Abbas Kudrati is a highly regarded cybersecurity expert and accomplished public speaker, currently serving as Microsoft Asia's Lead Chief Cybersecurity Advisor for the Security Solutions Area. In this role, he advises on cutting-edge cybersecurity strategies and technologies to ensure Microsoft's clients remain safe in an increasingly digital world.
Beyond his work at Microsoft, Abbas is a sought-after executive advisor to numerous prestigious organizations, including LaTrobe University, HITRUST ASIA, and EC Council ASIA. He also supports the broader security community through his work with ISACA Chapters and by mentoring students.
As a bestselling author, Abbas has written several authoritative books on cybersecurity, including "Threat Hunting in the Cloud" by Wiley, "Zero Trust and Journey Across the Digital Estate" by CRC Press, and "Managing Risks in Digital Transformation" by Packt. He is also the Technical Editor for two books, "Effective Crisis Management" by BPB and "IoT Security with Microsoft Defender for IoT" by Packt.
Abbas is also a highly respected part-time Professor of Practice at LaTrobe University and a keynote speaker on a range of cybersecurity-related topics, including Zero-Trust, Cloud Security, Governance, Risk, and Compliance. His extensive expertise in the field of cybersecurity and engaging speaking style make him a popular choice for events, conferences, and corporate training sessions. Learn more about him on https://aka.ms/abbas
Alex Nehmy is Field Chief Security Officer for Critical Industries at Palo Alto Networks. Alex has specialised in cyber security for the past 20 years. Alex has consulted nationally and internationally for KPMG and led cyber security for Australia's largest defence prime.
Alex built the cyber security capabilities for The University of Adelaide and also SA Power Networks, where he brought the IT and Operational Technology groups together to secure the South Australian electricity grid and watched the disruption from the green energy revolution play out with the huge growth of rooftop solar and initiatives such as the virtual power plant with Tesla.
Alex brings a wealth of industry experience, especially in critical infrastructure, to Palo Alto Networks
Annie Haggar is the founder and principal of Cyber GC - a legal and consulting practice dedicated to helping Australian businesses prepare for and fight cyberattacks. Annie is a multi-award-winning cybersecurity lawyer and was recently awarded General Counsel of the Year (Australian Law Awards - Lawyers Weekly - 2021). She supports clients across the private sector and Commonwealth government, critical infrastructure and small and medium business.
She brings to Cyber GC the experience gained in 20 years as a technology lawyer, 12 years working for one of the largest technology companies in the world and 6 years as global legal counsel for Accenture Security, one of the largest security companies in the world. She specialises in advising on enterprise security risk, including legal regulation, security by design and the impact on the whole organisation of cybersecurity issues.
Ashwin Ram is a seasoned cyber security expert and thought leader with a unique blend of CISO consulting experience and technical know-how. Ashwin is widely regarded as a trusted advisor by industry titans, startups, and industry collectives due to his ability to translate technical threats into business contexts to evaluate overall risk to organisations.
In 2023, his contributions were recognised when he was honoured as one of only five cyber professionals among the 'Top 100 Innovators' in Australia, an accolade presented by KPMG in collaboration with The Australian newspaper.
With security expertise in cloud, threat intelligence, network, endpoint, mobile, and IoT, Ashwin can switch effortlessly between "tech talk" and "business talk," making him a go-to person for organisations looking to bolster their cyber resilience. His unwavering passion for new challenges and results-driven approach sets him apart in the industry.
Ashwin's impressive track record has earned him prestigious accolades such as winning the fiercely competitive 'Cyber Leadership Program (2020)' and the 'Cyber Strategy and Transformation Program (2021)' from the esteemed Cyber Leadership Institutes.
At the age of 14 Bastien Treptel was given his first computer, by the age of 16, the police came knocking.
Bastien had used his hacking skills to get into one of the big four banks and access credit cards. It was his love of pizza that led to the police tracking him down and ultimately reforming his ways.
Years later, Bastien founded CTRL Group to combat cybercrime and in November 2021 sold the company for millions.
Current Work:
Bastien now uses his time to spread the word on how dangerous and creative cyber criminals are and how you can protect your business and personal life.
Bastien is the co-founder of CTRL Group - Australia's progressive information security firm, protecting businesses from cyber risk. CTRL Group offers best-in-class security solutions ranging from audits, hacking, monitoring, advisory and education.
Bastien is dedicated to inspiring everyone to appreciate security as it becomes an essential part of our lives as we move into a hyper-digitized world.
Bastien is also the host of the CyberHacker podcast series which has over 100,000 subscribers and is currently in production for season 2.
Add to session: Panel: Protecting Australia's critical infrastructure
Bio:
Chirag Joshi is a seasoned cyber security executive with extensive experience building and leading cyber security and risk management programs in multiple countries across various industries. He is the Founder and CISO at 7 Rules Cyber – an innovative cyber security consulting and thought leadership company focused on enabling businesses to be secure in a cost-effective and efficient manner. He is the author of the two bestselling books – “7 Rules to Become Exceptional at Cyber Security” and “7 Rules to Influence Behaviour and Win at Cyber Security Awareness." Chirag is featured in the prestigious CSO30 list of top 30 cyber security executives in Australia.
Chirag is a well-known keynote speaker and has presented at numerous leading international and regional conferences and forums on topics such as cyber threat landscape, effective cyber security strategy and architecture, cyber regulations, security culture, and the importance of human factor.
