Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust is an essential lifesaving charity in the UK, providing pre-hospital emergency care to those who are critically ill or injured across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. With over 1000+ missions a year to support, Cornwall Air Ambulance trust rely on donations to keep flying and deliver their mission of saving lives, meaning every resource must be used as efficiently as possible.
The trust is one of several charities that we at RoboShadow are privileged to be able to support, through donating their licensing completely free. It has allowed the Trust to scaleup their cybersecurity defences. It's an unfortunate reality that up to 30% charities in the UK have experienced a breach in the last 12 months.
As a charity, Cornwall Air Ambulance relies on donations to keep saving lives. If you’d like to support them, you can donate here.
After the Trust was tasked with conducting a penetration test to assess the strength of its IT defences, IT and operations lead Joel Henthorn began exploring options. The cost and limitations of traditional pen testing quickly became clear:
“I was getting quotes from anything between £5,000 and £17,000. And I was really concerned about it being just a snapshot… the day after something could change, and the report would be invalid.”
For a charity where every £ matters, investing heavily in a one-time test that would be out of date within days simply wasn’t viable, for just a point in time assessment that would very quickly go out of date. Looking for a solution that was more sustainable was essential to ensure resources were not being wasted.
Determined to find a more sustainable approach, Joel explained how he began exploring alternatives. That search led him to RoboShadow. What stood out was not just the affordability, but the shift from a one-off test to continuous vulnerability management. The concept of implementing something that would help keep the Trust protected on an ongoing basis meant that he could invest time in something that could keep the Air Ambulance crews saving lives.
Alongside familiar tools such as Microsoft Defender and compliance-focused PCI scans, RoboShadow brought something new to the table: visibility of gaps that other tools weren’t catching, heavily reducing the risk that a cybersecurity breach would bring.
“We started realising that there was more we needed to do… RoboShadow really helped to uncover the gaps left by other tools.”
For such an essential trust, (And acccording to Joel!) RoboShadow delivered measurable value from day one. Instead of a static report, the Trust gained a living, breathing view of its cybersecurity posture. For Joel and his team, that meant:
Continuous monitoring, meaning that their threat landscape was always relevant.
Seamless Azure integration, ensuring that RoboShadow complemented the Trust's existing tech stack.
Device reconciliation and cloud app discovery for greater asset visibility
Even with other accredited tools still in play, RoboShadow added a wider lens: picking up risks that compliance scans alone weren’t flagging.
“The biggest importance to me is that our donations are safe… RoboShadow picks up things that the Qualys PCI scan isn’t catching.”
Alongside the technology advantage, the Trust valued that RoboShadow worked with their processes and respected the governance safeguards that nonprofits require, as well as the quick and helpful responses from the support team during onboarding and ongoing maintenance.
With RoboShadow, Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust achieved:
Greater visibility of vulnerabilities and threats, by finding gaps other tools left.
An affordable solution compared to traditional pen tests or enterprise vulnerability management tools.
Time saving processes through automation and integration.
A long-term partner for ongoing improvement, with the Trust's best interests at heart.
Cybersecurity at the Trust is no longer seen as a periodic “tick-box” exercise. It’s now embedded into daily operations—sustainable, proactive, and aligned with their mission.
By choosing RoboShadow, Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust turned a costly, short-term security challenge into a continuous, proactive cybersecurity strategy. This ensures that donor funds stay focused on saving lives and keeping their missions airbourne, while the Trust maintains a strong and resilient defence against evolving digital threats.
Just as a reminder, Cornwall Air Ambulance relies on donations to keep saving lives. If you’d like to support them, you can donate here.