Blow to Microsoft UK as respected e-crime expert heads home to US

Published on Saturday 26 December 2009 13:50

MICROSOFT has lost its chief UK security and risk adviser, former FBI agent Ed Gibson.

He was a global expert in complex online white-collar crimes such as money laundering and fraud. The software giant did not disclose the reason for his resignation.

But details of his sudden departure leaked on to IT websites, leading

Microsoft to issue a statement. It said: "We're grateful to Ed for his efforts during his time at Microsoft. For personal reasons, Ed has decided the time is right to move on to a new challenge."

Gibson is understood to have returned to his native US after ten years in Britain. A senior IT source said: "It represents a big loss to Microsoft and the UK. Ed is highly respected for his knowledge and candour, particularly around the parliament."

Gibson was an FBI operator for about 20 years, latterly on diplomatic assignment at the US Embassy in London, before he was encouraged to move across to Microsoft in 2005 to head up its cybersecurity unit.

He quickly became highly influential in government circles, quietly advising on computer online security and helping ministers formulate IT-related legislation.

He gained an enviable reputation on the conference circuit and was well known among Microsoft's partner-company community in Scotland.

In July, he staged a three-day event in Edinburgh for e-crime specialists from Scottish police forces and blue-chip companies such as Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland. They heard speakers warn that extra vigilance was needed to combat online and computer fraud, which has increased sharply in both scale and sophistication.

Gibson also headed Microsoft's National Security Council and in September, UK SMEs were placed on alert that they were the new target for cyber-hacking attacks masterminded by Russian criminal networks.

A director of one Edinburgh-based Microsoft partner company said: "Ed was tremendously popular and highly effective in hammering home the messages about cybersecurity. He is a hard act to follow."