He has conducted several successful cyber security education sessions for executives and non-technical audiences in industries such as financial services, energy, healthcare, government, and higher education. He has led teams and multi-million-dollar cyber transformation initiatives. He has experience in both IT and OT environments and has managed cyber security through demergers and divestments.
Chirag is also a Board Director for ISACA Sydney. His academic qualifications include Master’s degree in Telecommunications Management and Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering. He holds multiple certifications including CISA, CISM, CRISC and CDPSE.
Since January 2019, Commander Goldsmid has led Cybercrime Operations, the area mandated to enhance AFP cyber capabilities and investigate cybercrimes against the Commonwealth government, critical Infrastructure, systems of national significance and those impacting the whole of economy. Cybercrime Operations forms part of the AFP Cyber Command with Commander Goldsmid performing a key role in protecting the Australian community from cybercrime through his leadership of the AFP led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre in Sydney.
Commander Goldsmid joined the Australian Federal Police in 2002 and has over nineteen years’ experience as a leader and manager in local, national and international law enforcement. He has a diverse skillset across operational, policy and capability development roles and has led criminal investigations targeting organised crime, money laundering, drug trafficking and corruption.
Commander Goldsmid holds academic qualifications in law and information technology and has completed the AFP’s Management of Serious Crime (MOSC) program.
Corien Vermaak started her career as a technology law specialist within the telecommunication space and soon fell in love with data privacy and the legal structures governing cybercrime. In her career, Corien specialised in cybercrime legislation and data privacy while representing large multinationals on
these matters.
She holds a master’s degree in law specialising in cybercrime and data privacy. She has been involved in the writing of legislation in this regard as well as consulting to Africa Union and INTERPOL on issues
relating to cybercrimes and privacy.
Corien is a Qualified Digital Forensic Auditor, Lead ISO 27001 auditor and C|CISO. Corien has been a CISO Advisor for the Cisco Security Centre of Excellence in the Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China
region where she has led market leadership projects.
She has used her lab and investigative experience to instruct and develop training focused on educating children on the dangers in the digital world. She has been running a pro-bono campaign educating over 52,000 children on cyberbullying and digital privacy. In 2022, Corien released her book “Hacker Mom – the practical guide to keeping your kids safe online”.
Corien is one of the global heads of Cisco Woman in Cybersecurity and has been both an executive and non-executive board member for Woman in ICT.
She is currently Cisco’s director of cybersecurity for Australia & New Zealand.
Due to her involvement in the ANZ Cybersecurity industry, Corien has joined the Boards of:
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over nearly 30 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles including PC & Tech Authority, TechRadar, and Atomic. Hollingworth is currently a Senior Journalist on Cyber Daily, covering everything from criminal trends in cyber security to government regulations and digital transformation.
Liam began his career as a speech writer at New South Wales Parliament before working for world leading campaigns and research agencies in Sydney and Auckland. Throughout his career, Liam has managed and executed a range of international media and communications campaigns spanning politics, business, industrial relations and infrastructure. He’s since shifted his attention to researching and writing extensively on geopolitics and defence, specifically in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Master of Strategy and Security from UNSW Canberra, with a thesis on post-truth, postmodernism and disinformation operations.
Luisa Genovese serves as the Consulting Director, Unit 42, for Asia Pacific and Japan at Palo Alto Networks. She is an internationally recognised cybersecurity leader with over a decade of experience in cybercrime operations in government and enterprise organizations, specializing in intelligence and investigations, SOC operations, threat and risk management, and third-party security and privacy assessments.
With extensive experience in the Financial Services sector, she led Security Integration, Cyber Resilience, and Recovery. Before joining banking, Luisa worked as a Federal Agent in the Cybercrime Operations division of the Australian Federal Police. She played a crucial role in investigating and combating cybercrime and protecting the digital landscape. Her invaluable experience provides a fundamental understanding of evolving cyber threats and effective risk mitigation.
Luisa actively discusses security issues, participates in forums, conferences, and panels, and provides intelligence on cybersecurity matters to the public and private sectors.
With over 17 years of experience in information security, Maryam Bechtel is a recognised leader in the Cyber industry, driving transformation and turning organisations into cyber savvy powerhouses of protection. She has experience across multiple continents, spanning advisory and consulting, in-house services and corporate.
As the Chief Information Security Officer at AGL Energy, Maryam is responsible for the Cyber protection of one of Australia’s most critical infrastructures, essential for the nation's energy supply and ensuring over 4 million customers energy and telco needs are met.
Her career has consisted of two phases: More than a decade of consulting with Deutsche Telekom and Deloitte, working with C-levels and executives in large international companies to define overarching and achievable cyber security strategy. Her consulting engagements led her to gain industry wide experience across various cyber security domains in multiple countries such as Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA and Australia.
In recent years, as a hands-on leader, her focus has been to build high performance, world-class cyber security teams. She challenges her teams to find innovative solutions for business problems, enhance operational efficiency underpinned by a culture which values collaboration, integrity, and open communication.
Maryam's success has made her a natural female role model in the cybersecurity community, an active advocate of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) that supports aspiring females in the industry through formal and informal coaching and mentoring. As a tribute to her leadership and contribution to the industry, Maryam was awarded the AISA Cyber Professional of the Year Award 2022.
Her professional experience is supported by a strong academic background illustrated by a master’s degree in information security from Stockholm and Bachelor of Software Engineering.
