CyberFest 2026 secures sponsor backing for North East

CyberNorth has secured backing from Promon, Atom Bank, Womble Bond Dickinson, Prism and CFC for CyberFest 2026, boosting the profile of the North East cyber security festival in its ninth year.

The festival has grown from a regional initiative into a national gathering for the UK cyber security sector, drawing businesses, government bodies, innovators and industry figures to the North East in October. Its sponsors span cyber security, banking, legal services and insurance.

Promon will be the headline Platinum sponsor. Atom Bank and Womble Bond Dickinson are backing the event as Gold sponsors, while CFC is providing additional conference support and Prism is supporting the CyberNorth Awards.

Representatives from the National Cyber Security Centre, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and Information Security for London will contribute to the programme.

The wider schedule includes specialist sessions on the links between cyber security and sectors such as space, defence, artificial intelligence, energy and manufacturing. More than 1,000 people attended CyberFest events last year.

Regional focus

CyberNorth said the sponsorship reflects growing interest in the North East as a centre for cyber security and secure AI. The organisation presents the festival as a meeting point for companies, public sector bodies and specialist groups working across the sector.

Oslo-headquartered Promon focuses on application security. Atom Bank brings digital banking experience, while Womble Bond Dickinson has a technology and cyber practice, and CFC operates in cyber and emerging-risk insurance.

Jon Holden, Chief Executive Officer of CyberNorth, said: "The support from our sponsors is hugely important to CyberFest and to CyberNorth. It allows us to bring together a wider cross-section of the cyber community and create the kind of conversations, connections and opportunities that can have a lasting impact on the region. We are delighted to have organisations of the calibre of Promon, Atom, Womble Bond Dickinson, Prism and CFC backing this year's festival. Their support demonstrates the value of bringing the national cyber community together here in the North East."

The programme includes the CyberFest Community Conference, which will examine cyber resilience, data, the threat landscape, secure AI adoption and security culture. The CyberNorth Awards will also recognise people, organisations and businesses working across the region's cyber and AI ecosystem.

Holden said: "The CyberNorth Awards are one of the highlights of the year and give us the opportunity to celebrate the people behind the North East's national security impact and successes. We are particularly pleased with the support we've had from sponsors and judges this year, and to see the community come out in force to back the CyberNorth Awards. This backing demonstrates the strength of the cyber ecosystem and the appetite to see the North East play an even bigger role in the UK's cyber and technology future."

Sponsor backing

Promon's support gives the festival an international top-tier sponsor. CyberNorth said the company's involvement strengthens the North East event's links with the wider security sector beyond the UK.

Shaun Cooney, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Promon, said: "Most people have never heard of Promon, yet with over two billion installs, there's a good chance we're protecting an app on their phone right now. That kind of protection depends on brilliant people, and the North East is full of them, thanks to an exceptionally dynamic technology and security community. We're proud to back CyberFest 2026 as headline Platinum sponsor, and I'm looking forward to celebrating cyber excellence in the North East."

Cyber security has become a bigger policy and business issue as organisations face pressure to protect critical systems, data and operations. Against that backdrop, regional clusters have sought to attract more investment, skills and national attention, and CyberNorth is using the festival to underline the North East's role in that discussion.

The mix of sponsors and institutional contributors reflects the breadth of interest in the event, from financial services and legal advisers to insurers and public bodies. It also highlights how cyber security increasingly overlaps with adjacent technology and industrial sectors across the UK economy.

With support from national organisations and private-sector sponsors, CyberFest 2026 is expected to bring together businesses, investors, academia, government and specialist clusters from across the cyber community in October.