Director North Wales, Enterprise & International Business Wales, Welsh Assembly Government

Ian Williams joined the Welsh Assembly Government as Director International Business Wales (IBW) in 2006.  Ian has responsibility for managing all Inward Investment into Wales, as well as encouraging Welsh firms to improve their competitiveness by internationalising their businesses.

Ian is also Director North Wales (leading economic development in the region) and has Pan Wales accountability for the Enterprise function (supporting growing businesses and entrepreneurs).

Ian is originally from Bethesda in North Wales and is a fluent Welsh speaker.  He has 20 years experience as an Oil Company Executive with Shell International.  Prior to joining Shell he spent some time as a Pop Singer and a Television Presenter in Wales. Ian is married to Nest Williams, a Television Journalist with BBC Wales

 Chief Cyber Security Adviser (CSA), Microsoft Ltd, UK

Ed Gibson is the primary spokesperson for Microsoft Ltd UK on all cyber, hi-tech, internet and security and risk matters.  Prior to joining Microsoft, he spent 20 years as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), specialising in investigating economic espionage, money laundering, cyber fraud and intellectual property theft.  For five years he served as the FBI's Assistant Legal Attaché in the UK.  A qualified solicitor, Fellow of the British Computer Society and international lecturer, Mr Gibson's focus on how criminals exploit the internet and his investigative abilities have made him an ideal figurehead for Microsoft's efforts in secure computing.

Head of Risk Management, PayPal

Garreth Griffith is PayPal’s Head of Risk Management in the UK and Ireland. He is tasked with protecting PayPal’s customers (buyers, sellers, small and large merchants) in these countries from fraudulent activity, as well as coordinating efforts with other PayPal teams around the globe. The role includes collaboration with global Law Enforcement to investigate cases and bring online criminals to justice. PayPal’s Law Enforcement Affairs team cooperates with prosecutory authorities around the world, leading to multiple arrests every month.

Garreth has served as a Director for Get Safe Online since its inception in 2004

 Chris Corcoran is a native of Wrexham and has been a police officer for more than 29 years with North Wales Police, working in both uniform and CID roles. Chris  has recently been appointed to a new role managing Public Security and Protective Services on behalf of North Wales Police.

As Divisional Commander, Chris takes lead responsibility for directing investigations into major crime , serious and organised cross-border crime , Hi Tech Crime, Firearms, Roads Policing, Air Support and other areas of critical incident management. Chris's vision is ensuring that North Wales is a safe place to live and work  and that we deliver a first class service to our communities.

For the past  six  years, Chris has held the role of chair of the e-Crime Wales Steering Group and was one of the driving forces behind creating it. He is driving forward the progression of the action plans to ensure businesses in Wales are aware and are protected from the threat of e-crime. Chris is also a member of the national e-Crime steering group and represents Wales  both as police officer and Chair of e-Crime Wales. 

 Chief Executive, CRYPTOCard Europe

As CEO of CRYPTOCard Europe, a leading company responsible for reducing risks associated with static passwords, remote access and web-based processes, Jason Hart has a comprehensive understanding of the online information security needs of business.

Jason’s former career as an ethical hacker and 17 years experience in the information security industry have helped him contribute to the creation of security-improvement technologies for business of many kinds in the UK and worldwide

As part of his continuing efforts to raise the profile of information security, Jason has published numerous articles and white papers and has appeared on the BBC, CNN and CNBC as well as Radio 5 and BBC World News. His work has also been cited in Time, SC, InfoSec, Computing and Computer Weekly magazines and in the Financial Times, Guardian, Times and Evening Standard.

His career in information security services has included work for big names such as finance firm Ernst and Young.

He has also created security frameworks and security assessment methodology for clients including the NHS, central government, and numerous FTSE 100 organisations.

CRYPTOCard has been providing authentication solutions for businesses worldwide for over 20 years.

 e-Business Operations Manager, Welsh Assembly Government

After starting his career in the automotive and aviation industry, Michael then worked in London managing projects bringing new technologies to market with blue-chip companies and investment banks.

Since returning to Wales in 2001, through the WDA and Welsh Assembly Government, Michael has delivered a variety of regional and pan-Wales e-Business projects targeted at increasing the exploitation of ICT across Welsh businesses in all sectors.

Michael co-authored the eris@ “Guide to Regional Good Practice in e-Business” and is a qualified Prince II and OGC Managing Successful Programmes practitioner. Having developed a new e-Business Support provision, Michael and his team are seeking to improve use of ICT & e-Business in Welsh businesses backed by new European funding.

Head of Information Research Group, University of Glamorgan

Professor Andrew Blyth is one of the UK’s most respected information security academics.  As the Head of the University of Glamorgan’s Information Research Group and GSC-CSIRT, the Computer Security Incident Response Team for the University of Glamorgan’s School of Computing, Prof. Blyth leads various groundbreaking research projects looking at the security of a system of systems.  He teaches various information security courses at Masters level in the University’s Faculty of Advanced Technology (FAT) including Computer Forensics, Computer Systems Security and Wireless Security.  Prof. Blyth regularly publishes papers on topics including Intrusion Detection Systems and Information Security Early Warning Systems and has written a book called ‘Information Assurance’.

 Operations Director, 7Safe

Dan Haagman is Director of Operations at leading UK information security firm, 7Safe, and is responsible for overseeing and managing a top team of security and forensic specialists. 

The team offers a wide range of information security solutions, which include penetration testing, computer forensics and compliance to payment card and information security standards for clients from key sectors such as the military, legal firms and international banks.

Dan is an internationally-respected computer forensics practitioner specialising in malicious software and Trojan defences.  His professional experience includes managing firewalls and intrusion detection systems at the London Stock Exchange and helped write 7Safe’s university-accredited security education programme.

7Safe Information Security is a leading information security and computer forensics consulting firm offering a range of specialist services.

 CIO, Spamhaus

Richard Cox has been CIO of Spamhaus since 2004, working from Penarth (near Cardiff) and travelling as required to many different parts of the world.  Prior to joining Spamhaus his career encompassed broadcasting (including BBC Television), telecommunications (including specialist work for the International Telecommunications Union - part of the UN) and regulatory roles with a number of UK Internet Service Providers.

The Spamhaus Project is an international team of Internet specialists dedicated to reducing both spam and cybercrime on the public networks. Formed in 1998, it is headquartered in the UK with team members located worldwide, all providing local knowledge and language capabilities.

Spamhaus publishes several databases to help Internet Service Providers decide what connections to accept, and what to reject: these databases have achieved great trust from the majority of ISPs worldwide and are consulted every time there is an attempt to deliver an email.

 The MC for the e-Crime Wales Summit 2009 will be top BBC broadcaster, Jamie Owen, best known as the face of flagship news programme ‘BBC Wales Today'.

His broadcasting activities over the past two decades range from Songs of Praise and Today in Parliament to the Breakfast News and the Radio 4 Shipping Forecast.

Away from the microphone Jamie is a successful author. He has written five travel books  -`Magic Islands' tells of the voyage he took sailing around the islands off the coast of Western Britain in a century old sailing boat. `Magic Harbours' was the odyssey around the harbours of Wales - Welsh Journeys saw him riding across the Preseli Mountains on horseback and `The B Roads and By ways of Wales' was written in 2009 recounting a year of travels around the country.

One of the most popular after dinner speakers in the UK, Jamie is also an accomplished host of many high-profile events.