CSO30 Australia 2024 winners unveiled at gala ceremony - Source: www.csoonline.com

Australia’s top cybersecurity leaders and their teams have been recognised at this year’s CSO30 Awards.

Held in conjunction with the CIO50, the CSO30 Australia Awards is aligned to Foundry’s global awards program and celebrates the leading individuals and organisations delivering cybersecurity initiatives that have changed the way the business is protected.

Along with their cybersecurity initiatives, nominees were also evaluated based on how they collaborated with and influenced their stakeholders to improve cybersecurity and resilience within the enterprise. Judges also assessed their contribution to the wider cybersecurity community beyond their organisations.

At the gala CSO30 celebration event held in Sydney, two individuals were recognised with Business Value and Leadership awards for demonstrating outstanding leadership and business value in cybersecurity.

In the Business Value category, Vishwanath Nair from BaptistCare took out the top award. Nair was recognised for his outstanding contributions as a CISO at his previous organisation, NSW Electoral Commission. Electoral systems and processes are highly attractive targets for malicious actors and Nair was recognised for his forward-looking, proactive cyber strategy and initiatives.

Leron Zinatullin, CISO at Linkly, was highly commended by the judges in this category. Zinatullin’s work has helped the business to launch new resilient and secure products and expand to new markets supported by robust security compliance regime and accreditation.

In the Leadership category, Vannessa Van Beek, Senior Director of Security at Avanade, took out top place. Van Beek was recognised for her people-first philosophy in fostering a security-conscious culture and her mentoring of emerging leaders.

Shireen Syd, CISO at University of Newcastle, was also highly commended in this category. Syd also serves as the Chief Security Officer under the Defence Industry Security Program and is actively involved in multiple industry and sector groups.

Meanwhile, an emerging cybersecurity leader was recognised with the Next CISO Award. Hien Tran, Cyber Security Manager, at ABN Group, was the winner of this award. Tran was nominated for this award by his mentor, Richard Heron, a previous CSO30 winner. Kiran Bangalore was also finalist in the Next CISO category, for his work in a previous role at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

CSO30 Australia Awards 2024 honourees (in alphabetical order)*:

Daniel Aldam, Chief Information Security Officer, Keolis Downer
Dave Cowan, Chief Information Security Officer, Challenger Limited
Andrew Curtis, Chief Information Security Officer, Gadget Access
Ben Doyle, Chief Information Security Officer, Thales
Sam Fariborz, Chief Information Security Officer, David Jones
James Fell, Chief Information Security Officer, Courts Service Victoria
Daniela Fernandez Palacios, Head of Information Security, PayPal Australia
Marco Figueroa, Senior Manager Cyber Security, Risk & Compliance, AICD
David Geber, General Manager, Information Security & Risk, REST Super
Nigel Hedges, Chief Information Security Officer, Chemist Warehouse
Daniel Hood, Chief Optimist , Phronesis Security
Andrew Hottes, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Cranbrook School
Blake Johnson, Head of Security Services, Virtual IT Group
Chirag Joshi, Founder/CISO, 7Rules Cyber
Chris Mace, Associate Director ICT & Business Services, Public Service Commission
Dan Maslin, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Monash University
Nathan Morelli, Head of Cyber Security and IT Resilience, SA Power Networks
Vishwanath Nair, Former CISO, NSW Electoral Commission
Raza Nowrozy, Chief Security Officer, Untapped Holdings
Maria Paz, Chief Technology Officer, Epworth Health
Tharaka Perera, Head of Information Security, Estia Health
Shalbin Samuel, Head of Cybersecurity, Intesa Sanpaolo AU
Raheem SAR, APAC Region Manager – Risk, Security & Compliance, The Access Group
Scott Sorley, Chief Information Officer, University of Southern Queensland
Shireen Syd, Chief Information Security Officer, University of Newcastle
Noel Toal, Chief Information Officer, DPV Health
Vannessa Van Beek, Senior Director of Security, Avanade
Andrew Webster, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Bluescope Steel
Leron Zinatullin, Chief Information Security Officer, Linkly