Robin Moses MBCS CITP
I attended the School at the age of 10 under the ‘year early’ scheme having attended Geneva junior school. During that happy period, I received the grounding and learned all the attributes that have helped me in my life through into retirement! Further, my love of sport (some may say obsession) started at BGS – I played rugby for the school Colts and 1st XV (and when 15 started with Bideford RFC when there were no fixture clashes with the school – starting with the Quins, and then the Chiefs when just 17. I will always remember my debut for the Chiefs (captained by Tom Bonetta – Mary’s Dad) away at Tiverton – in heavy rain scored a try into much standing water and come half-time when the pitch was covered in standing water, it was realised that the Exe had flooded and the game was abandoned!). I was school Athletics captain – a sprinter and pretty quick (when I say this to family and others now, they do not believe me!). I played some cricket but there were clashes with Athletics – which at the time came first for me.
I started working for the Navy and then the Ministry of Defence – working on radio, radar and other warship fits (based first in London, and then Bath), and then in early 1966 on promotion became one of the first in the country to be trained in and then work in computing and communications (IT) – designing systems (and in those days also doing the related programming and operating of the computers) to produce much quicker and more detailed 10-year Defence financial estimating and analysis.
In 1973 I moved on promotion to London to work on database management systems, and then in 1977 to managing IT for the Royal Aircraft Establishments across the UK, bringing the systems into the then modern age. In early 1981 I became the manager of newly set up Defence IT Security team. In that role, apart from establishing the team and setting the expected standards, I worked in an inspection/audit role across the Defence sector, and liaised with the IT Security departments of other countries’ defence organisations – including in Europe and the Americas.
In early 1985 I moved on promotion to run half of one of the country’s then national security authorities, setting expected standards, advising all government departments, and managing inspection/audit activities. I was also the project manager for the design and production of a software-based tool for identifying all the various security risks to IT systems and recommending the counter measures/ controls (including for business continuity) needed to manage the identified risks.
In early 1989 I moved to the private sector (more financially rewarding!). I joined BIS Applied Systems IT Security Team, eventually becoming its manager. I led some really interesting IT security consultancy projects for many geographically spread UK and other government and private sector organisations, including in the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and for NATO. These included one in New York auditing the communications and computing of the Central Office – sort of collection of ‘phone etc exchanges – that served the Wall Street Stock Exchange and surrounding area, and for several years led a multi-national consortium of companies on major European Commission IT security projects.
In early 1994 I was ‘head hunted’ by and joined Secure Information Systems Limited (SISL) – setting up a consultancy team to encompass the ‘unclassified but sensitive’ sector of government, and the private sector, and thence led many IT (nowadays termed IS – “Information Security” – projects. In due course SISL was amalgamated into BT Syntegra, and I became the leader of the Security Expert Team fulfilling IS projects for UK and other government and private sector organisations, including for big multi-national companies.
I retired from BT in December 2004, but after a few weeks I could not get used to total retirement so in January 2005 I set up my own IS security consultancy company, and as Principal Consultant personally consulted on average 3 days per week! I retired completely in 2012.
Over quite a period I spoke at US National IS Security Conferences as well as many other conferences and workshops in the UK, the Americas, Europe and elsewhere. I also was the author and co-author of a number of IS Security books and articles, including “Delivering and Managing Real World Network Security”. I was a founder member of the International IS Risk Management Workshop which, over the 80s and 90s, usually met for a week once per year in the USA and elsewhere to agree common ground on how IS risk management should be addressed etc.
Overlapping all this, in the mid-80s I became UK IT/IS expert on the International Standards Organisation (ISO) group that produced and issued international IT/IS standards. Having started as a contributor, I became a project leader managing standards from drafting and agreement by countries participating through to publication and global issue. The work was conducted over week long meetings twice a year interspersed with e-mail communications and meetings of the UK Standards organisation (which also involved the production of UK standards). After some 27 years or so I retired from ISO work. This was really enjoyable and afforded good opportunities for ‘latching’ holidays before and/or after meetings – including in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, Russia, and many European countries.
On a personal level, I married Liz (nee Copp), also from Bideford, in 1965 – now been married for 56 years! We lived in Bath until 1967 and then moved to Southwick, a village near Trowbridge, Wiltshire. In 1973 we moved to Farnborough, Hampshire, and in 1985 to Frimley Green near Camberley, Surrey – where we still live. We have three children – Julia, Nick (Nicholas) and Alex (Alexandra), and four grandchildren – Madeleine, Adam, Sarah and James. We are a really close family – including with the other part of the Moses ‘clan’ – Keith and co, based in France and Spain.
As reflected above, I left Bideford Grammar School with a major love of sport and appreciation of the high level of coaching and motivation provided. That has served me to the current day. Having played rugby for Bideford RFC – and moved on when married to play in Bath (with whom I trained in the week whilst still playing for Bideford before we got married). I joined Farnborough RUFC in 1973 (pointed in that direction by John Becklake, a fellow BGS old boy and great friend who was already at Farnborough), and played until I was 50. I retired when I found that my movement shall we say was not good on Sunday mornings! Over the years I have done pretty much every job in the Club, from 1st XV captain to two periods of Chairman, Financial Director, and for the last 10 years as a working President. During my Presidential tenure the Club celebrated its Centenary in 2014. It started in 1914 as the Royal Balloon Factory rugby club – so a few name changes over the years!
As a cricketer I played as an opening bowler in Bath and for a local village in Wiltshire, and then for a good number of years for Hartley Wintney (near Basingstoke) – the second oldest club in the country – with the first eleven playing in Hampshire league 1. A blast from the past is that I played with a young Monty Don for Hartley in the seventies! Eventually I screwed up my right knee with an ACL injury when I went back for the day to Wiltshire to play in the President’s game – the end of me playing cricket!
I played squash for RAE Farnborough for several years, friendlies and matches in the Berkshire league. My squash career ended when I added damage to my partly recovered right knee. I took up serious golf playing at Dummer golf club (near Basingstoke), and recently finished playing when I decided to up the number of times per week I go the gym and the number of days I go on long walks (I have been a regular ‘gym goer’ for many years).
Watching sport has also been a big part of my life – obviously watching Farnborough RUFC, but also watching England matches at home and away (including at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and several other World Cups). Soccer-wise, since I first watched Chelsea in 1962 the ‘super blues’ have been my team, When I was playing rugby that took priority so I only got to a few matches per season, but when I finished playing rugby I became a Chelsea member and was able to increase the games that I went to. Then a good number of years ago my son (another avid fan) and I were offered and accepted season tickets. With Chelsea being one of the Premier League clubs that have a lot of changes to kick-off days and times, that has enabled us to go to matches with very little clashing with Farnborough RUFC matches. I have also attended several soccer World Cups (including England matches) –in 1966 and 1998 including the finals, a 1994 semi-final, and in 2006 and also the Euros in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2016.
With me working in the USA a lot (and some holidays as well) over the years I have been fortunate to go to NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL matches. A great friend of mine was the holder of several season tickets at the NFL Washington Football Club (formerly named the Washington Redskins), and when Nick and Diane lived and worked in the USA for ten years or so Nick had access to tickets. I have also attended a good number of PGA golf tournaments in the UK and USA, including 2 Ryder Cups.
25th May 2021
