Dr Dennis Desmond is a decorated combat veteran of two wars and has spent most of his career in counterintelligence as a special agent with the US Army, the FBI and the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).  As an FBI Special Agent, Dennis was assigned to the National Computer Crime Squad, where he specialised in national security-related cybercrime issues.  Dennis also served as a human intelligence support officer with DIA and subsequently established an advanced cyber operations unit at Fort Meade, Maryland. His last assignment with the US Special Operations Command was as the Chief Identity Scientist supporting Special Mission Units. 

James Kay is the acting Assistant Director-General for Incident Management at the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). James is substantively the Director of the National Cyber Watch Office – the front door for all cyber security incidents reported to ASD.

James joined ASD in 2021 after a career in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He conducted postings to Afghanistan (2019-2020) as a First Secretary (Political), and the Philippines (2017-2018) as a Second Secretary (Political/Counter Terrorism).  

James holds a Bachelor of International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts both from the University of Adelaide.

Asif Gill is academic cum practitioner with extensive 20+ years’ experience covering various academic and professional roles. Throughout his 20+ years' career, along academic roles, he spent significant time with industry and government through expert advisory and consulting. He is currently A/Professor & Head of Discipline Software Engineering at the School of Computer Science, UTS. He is also a Director of the  DigiSAS Lab and a founding director of the start-up “Infoagility” (Adapt Inn Pty Ltd). He has led and delivered several successful engagements across education, government, and other sectors. He has experience in leading and developing teams, as well as training and coaching enterprise architects and agile software engineers. He is an internationally recognised thought leader and has published 3 books including a recent book title “Adaptive Enterprise Architecture as information: Architecting Intelligent Enterprises”, 2022. 

Nicole is the Senior Information Security Strategy and Governance Lead, and interim Information Security Operations Lead, at Flinders University. Prior to this, Nicole led Insider Threat Investigations and Intelligence for the APAC region at DTEX Systems working with a range of organisations in tackling the human-centred but technology-confused area of Insider Risk. She was responsible for investigations into and education of Insider Risk and behaviour for global customers and is a CMU SEI Certified Insider Threat Program Manager. Nicole was also part of developing and establishing the Australian Insider Risk Centre of Excellence (AIR CoE) launched in 2022, and continues to support with strategic direction, training development and thought leadership. 

Brian Hay has a rare blend of cyber security skills and business attributes. Long considered a Thought Leader in the world of cyber security he learned his craft not from the technical demands of the industry but rather by focusing on the activities of organised crime and cyber criminals and their impact upon victims of crime.Having developed the security concept of the “Lifecycle of Cybercrime” he consults with key clients to understand their business strategies and assist the achievement of organisational objectives whilst improving security through people, culture, criminal intelligence and incident response readiness. Brian possesses an excellent strategic mind and brings a wealth of cyber security experience. He has a proven record of partnering with industry and developing world leading innovative solutions and prevention strategies to difficult problems.As Lead CISO Advisor APAC, Security with Unisys he was responsible for managing and developing their Security Consulting business for Asia Pacific, while delivering operational and service excellence. Brian was also General Manager, Security for Dimension Data, Australia. Prior to this Brian was Detective Superintendent at Queensland Police, where he served 35 years. He was Commander of the Queensland Police Fraud & Cyber Crime Group, and since 2004, he worked extensively in the area of financial, identity and cybercrime. He was Chair of the Australia New Zealand Police Advisory Agency’s eCrime Working Group, a pivotal driver of the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network, and member of the Federal Attorney- General’s National Cybercrime Working Group. In 2009 Brian was the recipient of an international award from McAfee for efforts in combating cybercrime and the recipient of the Australian Police Medal. In 2010 he was the recipient of the National AusCERT Award for Individual Excellence in Information Security. Brian has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration and was the former President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (Brisbane Chapter).Brian is an industry renowned and sought- after cyber security evangelist, thought leader, public speaker and facilitator.

Dave is an IT, telecommunications and cyber-security specialist with over 20 years experience. His experience includes more than a decade in national security leadership. Dave’s specialisations include telecommunications, Enterprise IT, data security, data management, personnel security, counter espionage & foreign interference and counter-terrorism. During his time in the Australian Intelligence Community his expertise was recognised with numerous agency and community awards. Throughout his career, Dave has worked on the creation of legislation and legislative reform to better protect data, systems and national security. Dave applies his understanding of diverse technologies along with geo-political and human elements to build and maintain relationships domestically and internationally for capability and information sharing. These relationships have historically supported ongoing success in developing capabilities to support national and international intelligence collection and management of complex highly available enterprise systems. Dave is also actively involved in providing advice to government and industry on security and telecommunications.

Nadia was appointed as CISO for Western Sydney University in January 2023. Prior to that she was Director of Cyber Security Operations at Australian Parliament House, leading teams covering cyber security operations, cyber threat intelligence, hunt and threat emulation, insider threat and engineering. Nadia has also worked within the Department of Defence and the Department of Home Affairs spanning areas such as cyber security, communications security and information operations. While at Defence, Nadia provided representation for Defence at NATO and FVEY forums on non-kinetic warfare and led a large scale cyber operation here and abroad. Nadia brings a unique approach to cyber security, due to her diverse background and experience. 

Dan leads the Cyber Risk & Resilience function at Monash University and holds responsibility for establishing and maintaining the vision, strategy and transformation program for a complex global organisation (A$2.8 billion annual revenue and ranked in the global top 50 universities).Dan is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), part of the AISA Executive Advisory Board, an Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University and was an industry advisor to cyber security startup accelerator Cyrise (disbanded in May 2023). In 2021 Dan was named a Fellow of the Australian Information Security Association (FAISA) and in 2022 was named the winner of the CSO30 Australia Awards.Prior to joining the university sector, Dan spent 20 years in IT and cyber security leadership roles across a vast array of industries including insurance, hospitality, not for profit, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, utilities, food and beverage, retail and consulting.

David is an experienced Cyber Security practitioner and has a wealth of security operations and consulting experience within organisations including Microsoft, Telstra and the Australian Federal Government. As a result of his practical experience implementing allowlisting, Airlock Digital was created to solve modern endpoint security challenges. He authored SANS SEC480: Implementing & Auditing the ASD Top 4 mitigation strategies.