Crossword Cybersecurity Regulatory News (CCS)

Crossword Consulting Approved as a CREST Penetration Testing Provider

5 December 2019 - London, UK - Crossword Cybersecurity Plc (AIM:CCS, "Crossword", the "Company" or the "Group"), is delighted to announce that its Consulting division has received CREST accreditation for its penetration testing services. This means that the Company now holds certifications from CREST, IASME and Cyber Essentials Plus.

CREST is an international not-for-profit certification body that represents and supports the technical information security market. CREST provides the buying community with a clear indication of the quality of an organisation and the technical capability of their staff. This aims to address the troublesome fact that currently anyone with a computer and an internet connection can position themselves as a service provider of penetration tests and cyber incident response services. Potentially irresponsible organisations that do not have in place policies, processes and procedures to ensure quality of service could be let loose on sensitive client information. This makes procurement of these important services difficult and high-risk.

Buyers need to feel confident that they are procuring services from trusted companies, with access to demonstrably professional technical security staff. All CREST member companies have submitted policies, processes and procedures relating to their service provision, which have then been reviewed by CREST and deemed fit for purpose. As a result, CREST only provides access to trusted technical security service organisations that utilise highly skilled, knowledgeable and competent individuals.

Crossword's Consulting team offer a full range of Consulting services from Cyber Assurance and Auditing, Penetration testing, Third Party Assurance and Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO). Whatever an organisation's size or level of cyber maturity, Crossword Consulting is able to offer a service tailored to its needs.

Regarding the certification, Stuart Jubb, Managing Director of Crossword Consulting, commented: "It is an excellent achievement that Crossword have been recognised by CREST as a credible organisation in the penetration test service marketplace. This again highlights the high esteem in which our consultants are perceived throughout the cyber security community. Commercially, this will help the Company to retain existing clients and tap into a new pool of potential clients who require this accreditation to perform penetration test services. Via CREST, Crossword's consultants will also benefit from being on the inside track of new opportunities and developments in technical information assurance, as well as having access to industry leading guidance, standards and opportunities to share and enhance their knowledge."

Contacts

Crossword Cybersecurity plc - Tel: +44 (0) 20 3953 8460

Email: info@crosswordcybersecurity.com

Tom Ilube, Chief Executive Officer

Mary Dowd, Finance Director

Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100

Colin Aaronson / Jamie Barklem /Niall McDonald

Hybridan LLP (Broker) - Tel: +44 (0)203 764 2341

Claire Louise Noyce

For media enquiries contact:

Lorena Duke, GingerPR

lorena@gingerpr.co.uk, 01932 485 300

About Crossword Cybersecurity plc

Crossword Cybersecurity plc focuses on the development and commercialisation of university research- based cyber security related software and cyber security consulting. The Group's specialist cyber security product development and software engineering teams work with its university partners to develop the research concept into a fully-fledged commercial product that it will then take to market. The Group's aim is to build up a portfolio of revenue generating, intellectual property based, cyber security products. Rizikon Assurance, Crossword's leading product, is a SaaS platform that enables medium to large companies to assess the cyber maturity and GDPR readiness of their suppliers. Nixer CyberML, Crossword's most recently launched product, is a new tool for businesses that want to solve advanced security and cybercrime problems, such as detecting and dealing with compromised accounts, fraud and in-application denial of service attacks. Crossword's team of expert cyber security consultants leverages years of experience in national security, defence and commercial cyber intelligence and operations to provide bespoke advice tailored to its clients' business needs.