Butchers, bakers and USB stick makers – why Australia's new Critical Infrastructure Bill affects everyone

Monday 25 October 2021

12:00PM – 1:00PM

About the event

In this session we will be joined by guest speakers from across cyber security and critical infrastructure sectors to discuss the proposed reforms and what they could mean for businesses large, medium and small.

Around the world we have seen a growing range of cyber security threats levelled against critical infrastructure, including the recent high-profile SolarWinds, Exchange, and Colonial Pipeline attacks. To date, Australia has been lucky to avoid a catastrophic cybersecurity incident against its critical infrastructure sector. However, in its 2020-21 Annual Threat Report, the Australian Cyber Security Centre confirmed that Australia’s Critical Infrastructure continues to be an attractive target to a range of cyber adversaries – with approximately one quarter of reported cyber incidents impacting Australia’s critical infrastructure or essential services. It is widely acknowledged that the loss of an essential service could have devastating impacts across Australia.

In our increasingly interconnected world, improving the security and resilience of critical infrastructure entities is essential to protecting Australia’s economy and national security. Last year, the government introduced the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 into the Federal Parliament. The Bill includes important measures aimed to improve security and resilience across the country’s critical infrastructure sectors.

These include, but are not limited to:

Broadening the definition of Critical Infrastructure from four to eleven sectors.
Enhancing security obligations via sector-specific rules across cyber, supply chains, physical and personnel security.
Establishing government assistance powers.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Disclaimer – This event is not intended to provide legal advice. Organisations should do their own research and obtain legal advice on whether the Bill applies to them and the exact details of what they must do.

Speakers

Michelle Price

Chief Executive Officer, AustCyber

Michelle was AustCyber’s inaugural Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary, joining the company in January 2017 and was appointed CEO in April 2018. Prior to joining AustCyber, Michelle was the first Senior Adviser for Cyber Security at the National Security College within The Australian National University and developed the blueprint for the ANU Cyber Institute.

Before joining the ANU, she held various strategy and risk management roles across the Australian Government, including at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, where she was instrumental to the delivery of the Government’s 2015 Cyber Security Review and Australia’s first Cyber Security Strategy, released in 2016. While at PM&C, she was also the architect of the world’s first national security strategy risk framework and managed the Government’s Coordinated National Security Budget across three federal Budgets.

Michelle is a director on the board of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (A3C) and co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Cybersecurity.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics, Business Law) from Macquarie University, a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communications) from the University of Technology, Sydney and is an alumna of the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Darren Kane

Chief Security Officer, nbn™ Australia

Darren Kane has been the Chief Security Officer at nbn™ since 2015, enabling Australia’s biggest critical infrastructure owner to better protect its people and assets against evolving threats. In 2020, Darren was appointed to the Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee to help guide the implementation of the nation’s Cyber Security Strategy and provide ongoing advice to address emerging cyber security challenges.

Prior to nbn™, Darren served for over 19 years in the AFP and ASIC, and 11 years at Telstra - 5 years as the Director, Corporate Security & Investigations.

Darren was appointed as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Information Technology, Faculty of Science, at Deakin University in 2020. Darren has an MBA, a Diploma of Financial Markets and is a Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2020 Darren was awarded Male Champion of Change at the Australian Women’s Security Network Awards.

Sarah Sloan

Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, ANZ, Palo Alto Networks

Sarah Sloan is the Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Australia and New Zealand at Palo Alto Networks. In her position, she advises the Company’s leadership on a range of strategic policies, builds relationships across all tiers of Government and acts as a trusted private sector adviser to Governments. She is the Company’s primary interface with Australian and New Zealand Federal, State, and Territory Parliamentarians as well as Senior Departmental officials on policy matters. Sarah has 10+ years of experience working in Government, predominantly on cybercrime and cybersecurity policy and legislation. She has a proven track record of delivering results at the operational and strategic levels of government and is passionate about improving Australia and New Zealand’s cybersecurity posture.

Hamish Hansford

Group Manager and Head of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre, Australian Department of Home Affairs

Hamish Hansford was appointed the Group Manager and Inaugural Head of the Australian Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre. The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre brings together Australia’s ‘all hazards’ protection of 11 critical infrastructure sectors of the Australian economy. The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre has a large focus on aviation and maritime security and telecommunications security. Increasingly, the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre will focus on cyber security issues including how to protect and then respond to serious cyber security incidents in partnership with the National Situation Room and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Damien Manuel

AISA Board Director and Industry Professor / Director of Deakin’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI)

Damien Manuel is the Industry Professor and Director of Deakin's Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation and is the Chairperson of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), a not-for-profit organisation which aims to improve Cyber Security in Australia at a Government, Industry and Community level.

Damien is currently on CompTIA’s Executive Advisory Committee in the USA, the Victorian Ombudsman’s Audit and Risk Committee, the board of RSA Australia, the chair of Standards Australia’s Standards development committee for cyber security and privacy and helps mentor entrepreneurs through CyRise, Australia’s only cyber security startup accelerator.

Former roles include the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Symantec ANZ and Enterprise IT and security risk manager at National Australia Bank (NAB)- where he was responsible for managing the bank’s information security standard globally.

Underpinning his experience is a diverse educational grounding ranging from the highest security, audit and governance certifications complemented by an Executive MBA with an international business focus. Damien also has a background in genetic engineering, biology, chemistry and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).