Mark Hughes

Security Leadership and Experience

Hughes’s career demonstrates a significant progression through high-stakes security leadership roles, consistently focusing on comprehensive cyber, physical, and fraud protection. His most recent appointment is as Chief Security Officer at Allwyn UK, a position he has held since January 2024.

As a member of the Executive Committee, he directs all security operations for the UK National Lottery, including Cyber Defence, Security Operations, Financial Crime, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Fraud prevention, and Crisis Management.

Before joining the iGaming sector, he served as Chief Information Security Officer at Smart DCC from September 2022 to January 2024. In this capacity, he was an Executive Board member overseeing the security and technology strategy for the UK’s smart meter energy system, a crucial national infrastructure project.

His most significant prior tenure was at Vodafone, where he spent 16 years. This included over a decade as Chief Security Officer (UK), from August 2011 to September 2022, where he led the security function for Vodafone UK, defining and implementing strategy and managing the cyber, IT, and IS security assurance across physical and logical layers.

Prior to that, he was the Government Security Director at Vodafone from January 2009 to August 2011, responsible for overseeing security operations and disclosure protocols related to UK police and intelligence agencies and leading regulatory compliance with the Home Office.

His experience at Vodafone also included roles such as Head of Security Operations (February 2008 – January 2009), coordinating and developing cyber and information security standards, and Senior Fraud Investigation Manager (October 2006 – February 2008), focused on identifying and mitigating insider threats.

Key Certifications and Qualifications

Hughes holds notable certifications that underscore his broad expertise in information security, investigation, and risk management. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a qualification issued by ISC2 in July 2019, which attests to his advanced knowledge in designing, engineering, implementing, and managing an organization’s overall information security program.

Furthermore, he holds an Advanced certificate in Investigative practice, awarded by Bond Solon Training in August 2007, highlighting his proficiency in professional investigative procedures, which is vital for fraud and financial crime prevention within the iGaming and technology sectors.

His qualifications also include being a Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP) from The Knowledge Academy, confirming his capability in enterprise risk identification, assessment, and mitigation.