It is with sadness that we report the death of Graeme John McGowan, one of ESA Risk’s Cyber Security consultants.

Graeme passed away on Wednesday 29^th November 2023 at the age of 69, following a period of poor health.

Graeme will be fondly remembered for his humour, character, and love of football, cricket and Pink Floyd. He had an enviable worldwide network of friends, colleagues and contacts, including a huge group of what Graeme called his ‘alumni’ – people who had worked and trained with him over his many years of public service in government agencies.

Graeme’s mission was to keep people safe online. He worked tirelessly towards this goal during his nearly 40 years in the public sector and in the many private sector roles he held after taking early retirement from a government agency in 2008. Among his many achievements, post the 7/7 London bombings, Graeme was seconded to the Home Office as the first senior government communications officer where he was responsible for developing the code of practice for, and the enactment of, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Part III.

His work in cyber security was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Information Security when he was made a Fellow in 2021.

Graeme’s motto of ‘training, education and awareness’ lives on in the work of the organisations he was part of.

Graeme is survived by his two daughters and two grandsons. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, at this time.