Louis Blackburn joins as Operations Director

CovertSwarm, the leading global red team, and cybersecurity solution provider, has announced the hire of Louis Blackburn as the company’s new Operations Director. 

Louis joins the organization with an extensive background in commercial cybersecurity and red-teaming and will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Hive team and the identification of new and growing attack vectors to support the ongoing development of CovertSwarm’s game-changing Attack Surface Management Platform – Offensive Operations Center (OOC).  

Louis was previously at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was the head of the bank’s internal Red Team. Before that, he was a Computer Forensic Analyst at the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (a specialist arm of the Police force focused on investigating the most serious cybercrime) and a Technical Services Engineer in the managed service industry.

Speaking about his new role, Louis said: “As I take charge of day-to-day operations, my primary goal is to optimize the Swarm’s functionality. This involves not only maintaining excellence in our current strengths but also exploring innovative approaches to external attacks that shape our broader product landscape, especially the Offensive Operations Center (OOC).

“Transitioning from a specialist area within a larger entity to a significant facet of an already substantial organization is a captivating opportunity. Despite CovertSwarm being a startup, it doesn’t feel like one with its abundance of experts and the impressive trajectory it has achieved in a remarkably short timeframe.

“With CovertSwarm harboring ambitious plans for the future, joining the team is a thrilling prospect, and I look forward to contributing to its continued success.”

Anders Reeves, CEO at CovertSwarm, added: “Welcoming Louis Blackburn to the CovertSwarm family is a significant step in fortifying our operational backbone. Louis’s rich experience in commercial cybersecurity and red-teaming will be instrumental in optimizing the day-to-day functions of our Hive team. 

“As we continue to disrupt the conventional Attack Surface Management market, Louis’s appointment aligns seamlessly with our growth strategy. With a team that boasts not only talent but also a shared vision, CovertSwarm is poised for further success. Louis’s role is integral to our ambitious plans, and we are thrilled to have him on board.”

CovertSwarm’s latest senior hire comes very shortly after the company had announced that Neil Jeffries, Ronan McCrory, and Santi Quintana had joined as Finance Director, Head of Product, and Head of Marketing respectively. 

These strategic hires follow a highly successful 2023 for the company which is set to expand its operations into North America over the next 12 months.

During 2023, the London-based company announced it had become the youngest organization to join the Beech Tree Private Equity portfolio after receiving investment earlier this year (ranging between £10 million – £30 million), enabling its ambitious organic growth strategy and accelerating the development of its proprietary Offensive Operations Center software.

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