The secretive world of the cyber-threat hunter

We sneak a peek into the secretive world of cyber security with Lieutenant Olle Hawes, County Communications and Information Systems Officer, E (HQ) Company, Sussex ACF, and head of cyber-threat hunting for Computacenter.

With the vast majority of business now taking place on smartphones, laptops, tablets and desktop computers, it has become more important than ever to take steps to prevent cyber criminals getting hold of accounts and data and control of devices.

In his day job, 26-year-old Lieutenant Olle Hawes of E (HQ) Company, Sussex ACF, is tasked with keeping businesses and organisations safe from the threat of cyber attacks and preventing unauthorised access to information that's stored online.

Olle and his team at Computacenter are on a daily mission to outwit cyber criminals and protect companies' devices and the services they access on them. We quizzed him to find out what qualities and skills are required to secure networks from intruders and combat malicious attacks on confidential and sensitive data.

What does it take to succeed in cyber security?

All sorts of people enjoy careers in cyber security. It’s helpful if you can focus and think clearly as you'll need to make sense of loads of complicated data, often under pressure. Sometimes the data can be intentionally flawed to distract from the real aim of the threat, so you need to think outside the box to identify the ultimate target and motive.

Being good at cyber security takes

What is cyber security?

Any digital data – from a simple email between friends to a complex military defence system – needs to be protected from cyber criminals.

Cyber security ensures three things in relation to this data: the information is confidential and only accessible to authorised people; the information is uncompromised and in its original form; the people authorised to access it can do so without obstruction, interference or delay.

teamwork – within an organisation and globally – so different skills and personality traits are all welcome, along with plenty of team spirit.

How did you get involved in cyber security?

I first realised I enjoyed IT when I was a cadet with Signals Platoon. I’d intended to join the Army but an injury prevented me following that career path, so I opted for a degree in forensic computing and cyber security. While studying, I did a placement at Computacenter and returned to the company after graduation – I’m still here today! University is just one route into cyber security but there are many others, including lots of excellent apprenticeships.

What does your role as head of cyberthreat hunting involve?

My team carries out various tasks. We look for signs that an organisation has been compromised in the past. Quite often, an organisation doesn’t even realise it has been attacked and that information has been stolen, or that a threat is lying dormant in its systems.

We also run simulations to test security systems and carry out malware analysis, which involves running malware in a segregated environment to analyse it, reverse engineer it, potentially trace its source and prevent further threats.

My team also includes hunters who actively look for fresh threats in response to intelligence.