadshow & User Group Meetup
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Custom Commands, KV Store & DevOps for Splunk Deployment
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Presented at SANS: Using DevOps Practices to Implement a Full Route-to-Live for SIEM Platforms
Presented Hunting Hard, Failing Fast, Maintaining Integrity
Presented Human Vulnerability: Truths & Lessons
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Splunk & Phantom for Automation/Orchestration & Docker for Labs
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: TSTATS usage, Life of a Splunk Trainer & DevOps in Development
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: The Missing Layers: Syslog Collection & HTTP Event Collection
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
2017
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Updates to Enterprise, ES, and ITSI from .conf
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Securing the Enterprise/Cloud with Splunk at the Centre
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Splunk at Scale, Splunking at Home & Intro to Enterprise Security
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Building Splunk Apps, Development Paths & User Behaviour Analytics
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Dashboarding Workshop & Universal vs. Heavy Forwarders
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
2016
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Operational Insight with ITSI & Use Case Development
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Hosted Splunk Edinburgh User Group: Security & Best Practices
Splunk Edinburgh User Group
Archive
Presented Security Operations, MITRE ATT&CK, SOC Roles / Competencies
SOC Strategy
Presented Modern Security Operations & Common Roles/Competencies
Security Careers
Presented Becoming a Defender (Blue Teams FTW!)
Blue Teaming
Presented Virtual Splunk User Group - Phantom Workbook Automation
Automation / SOAR
Presented SOC Fundamental Roles & Skills
Education / Training
Presented Hunting Hard & Failing Fast (ScotSoft 2019)
Threat Hunting
Presented Splunk Phantom, Endpoint Data Model & Security Essentials
Tooling
Presented Collecting AWS Logs & Introducing Splunk SmartStore
Cloud Infrastructure
Presented Metrics for Fun, KV Store + JS & News from .conf 2018
Development
Presented Splunk .conf18 Updates, Config Add-on, SplDevOps
Release Analysis
Presented "SplDevOps: Making Splunk Development a Breeze"
DevOps Integration
Presented "Lessons on Human Vulnerability within InfoSec/Cyber"
Social Engineering
Presented Big Data For Threat Detection & Response
Analytics
Presented OWASP - Analyst, Engineer or Consultant?
AppSec Careers
Presented TSTAS: Life of a Splunk Trainer & DevOps in Splunk
Professional Development
Presented Splunk Dashboarding & Universal Vs. Heavy Forwarders
Data Architecture
Presented Supporting Splunk at Scale & Splunking at Home
Architecture
Presented Introduction to Enterprise Security (ES) Framework
SIEM Strategy
Presented Machine Data 101: Beyond the Basics (Adarma/Splunk)
Foundational Skills
Presented Building a Next-Generation Security Operations Centre
SOC Engineering
Presented Splunk Technical Overview for Analysts
Training
Presented Incident Response & Orchestration with Splunk
IR Lifecycle
Presented Legacy SIEM to Splunk: How to Conquer Migration
Strategic Migration
Presented Using Splunk for Threat Intelligence & ATT&CK Mapping
Intel Operations
Presented Cyber Scotland Connect: Community Building in InfoSec
Community
Presented Effective Security Monitoring for Small Teams
Resource Management
Presented Splunk SmartStore: Technical Deep Dive
Performance Tuning
Presented Advanced Log Analysis & Search Optimisation
Technical Deep Dive
Honours & Awards
Industry and academic recognition for excellence in cybersecurity evangelism and talent development.