2026 JUDGES
Anne Mitchell, Head of IT & Change, Lothian Pension Fund
Anne Mitchell is Head of IT & Change at Lothian Pension Fund, an FCA regulated Local Government Pension Scheme with in house investment management. She leads LPF’s technology, digital and cyber resilience strategy, having modernised its technology services and strengthened governance across data, suppliers and operational risk. With experience across financial services, IT and healthcare, Anne regularly advises senior leadership on cyber and technology risk.
Fraser Brown, IT Director, Simpsons Malt
Fraser Brown is an award-winning CIO, CISO, board member and speaker, with over 28 years of experience working in IT and Cyber Security roles across various industries from Banking, Insurance, Life & Pensions, Advertising, Energy, Brewing, Distilling, Space Exploration, and now in Malting.
Often asked to speak at conferences, contribute articles and to appear on technology podcasts, Fraser has been recognised with CIO Top 100 UK awards 2022-2024 and The Scottish Professional Awards – IT & Technology Professional of the Year 2024.
Mark McKenney, CISO, Scottish Government
Mark is the Chief Information Security Officer for the Scottish Government, bringing over 25 years of experience in digital, technology, and cyber security across both the public and private sectors. Since joining the Scottish Government in 2008, he has held a variety of technology leadership roles before moving into cyber security in 2011 and becoming CISO in 2018.
Mark has led the transformation of the organisation’s cyber security capability, evolving it from a traditional IT security function into a modern, intelligence driven operation equipped to address today’s complex threat landscape. He has authored and delivered the Scottish Government’s last two cyber security strategies, helping to shape the organisations approach and strengthen its digital resilience.
A committed public servant, Mark is a strong advocate for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and a defend as one approach to cyber resilience. He is passionate about building capability, delivering value, and supporting efforts that help protect the people and services of Scotland.
Sarah Cunningham, Head of Cyber Assurance, Wavenet
Sarah is the Head of Cyber Assurance at Wavenet, bringing over a decade of experience across a range of consulting roles. Throughout her career, she has worked with thousands of organisations across the UK, helping them strengthen their cyber resilience and adopt effective, proportionate security practices.
Alongside her professional work, Sarah is committed to cyber security education and outreach. She is the founder of the Cyber in Schools programme, which focuses on educating and inspiring young people across Scotland. She is also a co-founder of DEFCON Group Dundee, supporting the growth of the local cyber security community.
Sarah specialises in gamification and interactive learning, with a passion for making cyber security more accessible, engaging, and inclusive. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusivity, Sarah has consistently supported women in STEM initiatives and works to promote a more welcoming and representative cyber security sector for future generations
Stu Hirst, CISO, Trustpilot
Stu was instrumental in building Skyscanner’s Security team from 2015-2017, having led them to the final of SC Magazine’s Security Team Of The Year 2017. He has previously worked in security at The Trainline, was part of the Cyber Leadership Team at Capital One UK, Photobox Group and Interim Director at Just Eat Takeaway.com
He has twice been nominated as a finalist for Cyber Evangelist Of The Year at the Scottish Cyber Awards, once for CISO Of The Year and is one half of Cyber Scotland Connect. Stu has key-noted at numerous leading Security events such as InfoSec Europe, Cloud Expo Europe, BSides and Future Of Cyber Security.
Leo Cunningham, CISO, Owkin
Leo is a multi-award-winning CISO with over 20 years of experience scaling security, technology, and AI platforms across unicorns, high-growth scale-ups, and regulated enterprises.
A global keynote speaker, Leo specialises in DevSecOps, Cloud Security, and AI safety, and has led large-scale transformations enabling compliant growth across AI, SaaS, HealthTech, and FinTech. His work has been published by Forbes Technology Council, HackerOne, Snyk, Vanta, 1Password, Wiz, and DevOps Europe.
Leo also advises founders and executives on AI governance, regulatory compliance, and IPO readiness, and hosts The Decloaked Podcast, a leading cybersecurity YouTube channel with 47k subscribers
Cheryl Torano, BDM, Abertay University cyberQuarter
Cheryl Torano is the Business Development Manager at Abertay University's cyberQuarter. She is also a graduate of Abertay University's ethical hacking program which has equipped her with extensive knowledge and skills in cybersecurity.
Cheryl is passionate about addressing cybersecurity challenges and has been instrumental in promoting Dundee as a top cyber hub. Her work involves collaborating with businesses to tackle security problems and helping them adapt to the evolving digital landscape.
She advocates for the adoption of zero-trust frameworks to enhance cybersecurity measures and believes in empowering businesses and their employees to defend themselves against cyber threats.
Cheryl is on the Scottish Women in Cyber committee, chapter lead for the and Ladies of Dundee Hacking Society, and a key member in the Scottish Cyber Cluster. Most recently, Cheryl took on the role as chairperson for the Tay Cities Digital Ecosystem Group.
Jude McCorry, Cyber & Fraud Centre Scotland, CEO
Jude McCorry is the CEO of Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland and Chair of CyberScotland. Jude has over 20 years of experience in the Technology sector and started her career with Dell computers in Ireland, she joined SBRC in April 2020 from The Data Lab where she was Director of Business Development working with industry and academia to maximise the value of data for Scotland.
She is one of the founders of the UNICEF Data Hub for Children, she also sits on the board of the Edinburgh Data Driven Innovation Hub at Edinburgh University.