Digital Resilience & Cyber Security
Understand risk. Strengthen control. Demonstrate improvement.
Expede helps universities establish a clear, evidence-based view of digital and cyber risk, strengthen the capabilities and controls required to manage it and demonstrate measurable improvement.
Our approach combines Higher Education expertise with the Expede Unified Digital Resilience Framework (UDRF), connecting institutional risk, standards and obligations to operating capability, evidence and assurance.
Assessment & Strategy
Understand where resilience is weakest - and what matters most.
Using the UDRF, we assess current maturity, control effectiveness, available evidence, critical dependencies and material risk against relevant standards, regulatory expectations and institutional obligations.
We translate that evidence into clear priorities, a pragmatic digital resilience and cyber security strategy and a sequenced roadmap for improvement.
Improvement Programme Delivery
Turn strategy into operating capability.
A strategy or audit finding does not reduce risk by itself. Expede provides experienced programme leadership and specialist capability to mobilise, sequence and deliver the technical, operational and governance improvements required.
We work alongside institutional teams, suppliers and specialist partners to turn agreed priorities into sustainable capability — with clear ownership, evidence and measurable outcomes.
Virtual CISO & Strategic Assurance
Senior security leadership when and where it is needed.
Not every institution needs - or can justify - additional permanent senior security leadership.
Expede's Virtual CISO service can provide independent strategic leadership, governance, risk prioritisation, executive and board reporting, security programme oversight, assurance and capability development without requiring a full-time appointment.
The service can support an established CISO or security function, provide interim leadership during transition, or give institutions access to experienced strategic security leadership on a continuing basis.
CASE STUDY
From strategy to operating capability
Brunel University London
Expede provided programme management capability to support the delivery of Brunel University London's Information Security Strategy.
Working across institutional teams, technology partners and specialist suppliers, Expede coordinated the implementation and operationalisation of an integrated programme of security capability including:
email and web security;
network security and next-generation firewall capability;
network access control;
security monitoring and SIEM;
secure configuration and patch management processes;
user and privileged access management;
incident response processes and playbooks; and
management reporting and operational governance.
Importantly, the programme went beyond the deployment of security technology. Supporting processes, responsibilities and operating practices were developed so that controls could be embedded into day-to-day operation.
The programme also supported Brunel University London in maintaining its Cyber Essentials accreditation.
Underpinned by the Unified Digital Resilience Framework
Digital resilience cannot be understood through isolated controls or individual audit findings.
The Expede UDRF connects standards and obligations to institutional capabilities, controls, evidence, maturity, risk and prioritised improvement - creating a consistent line of sight from identified risk through to assured outcomes.
Digital resilience capabilities we help strengthen
Digital Resilience & Cyber Maturity
Establish an evidence-based baseline of current capability, maturity and material risk and provide a defensible basis for prioritising improvement.
Governance, Risk & Assurance
Strengthen accountability, security governance, risk management, control ownership, evidence and institutional assurance.
Security Strategy & Roadmaps
Translate institutional objectives, risk and capability gaps into coherent strategies, investment priorities and deliverable programmes of change.
Research & Information Protection
Protect valuable research, intellectual property and sensitive institutional information through clearer ownership, risk management and proportionate security controls.
Identity & Access Governance
Strengthen identity, authentication, access control and privileged-access governance across complex institutional environments.
Vulnerability & Control Effectiveness
Improve the identification, prioritisation and management of vulnerabilities, configuration risk and security-control effectiveness.
Detection & Incident Response
Develop the monitoring, detection, escalation, response and operational capabilities required to identify and manage security incidents effectively.
Supplier & Third-Party Risk
Understand and manage cyber and resilience dependencies across SaaS providers, strategic suppliers, research partners and the wider digital supply chain.
Cyber Recovery & Crisis Readiness
Strengthen institutional readiness for material cyber disruption, including recovery planning, decision-making, exercising and coordination with wider continuity arrangements.
Executive & Board Assurance
Give senior leaders clearer visibility of material digital risk, improvement priorities, control effectiveness and evidence of progress.