About Cyber Rookie
We bridge the gap between certifications and real-world experience. Cyber Rookie helps aspiring professionals build practical skills, confidence, and a portfolio that helps show you understand security.
We’ve guided government, small business, and enterprise clients through real GRC implementations to strengthen their security and privacy. Now we’re helping future cyber professionals gain the same practical skills we learned on the job.
Our Story
Hi, we’re Roger McCluskey and Marnie McLeod - founders of Cyber Rookie.
Our Limiting Belief. Over four years ago, we believed that certifications and degrees were enough to prepare cyber security professionals for real-world work. After all, we had build successful careers as Iformation Security & Privacy consultants, working on government and enterprise GRC projects across New Zealand and Australia.
The Wake-Up Call. But while mentoring student in 2024-2025, we kept hearing the same heartbreaking frustrations: “Even with qualifications, we can’t get jobs.”
Why? We realised the missing piece: Nothing on the market gives real-world experience.
We Lived This Pain Too. When we entered the industry in 2021, university didn’t prepare us for the reality of cyber security GRC work. We learned the hard waythat cyber security isn’t just technical skills, it’s understanding how business actually operate, how people use technology, and how security and privacy work together to protect data and ensure businesses operate. Luckly, both Roger and Marnie come from business backgrounds so this helped immensley.
The Solution We Discovered. Through building our own consulting firm, Hyplon Security and from our experience as GRC - Information Security & Privacy Consultants we understand what employers actually need: professionals who can bridge the gap between certifications and practical experience as well as technical knowledge and business reality.
Why Cyber Rookie Was Created. We built Cyber Rookie because we refuse to watch talented people get stuck in the “need experience to get experience” trap.
So that’s why we built Cyber Rookie to change that.
A place where aspiring professionals can:
Work on real-world simulated scenarios that mirrors acutal client projects
Learn from people aready in the industry
Build critical thinkings skills that go beyond just tools and technology
The Future-Proof Foundation. Even as AI technology reshapes cyber security, human judgement remains irreplaceable. Professionals are still needed to interpret outcomes through emotional intelligence and business understanding.
Cyber Rookie build these foundations that works across all cybersecurity areas, because when you understand compliance, business operations, and executive priorities, you become indispensable.
Our Mission
To help career-changers, graudates, and upskillers turn certifications into confidence and build the hands-on experience and soft skills organisations actually want.
We believe everyone deserves a space that helps bridges the gap between training and employment.
We believe experience matters as much as doing another certificate.
We believe soft skills and business context are as critical as technical skills.
How We Help
Guided workshops with simulated scenarios that mirror real client projects.
Mentor virtual Q&A sessions for when you are stuck.
Portfolio building that proves your ability to employers.
Sharpen problem solving and critical thinking skills through our optional monthly challenge sprints.
Soft skills coaching like writing clear reports, articulating risks, know how to answer stakeholders questions, and more.
Empowering through Practice
We help people build skills that make them feel capable and confident
Transparancy & Trust
We are open, clear, and honest in how we guide and share our knowledge of the industry.
Support each other
We’re creating supportive spaces where nobody learns alone.
Who We Help
Graduates
Who need experience to get noticed
Career-pivoters
Moving from IT, business, or adjacent fields
Companies
Wanting to upskill their own people
Why It Matters
Cyber security isn’t just about technology, it’s about trust, communication, and resilience.
Without the bridge between certifications and experience, businesses stay exposed and job seekers stay stuck.
That’s why Cyber Rookie has been built: to prepare professionals who can conenct the dots between frameworks, compliance, interpret AI tools and understand output reports, and business reality.
By blending GRC, privacy, critical thinking, we prepare people not just for a role, but for a career that grows with technology, AI, and changing business needs.
Get In Touch
Have an idea for collaboration? We’re open to conversations about:
Speaking engagements
Guesting on your podcasts or YouTube
Sponsorships
Advising
Investing