2026 Winners and finalists

CISO of the Year

Graham Fairley, PEXA

Brendan Fazel, Exigo Tech
Craig Ford, Cyber Unicorns
Dominic Grunden, Power and Water Corporation
James Healy, Stake
Matt Miller, Insicon Cyber
Marie Patane, NSW Department of Customer Service
Volker Rath, Cloudflare

Cyber Security Champion of the Year - Internal

Alexander Antal, Securexchange (InfoTrack)
Bader Badr, Infotrust
Louis Cremen, Lumify Work
Jeremy Daly, Lumify Work

James Healy, Stake

Andrew Mullan, Calleo
Neha Makkar, C-Res
Subhash Paudel, Spartans Security
Yuvraj Sharma, Revio Cyber Security
Dinesh Velusamy, Wurth Australia

Cyber Consultant of the Year - Enterprise

Mohammed Abuwala, Atmos
Stephanie Crabtree, Cyconsol
Matt Dobinson, The Missing Link
Dan Goldberg, Omnicom
Nick Jackson, DXC Technology
Jacob Kiel, Digital Resilience
Phil Tinetti, Infotrust

Wouter Veugelen, FTI Consulting

Jakub Zverina, CyberCX

Cyber Consultant of the Year - SME

Phil Aldridge, Fuse Technology

Christopher Beggs, SIS – Industrial Cyber Security

Rohit Borekar, Solution Tech Group
Gayle Griffiths, Murray Consulting Solutions
Luke Irwin, Aegis Cybersecurity
Jacob Kiel, Digital Resilience
John Reeman, Cyooda Security
Subi Shrestha, Revio Cyber Security
Peter Stewart, Siege Cyber
Tony Vizza, Novera

Cyber Security Graduate of the Year

Malees Ahmed, WhiteRook Cyber
Chaahat Baghla, Influencing
Tahiatul Jannath Bhuiyan, Ark Solutions
Dylan Meyer, WhiteRook Cyber
Raffi Tchamkertenian, Infotrust
Shiwen Xu, Avertro
Jennifer Yang, Avertro

Pranay Yara, DXC Technology

Cyber Lawyer of the Year

Ben Allen, Dentons
Benjamin Di Marco, Willis Towers Watson Australia
Katherine Jones, Colin Biggers & Paisley

Paul Kallenbach, MinterEllison

Nitesh Patel, Gilchrist Connell
Lana Remedi, Wotton Kearney
Veronica Scott, Pinsent Masons
Jason Symons, Mills Oakley
Melissa Tan, Lander & Rogers
Eden Winokur, Hall & Wilcox

Cyber Professional of the Year - Healthcare

Vishaak Gangasandra, East Coast Cardiology

Nicole Neil, Fresh Clinics

Joseph Ninio, Comunet
Andrew Watson, Halo Labs

Cyber Professional of the Year - Defence

Rohit Borekar, Solution Tech Group
Joseph Ninio, Comunet
Aaron Pollard, The Defence Advisory
Luke Smith, Secure State

Jeremy Watkinson, De Stefano & Co

Cyber Professional of the Year - Government

Tas Ahmed, eSafety Commissioner
Ruchit Deshpande, The Missing Link

Shyvone Forster, Department of Home Affairs

Peter Gigengack, WA Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Mark Hiles, Australian Taxation Office
Jacki Muir, ID Support NSW
Joseph Ninio, Comunet
Roma Singh, Department of Transport
Jason Spectre, Ghost Academy
Jeremy Ungar, Trade IL

Cyber Professional of the Year - Industries, Logistics and Critical Infrastructure

Christopher Beggs, SIS – Industrial Cyber Security
Biljana Roksandic, Synergy (Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation)

Elena Sitnikova, Flinders University

Cyber Professional of the Year - Financial Services

Michelle Bower, GNGB
Lucas Bressanutti, Crawford & Company
Ellen Brookes, Canopius Group
Jin Foo, Prospa
James Healy, Stake
Jacob Kiel, Digital Resilience
Madhuri Nandi, Nuvei
Rob Neely, Securely Holdings

Rakesh Sharma, ANZ

Gordon Yau, My Finance Network

Cyber Professional of the Year - Professional Services

Graham Chee, BCyber
Craig Ford, Cyber Unicorns

Jessica Jones, Grant Thornton Australia

Chris McDonald, Stealth Cyber
Subhash Paudel, Spartans Security
Aaron Pollard, The Defence Advisory
Lana Remedi, Wotton Kearney
Anjali Varghese, Grant Thornton Australia
Kyle Waters, Cyber Unicorns

Cyber Professional of the Year - Technology, Media, and Telecommunications

Craig Ford, Cyber Unicorns
Dan Goldberg, Omnicom

Chris Grisdale, hipages Group

Aparna Roy, Elastic
Mark Thomas, Arctic Wolf
Matthew Thomson, Slipstream Cyber
Ji Zhang, University of Southern Queensland

Cyber Rising Star - End User

Victor Babin, FTI Consulting
Ellen Brookes, Canopius Group
Georgie Hobill, Willis Towers Watson Australia
Karlo Medallo, Quickli

Biljana Roksandic, Synergy (Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation)

Yasaman Samadi, RMIT University
Oliver Sheldrick, Seymour Whyte Constructions
Dinesh Velusamy, Wurth Australia
Andrew Watson, Halo Labs / Rockpool Residential Aged Care / Loop IQ
Navid Yazdanjue, University of Technology Sydney

Cyber Rising Star - Cyber Services

Grace Ellis, Colin Biggers & Paisley
Nicholas Fisher, Digital Age Lawyers
Mandy Ho, Fujitsu

Brianna Marlow, Sekuro

Jorge Nicholas, Wotton Kearney
Dominique Piccolo, Phronesis Security
Gagan Singh, Pinsent Masons
Sam Tempone, Hall & Wilcox
Michael Tran, Informatech
Dylan Wondal, Solis Security

Female Cyber Leader of the Year - End User

Tas Ahmed, eSafety Commissioner
Angela An, Deakin University
Shyvone Forster, Department of Home Affairs
Madhuri Nandi, Nuvei
Natasha Passley, FTI Consulting

Marie Patane, NSW Department of Customer Service

Nikki Peever, CAUDIT
Roma Singh, Department of Transport and Planning
Elena Sitnikova, Flinders University
Sharin Yeoh, Systematic

Female Cyber Leader of the Year - Cyber Services

Michelle Bower, GNGB

Stephanie Crabtree, Cyconsol

Jasmin Ilic, CYBR
Jessica Jones, Grant Thornton
Sarah McAvoy, CyberUnlocked
Greta Menzies, My Databoss
Chantelle Ralevska, Psyber
Payal Shah, Cyber Forte
Taylor Shera, Fujitsu
Sheena Shrivastava, Infotrust

Cyber Thought Leader of the Year

Hani Arab, Seymour Whyte
Caleb Bateman, Infotrust
Adrian Cosman-Jones, Sentry Cyber
James Healy, Stake

Devesh Maheshwari, Lendi Group

Chris McDonald, Stealth Cyber
Vidur Rattan, Optus
Graham Regan, HLB Mann Judd Sydney
Amir Shareghi, Quickli
Andrew Watson, Rockpool Residential Aged Care