27 January 2023
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
The eSentire Sean Hennessy Bursary, now in its second year running, has been awarded to Fernando Correa Borges, a second year, IT Management student at Munster Technological University (MTU).
Seán McSweeney, Head Of Department of Computer Science, Megan Kearney, Fernando Henrique, Blackpool and Ciarán Luttrell
Photo Darragh Kane
The Sean Hennessy Bursary was founded in 2021 as a collaboration between eSentire and the Department of Computer Science at MTU, in response to Ireland’s growing Cybersecurity skills shortage. Cybersecurity has become one of the main concerns for global industries, governments, and citizens. According to the most recent ‘State of the Cyber Security Sector in Ireland’ report, from Cyber Skills and Cyber Ireland, annual cybersecurity related revenue in Ireland reached approximately €2.1bn for 2021. Yet, 61% of organisations in Ireland have personnel-related shortfalls with an estimated 10,000 additional cybersecurity workers needed in Ireland, on top of the existing 7,300, to plug this critical skills gap.
eSentire is a centre of excellence for cybersecurity. The company’s mission is to hunt, investigate and stop cyber threats before they become business disrupting events. As an organisation with the largest Security Operations Centre in the Southwest region of Ireland, they have contributed considerably to the broader development of the area and their Security Analysts are highly trained experts on the frontlines of cybercrime. Recently, the company was recognised by IT@Cork (recently rebranded to the ‘Technology Industry Alliance’) and was shortlisted as a finalist in the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact award category at the 2022 Tech Industry Leaders awards for their inclusive culture and work in the area of neurodiverse hiring.
“MTU continues to be our primary educational partner in Ireland and we’re delighted to be partnering with them through the Sean Hennessey Bursary and continuing to run our industry-leading intern program, with four students joining us in late January. In our experience, the caliber of students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in MTU is simply unparalleled across Ireland,” said Ciaran Luttrell, Sr. Director of Security Operations EMEA at eSentire. “Despite the challenging macro-economic climate and headwinds facing the technology industry, eSentire continues to invest in cybersecurity talent to protect our customers 24/7 from business disrupting events.”
The Sean Hennessy Bursary provides financial aid that can be applied towards the recipient’s second, third, and fourth year at MTU. In addition to receiving €1,500 of assistance per annum over their remaining three years at MTU, the recipient will also get the chance to participate in a nine-month internship with eSentire throughout their third year leading into a part-time role with the firm for their fourth year.
eSentire’s call for entries invited applications from second year Computer Science students and the company was impressed with the strong level of interest and caliber of applicants this year. Five students who demonstrated a keen interest and propensity for cybersecurity were shortlisted for interviews. Fernando was selected based on his impressive interview and technical assessment results and his excellent academic transcripts.
Dr Seán McSweeney, Head of the Department of Computer Science at MTU, who awarded the bursary to Fernando, celebrates the continuous partnership MTU has with eSentire: “eSentire is an invaluable partner to MTU and, in particular, the Faculty of Engineering and Science. eSentire’s pledge to enhancing skills in the South-West region of Ireland has created an environment where our students can now engage with experts in industry and develop their careers. We look forward to a continuous and meaningful partnership that will lead us to close the skills gap in Cybersecurity and make Ireland leaders in the field, globally.”
About Sean Hennessy
Sean was instrumental in building the original eSentire Cork SOC team from 2015 to 2016 and helped recruit many Cork employees. Prior to eSentire, Sean served with the Irish Defence Forces for over 20 years in their ICT Division and even recruited some experts from the Forces over to eSentire. He had an immense passion for training and education paired with a deep interest in all areas of cybersecurity, so it is very fitting that his program be named in his memory. A heartfelt thank you to the Hennessy family for their support.
About eSentire
eSentire is the Authority in Managed Detection and Response, protecting the critical data and applications of 1,500+ organizations in 80+ countries from known and unknown cyber threats. Founded in 2001, the company’s mission is to hunt, investigate and stop cyber threats before they become business disrupting events. Combining cutting-edge machine learning XDR technology, 24/7 Threat Hunting, and proven security operations leadership, eSentire mitigates business risk, and enables security at scale. The Team eSentire difference means enterprises are protected by the best in the business with a named Cyber Risk Advisor, 24/7 access to SOC Cyber Analysts & Elite Threat Hunters, and industry-leading threat intelligence research from eSentire’s Threat Response Unit (TRU). eSentire provides Managed Risk, Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response services.
