CyberFest 2026 Attracts Major Backing as Global Cyber Leaders Throw their Weight Behind North East festival
Leading names from across the UK are throwing their support behind CyberFest 2026, with Promon, Atom Bank, Womble Bond Dickinson, Prism and CFC among the organisations backing this year’s festival and helping strengthen the North East’s position at the heart of the UK’s cyber conversation.
Now in its ninth year, CyberFest has grown from a regional initiative into a national platform for bringing together the UK’s cyber security community, with businesses, government, innovators and industry leaders travelling to the North East throughout October. Organised by CyberNorth, the festival provides a platform for organisations from across the cyber ecosystem to share expertise, build relationships and showcase the North East’s growing strength in cyber security, secure AI and technology.
Leading the charge as headline Platinum Sponsor is Promon, the international application security company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, whose decision to put its weight behind CyberFest 2026 is a significant endorsement of the festival and the North East’s growing position within the UK’s cyber security landscape. Conference hosts, Atom Bank join forces with Womble Bond Dickinson as Gold
sponsors, with further conference support from CFC, and Prism supporting the CyberNorth Awards.
The scale and calibre of organisations engaging with CyberFest 2026 underlines just how far the North East’s cyber security ecosystem has come in recent years, and the growing importance of the region on the national stage.
Representatives from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and Information Security for London will all be contributing to the festival, bringing national insight and further expertise to the region. The strength of the CyberNorth Awards judging panel provides another clear indication of the interest in North East talent, with senior figures from across the cyber and technology community coming together to recognise the people and organisations driving the sector forward. For the region, this is a significant win at a time when cyber security is fundamental to the protection of critical national infrastructure, economic resilience and the UK’s national security, the fact that leading organisations are coming to the North East to engage with its cyber community demonstrates that the region is no longer simply part of the conversation, it is becoming an increasingly important part of shaping it.
The sponsors bring expertise from across the cyber, technology, financial services, legal and insurance sectors. With expertise spanning application security, mobile security and protection against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, Promon brings an international perspective to this year’s festival and strengthens the connection between the North East’s cyber community and the global security sector. Atom brings its digital banking expertise, Womble Bond Dickinson is a leading international law firm with a strong focus on technology and cyber, while CFC is a specialist insurance provider operating across cyber and emerging risks.
Jon Holden, CEO of CyberNorth, said:
“The support from our sponsors is hugely important to CyberFest and to CyberNorth, it allows us to bring together a wider cross-section of the cyber community and create the kind of conversations, connections and opportunities that can have a lasting impact on the region.
We are delighted to have organisations of the calibre of Promon, Atom, Womble Bond Dickinson, Prism and CFC backing this year’s festival. Their support demonstrates the value of bringing the national cyber community together here in the North East.”
The CyberFest Community Conference on 19th October will bring together the North East cyber community with national and international organisations for a morning of insight, debate and networking. The programme will explore some of the most pressing issues facing organisations today, including cyber resilience, data, the evolving threat landscape, secure AI adoption and the importance of building strong human-centred security cultures.
The conference forms part of a wider CyberFest programme running throughout October, and includes specialist sessions also exploring the relationship between cyber and key adjacent sectors including Space, Defence, AI, Energy, and Manufacturing.
The CyberNorth Awards will take place on 21st October, celebrating the people, organisations and businesses helping to drive the region’s cyber and AI ecosystem forward.
Jon Holden added:
“The CyberNorth Awards are one of the highlights of the year and give us the opportunity to celebrate the people behind the North East’s national security impact and successes. We are particularly pleased with the support we’ve had from sponsors and judges this year and to see the community come out in force to back the CyberNorth Awards. This backing demonstrates the strength of the cyber ecosystem and the appetite to see the North East play an even bigger role in the UK’s cyber and technology future.”
Shaun Cooney, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Promon, added:
“Most people have never heard of Promon, yet with over two billion installs, there's a good chance we're protecting an app on their phone right now. That kind of protection depends on brilliant people, and the North East is full of them, thanks to an exceptionally dynamic technology and security community.
We're proud to back CyberFest 2026 as headline Platinum sponsor, and I'm looking forward to celebrating cyber excellence in the North East.”
With more than 1,000 people attending CyberFest events last year, the 2026 programme will bring together businesses, government, technology companies, investors, academia and specialist clusters throughout October.
For sponsors, the festival provides an opportunity to engage directly with the people and organisations shaping the future of cyber security, while supporting the growth and visibility of the North East’s cyber ecosystem.
CyberFest 2026 will take place throughout October, with the CyberFest Community Conference on 19 October and the CyberNorth Awards and careers fair, CyberFutures, both on 21 October, alongside a programme of specialist events across the region.
Conference info: https://cybernorth.biz/cn_events/cyberfest-community-conference/
CyberNorth Awards: https://cybernorth.biz/cn_events/cybernorth-awards/
Promon: https://promon.io/
.png)