Sara Carnduff

Said the following about Carl Braid:

“As one of the first cyber security apprentices in the UK rail industry, at the age of 35, Carl is unique in many ways! As a self-taught, qualified and competent ‘ethical hacker’ who started his apprenticeship with telent only 11 months ago, Carl is involved in testing and exploring the stability of and identifying potential vulnerabilities on the UK’s rail network. This is absolutely critical in future-proofing the current rail network and the safe development of the digital railway architecture. Not what you would expect from the stereotypical railway apprentice!

Having always had an interest in anything IT based, Carl taught himself the fundamentals, taking exams in his own time whilst doing various jobs to support his wife of 19 years and their 7 children. Looking to develop a career in something he is passionate about, Carl researched, found and applied for the first rail cyber security apprenticeships with telent, who were blown away by his knowledge, aptitude and attitude.

“Carl may not be your typical apprentice, but from the moment we interviewed him for the cyber security apprenticeship programme, we knew he had the right attitude and could achieve anything. His passion was infectious!” Mark Warrender, Lead Network Solutions Architect – telent.

Joining telent in November 2017 Carl shadowed several engineers. His knowledge, experience and willingness to learn was soon recognised and working alongside others, he got involved in intrusion and prevention detection system (IDS and IPS) testing. Carrying out penetration and benchmarking investigations to check the stability and identify potential vulnerabilities on various firewalls and networks such as the critically important National Traction Power SCADA project (TPCMS) and the Crossrail infrastructure, Carl got involved in proving they were secure before the systems were then deployed to the live environment.

“We work on a national, safety-critical, digital infrastructure for the railways which is an attractive target to hackers. A targeted attack could potentially bring the country to a standstill. The threat landscape is ever-changing and the attack surface is expanding, so people like Carl and the cyber security apprenticeship programme are critical to identifying vulnerabilities, helping us to prepare for and combat any threats.” Mark Warrender, Lead Network Solutions Architect – telent.

As the only cyber security apprenticeship system ‘attacker’, aware of the impact the investigations can have on the live and factory test infrastructure, using his own initiative, Carl is building his own network in the telent laboratories to carry out more sophisticated testing, simulating cyber-attacks in a safe environment. Alongside his apprenticeship, Carl studied for the brand-new CompTIA PenTest+ exam in his own time. Passing first time, Carl was one of the first 500 people to take and pass the exam in the world, becoming competent to securely undertake security audits and tests, enabling him to carry out penetration testing independently.

“Carl is the first person within telent to take and pass the brand-new CompTIA PenTest+ exam. This enables Carl and telent to carry out penetration testing to compliment the secure network solutions provided by telent, bringing cost and time efficiencies for our customers.” Mark Warrender, Lead Network Solutions Architect – telent.

With a thirst for learning and passionate about sharing his knowledge, Carl is always willing to get involved and is regularly found in the laboratories helping to test, strip and re-build systems as well as supporting others with projects they are working on.

“Carl has supported me in the work I am carrying out for the Crossrail project. My work involves Linux operating systems that I wasn’t initially familiar with, and because Carl has a mass of understanding of this software, he taught me how it is set up and operates.

It’s great to be able to bounce ideas off someone as knowledgeable and creative as Carl, he has a lot of good ideas on how to test networks to find the weaknesses and comes up with solutions to mitigate the risks.” Veena Kumari, Graduate Engineer – telent.

Always looking for ways to help and improve, Carl is also involved in the C+ certification of telent’s hardware, working with the IT team to ensure all telent laptops are securely encrypted, uploading the relevant software and running the appropriate tests.

Carl is an approachable guy and can engage with everyone. He is been involved in the telent STEM programme, visiting schools, talking to pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 to encourage them to consider a career in engineering.

“Carl is great with people and has been involved in a few STEM events, as well as welcoming this year’s graduates and speaking to telent visitors.” Veena Kumari, Graduate Engineer – telent.

Passionate about IT and creating a better future for the next generation of cyber professionals, Carl is also in the process of setting up an after-school computer club at one of his children’s schools.

“A unique apprentice, Carl is one of a kind who wants to use his hacking ability ethically to help combat cyber-attacks and protect the rail industry’s infrastructure. He is a star of the here and now and we are excited about his future and how we can utilise his incredible talents to support the digital railway journey. Achieving so much in just 11 months, Carl is an inspiration, has proved his capability tenfold, is well respected by everyone and is willing to help anyone. telent are extremely proud to have Carl as part of our team and feel he is a worthy nomination for this this year’s Rail Staff Awards Apprentice of the Year.” Steve Dalton, Managing Director – Transport, telent.“