The marketing team at Portcullis were proud to be associated with the first full summit of the Corporate Enterprise Programme (CEP) in 2006. This year we returned as full members. Having held forums in Singapore, Carolina and England, this CEP summit was once again held in the luxurious surroundings of Gleneagles in Perthshire on Thursday 10th & Friday 11th May 2007. My report is to be found below:

Taking the High Road to the Highlands.

Last week I was called to do my bit for the fight against Scottish independence by flying north of the border to remind them of what they’d be losing if they cut the apron strings from England.

We drove through the beautiful Perthshire countryside, past Stirling Castle and some monument to Mel Gibson until we arrived at Gleneagles Hotel where Scots in skirts were on hand to bagpipes us aboard.

Members of The Corporate Executive Programme – Global Risk Summit 2007 were gathering in these foothills of the highlands for their annual bun fight and having sponsored last year’s event we had now signed up as fully fledged members.

The great and the good amongst the CISO’s and other senior execs from across the corporate spectrum met for two days to discuss the Information Security challenges they face in their particular companies and looking to each other to try and find workable solutions.

The organisers recognised that people would have taken in a lot of useful information and wrestled with a number of complex ideas by about 4pm and would be in need of a break. So; at this stage they asked me to speak.

I introduced them to Information Assurance as I see it, a viewpoint I picked up from a drunken night with the Queen Mother in the late 80’s. Then I ran them through some stories from my early days in burlesque. Off to a good start, I now attempted to tell them about a new security testing accreditation for both companies and individuals called the Council for Registered Ethical Security Testers or CREST. We have been heavily involved from the start, helping to bring CREST to fruition and I was glad to have the opportunity to give a presentation that directly answered a question from one of the members that had been asked only a few minutes before I stood up and to which no one seemed to have an answer. Addressing a panel which included testing engineers he asked “How do we know that what you guys are doing is right and can be relied upon?”

I was able to give a fairly straightforward outline of how the examination will be rigorous and independent and come from a body that in non-profit making, which has the support of the industry through the buy in of both the providers and our clients.

After this I went back to telling funny stories until someone accidentally elbowed the fire alarm and we had to evacuate the building.

The networking opportunities were excellent and like a good captain I was the last to leave the bridge and head for the shore. I recommend that all corporate companies join the CEP and I look forward to seeing you at our next event.