Coalition has announced the appointment of Mark Bird as the head of Coalition Incident Response UK Ltd. (CIR), the company’s affiliate incident response and cyber forensics organisation.
Bird, a former Acting Sergeant in the police cybercrime unit, brings over 16 years of experience in investigating cybercrime with the West Midlands Police.
Mark Bird officially assumes his role as the UK CIR Lead this month, marking a significant addition to Coalition’s growing team.
Prior to joining Coalition, Bird served as the Head of Incident Response at Pragma, a network security specialist firm.
In his new position, Bird will play a crucial role in guiding and supporting Coalition’s policyholders during cybersecurity incidents, ensuring a swift and effective response to digital threats.
Expressing his enthusiasm for the new role, Bird highlighted the importance of offering immediate support to businesses facing cyber events.
Drawing on his extensive experience in high-pressure situations, he aims to provide reassurance to clients during challenging times, stating, “For hard-pressed businesses, cyber events can be immensely frustrating and stressful. My job is to offer immediate support and guide clients back to business as usual.”
During his tenure with law enforcement, Bird investigated numerous high-profile cases, supporting both small businesses and large corporate enterprises in handling cyber attacks.
His experience at Pragma involved supporting clients through critical cyber events such as business email compromises, ransomware attacks, and insider threats.
Tom Draper, Coalition’s UK Head of Insurance, commented on the strategic move, stating, “In 2024, as demonstrated by Mark’s hire and others in the pipeline, we will support brokers by bringing new ways to educate insureds, thereby helping to reduce the impact of cyber events on UK businesses.”
The appointment of Mark Bird is part of Coalition’s broader expansion strategy, with the company’s UK headcount more than doubling during its first year of trading. Across its global offices in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, Coalition now employs over 600 people, both in physical offices and remotely.
