A sudden downpour didn’t dampen spirits as the AusCERT organisation celebrated its 13th annual conference and information security awards night on the Gold Coast.
The AusCERT awards are designed to recognise Australian professionals who work at the frontline of cyber security.
Delegates were entertained by comedian Adam Spencer and Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser who perform as 2CELLOS. The duo covered Where the streets have no name by U2 and other pop classics.
The AusCERT award winners were:
Individual Excellence in Information Security: Alex Tilley, Australian Federal Police (AFP)
Tilley, who works as a senior technical analyst in the AFP, was recognised for his dedication to investigating and combating cyber crime.
Organisational Excellence in Information Security: Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
A volunteer organisation, OWASP received the award for improving security software. It has produced numerous free guides and tutorials for developers to improve the security of the code they write.
Best Security Initiative: Rapid7
Rapid7 was recognised for Project Sonar. This project aims to improve security through active analysis of public networks. The data is shared with the Australian information security industry.
This was followed by the SC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award.
Editor’s Choice Award: Australia Post CISO, Troy Braban
Braban was recognised for taking cyber security to the board level at Australia Post and becoming an enabler of business.
He was appointed by Australia Post two years ago as the postal service recognised that its digital/online services could be under threat from cyber criminals.
Speaking at CeBIT Sydney earlier in May, Braban told delegates that he has regular contact with the board and presents monthly cyber security reports to them.
“There are also a range of forums where we get to discuss cyber security issues and how we manage risk perspective,” he said at the time.
Hamish Barwick travelled to AusCERT 2014 as a guest of AusCERT
Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick
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