Cyber PATH student joins EMCRC team on Community Outreach campaign
- philviles
- Jun 19
- 4 min read
EMCRC duo Vicki Walker and Phil Viles were joined by a Cyber PATH student from the University of Northampton for a day of Community Outreach in Northamptonshire.
The Community Outreach campaign is designed to offer small businesses on the high streets of our region’s towns access to free cybercrime prevention in the form of our free information packs and advice backed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
The campaign began in 2023 and has helped thousands of businesses to understand the threats faced by SMEs, no matter how big or small they are.
This week, Community Outreach Lead Vicki Walker and Comms Lead Phil Viles were joined by Joshua Holtz, a Cyber PATH student from the University of Northampton as part of his Cyber PATH experience with the CRC network. Joshua accompanied the team to extol the virtues of good cyber security practices to businesses in Burton Latimer, which lies south-east of Kettering in Northamptonshire.
Cyber PATH is an elite talent pipeline and welcomes the brightest students who want to help shore up the nation’s defences with law enforcement against cybercrime and develop the essential skills, knowledge and experience they need to succeed in the workplace upon graduation in a live, commercial setting.
Usually, Joshua would be deployed within a business delivering one of our services, but on this occasion, as a local who lives a stone’s throw from Burton Latimer, we invited him along to gain some valuable experience of being out and about as part of the community outreach campaign.
We visited numerous businesses and spoke with them about how our information pack - or email subscription service, which is free – can help them better protect themselves against online threats.
Burton Latimer Community Managed Library were interested in the Security Awareness Training service we offer, and handily – having had experience of delivering this service previously – Joshua was able to explain in full how the service works, what it entails and the benefits it brings to a business.
After we’d visited the businesses in the town, Phil Viles sat down with Joshua to ask a few questions about his experience of Cyber PATH so far. Joshua spoke highly of the programme, and as the recruitment for the programme is open until June 30, he had a message for any students in the East Midlands region thinking of applying...
"Be yourself when applying, don't use AI or anything like that to talk about YOU and what YOU have done. The recruiters want to see your personality, your passion. Talk about what you have done beyond uni, and what really gives you that advantage above everyone else. Have you done any TryHackMes? If so, include that; explain anything that makes you stand out so that you come across as passionate about the subject."
So, how did you hear about Cyber PATH, and what made you apply?
“I heard about Cyber PATH through my lecturer who advertised the role. Upon looking at Cyber PATH, I saw that it's both technical and non-technical services you get trained on, and at the same time you're being trained, you're also getting paid (to deliver services to businesses). So, it's effective because you're able to earn money whilst still learning, and at university, so you're getting a head start before anyone else, really."
What do you deliver to businesses?
“It ranges from probably our most popular service, Security Awareness Training, all the way to OSINT. We look at all the ‘low hanging fruits' of this business model to talk about where potential security risks lie and what we can do to mitigate the potential impacts."
What do you enjoy the most about being a Cyber PATH student?
“I would say I enjoy the Security Awareness Training the most because I am able to go to different businesses and teach them about security awareness, how the basics can make a massive impact and reduce the risk of a cyber attack. “I have been with Cyber PATH almost a year now, and I have been able to deliver a range of technical and non-technical services where I am getting good insight and a good understanding which really allows me to understand what I want to do after university."
What would you like to do when you graduate?
“After university I am looking at doing a police detective entry program. I will get a head start on this because I have been able to work on open-source projects, which has given me an insight into how the police are able to do their detective work. So already Cyber PATH has offered me the head start I need before anyone else."
If you're interested in learning more about Cyber PATH, how you can benefit from it and how to apply, visit https://nationalcrcgroup.co.uk/cyber-path/
Reporting
Report all Fraud and Cybercrime to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).
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