The team at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust embraces cyber resilience
West Midlands CRC and Cyber PATH were delighted to recently work with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to deliver Security Awareness Training across the whole organisation, including volunteers, staff and trustees.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed in 1847 following the purchase of Shakespeare’s Birthplace as a national memorial. It is the independent charity that cares for some of the world’s greatest Shakespeare heritage in his home town of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the global centre for learning about and experiencing the works, life and times of the world’s best-known writer.
It comprises five Shakespeare family homes, internationally designated museum collections, award-winning learning programmes and digital channels, providing imaginative, immersive and interactive opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get up close and personal with Shakespeare.
At the heart of all things Shakespeare, the Trust holds the world’s most extensive Shakespeare-related library, museum and archives open to the public, with over 1 million documents, 55,000 books and 12,000 museum objects. They also care for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s archive of theatre records, as well as an extensive local history archive of Stratford-upon-Avon and South Warwickshire, with records dating back to the twelfth century.
With so many facets to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, you will appreciate the requirement for a great deal of staff and, crucially, a high number of volunteers. The trustees correctly identified the need to make all personnel more cyber aware, something we at West Midlands CRC were delighted to provide via Cyber PATH.
Commenting on the Security Awareness Training service, Mark Watts, Head of Business Change & Delivery, said: “It has been a great experience working with the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands and Cyber PATH. Through Cyber PATH, they have provided expert cyber security awareness training sessions that were pitched at the right level for our organisation and filled with useful and actionable information. Their training has resonated with all levels of our organisation, including volunteers, staff and our trustees.
“Colleagues have praised their trainers for demystifying topics and providing easy-to-adopt behaviours to keep people safe online at work and home. Other comments have focused on how highly knowledgeable, personable, and friendly the trainers were, making attendees feel comfortable and able to ask questions.
“Cyber PATH made time to understand our organisation and tailored our training accordingly. They covered different types of security vulnerabilities, including social engineering, strong passwords and their importance, Spear Phishing, Vishing, Email Phishing and Smishing, Social Engineering, Device Management and Ransomware.
“Each was expertly broken down into simple messaging that directed people on what to look for and how to act.
“We would highly recommend both their training programme and their expert trainers.”
We were delighted to work with such a high-profile organisation and to see how they embraced the training in order to understand the threats charities and the business sector face in today’s world.
Speaking about the Cyber PATH services, Michelle Ohren, Managing Director of West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre, said: “WMCRC are extremely proud of our Cyber PATH programme. It allows the next generation of cyber students to gain invaluable experience whilst ensuring quality training and practical guidance that everyone, even those with limited IT awareness, can undertake and embed into their daily practises.
“This ensures that not only do they play their part in protecting their organisation, but they also become safer in their personal lives.
“It has been a privilege to work with The Shakespeare Birthplace and support their staff and volunteers by delivering their cyber security training.”
