Crossword Cybersecurity
CCS:LN

Sir Richard Dearlove

Chief Executive Officer

Sir Richard brings to the Board extensive experience across government, education and global business. Sir Richard joined MI6 in 1966 undertaking various overseas and head office roles before being promoted to Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999. He retired from the Service in 2004. Sir Richard is presently Chair of Trustees of University of London. He was previously Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 2004 to 2015 and also served as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge between 2005 and 2010 and Chairman of Trustees of the Cambridge Union Society from 2006 to 2015. Sir Richard is Chair of Ascot Underwriting Limited at Lloyd’s of London, Director of the Ascot Group, the Bermuda based group of international insurance companies and until June 2023 was Director of Kosmos Energy, the New York Stock Exchange listed oil and gas exploration company, and holds several advisory roles.

Tom Ilube

Chief Executive Officer

Tom is founder and CEO of Crossword. He is also a Non Executive Director of WPP plc, the FTSE100 advertising agency and is chair of the RFU. Tom was formerly a BBC Board member. Tom was until recently Managing Director of Consumer Markets at Callcredit Information Group, the private equity backed UK credit reference agency. Whilst at Callcredit, Tom founded Noddle, a credit reporting service that eventually grew to four million users and was acquired by US-based Credit Karma. Prior to Callcredit, Tom founded and was CEO of Garlik, a venture capital-backed identity protection company, sold to Experian. Earlier, Tom served as Chief Information Officer of Egg Banking plc, which at the time was a pioneering main market listed UK internet bank. His earlier career included positions at Goldman Sachs, PwC, Cap Gemini and the London Stock Exchange. ​ Tom chaired the UK Government Technology Strategy Board’s Network Security Innovation panel. He was a member of the High Level Expert Group on Cyber security at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a Geneva based UN-agency. Tom is an Honorary Fellow of both Jesus College and St Anne’s College, University of Oxford. He was awarded a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by City University of London; an Honorary Doctor of Technology by the University of Wolverhampton, and was appointed a CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to Technology and Philanthropy.

Mary Dowd

Chief Financial Officer

Mary was most recently Chief Operating Officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and previously Chief Financial Officer at Cordium Consulting Group Limited, a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance services with operations in London, Hong Kong, Malta, New York, Boston and San Francisco. Mary brings over 20 years’ experience of working alongside business leaders. She has demonstrated a track record of managing finance teams to ensure timely delivery of relevant financial information to all stakeholders, providing clear leadership, continuous process improvement, and excellent communication. She also brings to Crossword extensive experience of working in acquisitive businesses and providing transactional support. Mary graduated from University College Galway, Ireland and has a post graduate diploma in Business Studies from the same university. She is an fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Dr David Secher

Independent non-executive Director

David is an international expert in intellectual property technology transfer and research management. His international experience includes Japan, Jordan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Argentina, India, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon as well as Europe and the USA. Dr Secher is a Life Fellow and until 2018 was Senior Bursar at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge where he was responsible for the investment of a £210 million endowment. David was cofounder and chairmain of Praxis (now PraxisAuril) the leading UK technology transfer programme, of which he is now Patron. He served as Director of Research Services, University of Cambridge where he was responsible for creating and directing a new division of 80 staff, for designing and implementing an IP policy for the University and for technology transfer throughout the University resulting in £2 million licensing revenue, 40 new licences and six spin outs per year. David was Chief Executive of N8 Limited, a consortium of eight research-intensive universities in the North of England, securing initial funding of £6m from Regional Development Agencies. His earlier career was in molecular biology research with MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Celltech Limited and Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK). David held or was named on three patents and is the holder of a lifetime Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for creating “environments that favour enterprise, specialising in the practical aspects of commercialising the results of academic research”. External appointments: David is a Director of Cambridge KT Ltd,Trustee of Cambridge United Charities, Chairmain of Fitzwilliam Museum (Enterprises) Ltd and Hon. Treasurer of the César and Celia Milstein Foundation. During 2020 David was Interim Bursar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. David is Chair of the Audit Committee, and a member of Remuneration Committee.

Andy Gueritz

Independent non-executive Director

Andy is an experienced Senior Advisor with a successful track record helping clients improve and transform their business by managing technology better and creating new technology-based ventures. As a Vice President at marchFIRST (formerly Mitchell Madison Group), Andy led the European B2B e21 Commerce Strategy and IT Strategy Practices. Before becoming a consultant, he attained Board level responsibility in a successful career in software development and systems implementation. At K2 Systems plc (subsidiary of 4Front Technology Inc.), he was Customer Service and Development Director responsible for all client service and delivery operations amongst other roles. Notable systems implemented in his time at K2/4Front include: bespoke procurement, telesales and billing systems; a call-centre based on workflow and CTI technologies; and a client-server insurance claims handling system, incorporating document image processing. Prior to 4Front, Andy was a Development Executive at McDonnell Douglas Information Systems and also worked for Marconi Defence Systems on a number of electronic warfare and guided weapons projects. Andy is a Chartered Fellow of the BCS (FBCS), Chartered IT Practitioner (CITP), Chartered Engineer (C.Eng), Fellow of the IET (FIET), and a European Engineer registered at FEANI. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Computer Science from Queen Mary University of London. Andy is Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees and a member of the Audit Committee.

Ruth Anderson

Independent non-executive Director

Ruth has over 15 years’ experience in the fields of security, intelligence, cybercrime and risk management. She brings to the Board extensive experience across defence and law enforcement sectors and within financial services, developing and implementing cyber risk governance frameworks. Ruth is currently Chief Operating Officer for Technology, Security and Data divisions at Lloyds Banking Group, having previously been Director of Transformation Risk. She was previously a director of Cyber in the Financial Services Department of KPMG. She served as the Head of Specialist Operational Support and also as the Head of Intelligence at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, where she delivered the first ever strategic threat assessment on child abuse in the online environment. Prior to this, Ruth served in intelligence and security in the British Army. Ruth read Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford University and is a keen linguist, speaking Arabic, French and German. Ruth is a member of the Remuneration, Nomination, and Audit Committees.