About

Welcome to the official blog and website of Wayne Horkan (my LinkedIn profile) – technologist, engineer, and cybersecurity leader. With over 30 years of experience in enterprise architecture, systems engineering, and cybersecurity, I’ve dedicated my career to designing and securing large-scale, mission-critical systems. My expertise spans sectors from national security to healthcare, and I’ve led innovative initiatives that have shaped the future of cybersecurity.

Currently, I serve as Co-Founder and Head of Security, Engineering, and Technology at Cyber Tzar (our company website), where I lead the vision and development of an advanced Cyber Risk Management Platform. This platform integrates real-time threat intelligence, vulnerability assessments, supply chain risk analysis, and technology innovations including AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data, to empower businesses to strengthen their security posture in an increasingly complex threat landscape. Our work at Cyber Tzar has been recognised by national bodies like the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation& Technology (DSIT), and we continue to push the boundaries of cybersecurity innovation.

Beyond my work at Cyber Tzar, I contribute to the West Midlands Cyber Working Group (CWG), where I serve as Chair, working to drive collaboration and cohesion across the region’s cyber ecosystem. In this role, I bring together key stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to strengthen the region’s cyber resilience, on behalf of DSIT and the Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands (IAWM), for whom I represent “Cyber” in their Virtual Innovation Team. I also contribute as a member of the Advisory Board at Midlands Cyber and as a member of the IET’s Digital Panel.

I am also a proud advocate for neurodiversity, drawing from my own experiences to champion inclusivity within the cybersecurity field. I have previously collaborated with the UK Cyber Security Council to foster an environment that recognises and leverages the unique talents of individuals on the autism spectrum, ensuring the profession becomes more accessible and diverse. And I’m pleased to say this blog has been recognised as the 12th most widely read Tech blog in the UK by Feedspot.

My career has allowed me to work on transformative national projects, such as redesigning the UK Border Control System and the Home Office Security Operations Centre, and securing critical national infrastructure. In addition to this, I have held key technical leadership roles including CTO for the UK and Ireland at Sun Microsystems, and similar at organisations like Bupa, Direct Line Group, and the Home Office, where I’ve delivered large-scale, secure systems, with complicated requirements and dependencies, that are foundational to national security and enterprise success.

My current favourite quote (from my son, Andy): “Straight out of the genius bucket!“

Areas of Expertise

  • Cybersecurity Leadership
  • Enterprise Architecture
  • AI and Machine Learning in Cyber Risk Management
  • Neurodiversity Advocacy in Cybersecurity, Engineering, and Technology
  • National Security Infrastructure
  • Technology and Business Alignment

Connect with me

Interests and Blog Article Topics

Featured Articles

I regularly share my thoughts on the intersection of cybersecurity, technology, and leadership, along with my passion for neurodiversity. Check out my most-read articles on these topics below:

Sun Microsystems UK and Ireland CTO Blog

Feel free to browse through some of my previous writings, including content migrated from my old Sun Microsystems blog, where I discussed everything from cloud computing to enterprise architecture and government messaging systems.

Some older links may refer back to the Internet Archive: Way Back Machine where I retrieved articles after Oracle deleted the Sun blogs.

Obligatory Tag Cloud 

2007 ai asd aspergers aspergers-syndrome autism autistic bbc bcs Bill Bill Horkan blog bollocks business-chemistry business-information cheltenham chess chess-strategy Cyber Runway Cyber Runway Scale cybersecurity david-mccallum deloitte disc eclectic film gallup-strengths history-of-cheltenham history-of-the-roman-empire joanna-lumley learning literature mbtI metatrader4 myers-briggs Myth of the West ncsc-for-startups NCSCForStartups neurodiversity personality-types peter-j-hammond research response roller-weblogger sapphire-and-steel strategies sun-microsystems-blog tech-opinion twitter wayne-horkan