The Baltic Exchange was bursting at the seams at the recent BACA training day with over 60 in attendance, making this the most successful training event that BACA has held so far. The day was made up of two training sessions, the morning being devoted to Broker Training and the afternoon becoming a “Cyber-Crime Forum” with an interactive workshop and presentations on cyber-crime.

BACA was particularly grateful to Kroll and Kroll Ontrack, who sponsored the day and who participated in the Cyber-Crime Forum.  Kroll are leading international cyber-crime specialists and so were perfectly placed to help BACA members understand and reduce risk.

It was standing room only as BACA Chairman Richard Mumford welcomed delegates to the training before introducing a series of presentations on various aspects of air charter broking. These included the role of specialist brokers presented by Mark Green of Volanteus and Tim Procter of Air Charter Travel. This was followed by a detailed session on Law for Brokers given by Daniel James of Stevens & Bolton.

Following the coffee break, BACA was very pleased to welcome David Kendrick of the CAA, who kept delegates’ attention with details of permits and permissions required to bring an aircraft into the UK. The morning session concluded with sessions targeting brokers’ understanding and partnership with operators and handling agents.  Presentations were made by Andy Green of Jota Aviation, Tom Newell of SaxonAir and Sara Mulpetre of Weston Aviation on the practical implications of operating aircraft and running an FBO.

Chairman Richard Mumford summed up the morning session by saying one thing that came through loud and clear was that communication is the key factor between the broker, handler and operator.  BACA brokers aim to set the highest standards of market conduct, and it was clear that this could best be achieved by working in partnership with the operators and handling agents, to ensure the very best customer experience and to minimise risk of mistakes or omissions.

The afternoon was focussed on the Cyber-Crime Forum, generously sponsored and supported by Kroll and Kroll Ontrack.  Richard Mumford opened the afternoon with a summary of how important the threat from cyber criminals is to brokers and operators.  He also advised that every business across all markets is vulnerable to attack. He reminded all delegates that BACA members have set strong standards in the defence against cyber-crime and had shown commendable willingness to share their experiences in order to make the market a more secure environment for all.  This is a matter in which BACA members should take pride.

This was emphasised in the next session when delegates formed into smaller groups to review the IT infrastructure of a charter flight. This illustrated the points of attack where cyber criminals could have the opportunity to intervene and potentially exploit the process. The groups then considered how we might enhance defence of those points so as to minimise the risk of any successful attack.

Once the audience had been alerted to the many different ways cyber criminals operate, Ben Watts of PrivateFly demonstrated how PrivateFly has created an IT infrastructure that has minimised the risk of cyber-attacks. Key points include continuous training, a “no blame” culture and the choice to turn business away when there is a perceived potential risk of cyber-attack.  These are strong and important principles, demonstrating clearly the prioritisation of market and business integrity above short term profit.

Kevin Wong of Kroll, the sponsors of the event, made the final presentations of the day. Firstly, he highlighted the cost of cyber-crime, currently estimated at US$3 Trillion per annum, and the threat it also poses to national security. Once he had alerted delegates to the risks Kevin followed this session with a series of solutions for brokers to protect themselves against cyber-crime and prepare for an attack. A key element being to recognise the risk, take it seriously and plan to minimise that risk.  The key message was: “Always be prepared, never be complacent!”  Kevin commended PrivateFly and the broker community on their attitude and approach to their market.

Richard Mumford brought proceedings to a close by thanking all the speakers for their presentations and sharing their experiences with the audience. There was also thanks to Kroll for sponsoring the day and ensuring that so many brokers had the opportunity to attend BACA’s most successful training day so far.