Program Committee

Andrew was born and raised in the North-West of England. Following school, he successfully joined the Royal Marines and travelled the world for 9 years on active service and training exercises. It was here that Andrew got his first taste of radio, and secure communications in a physical security environment providing effective communications in different (temperate, desert, jungle, arctic) climatic conditions. A visit to Sydney to see friends was enough to set my ambitions on warmer climates and emigration. Andrew self-funded and successfully completed a BSc Computer Systems & Networks (Hons) Degree at Plymouth University. This led to work at AT\&TTelecommunications for two years. He then pivoted to a UK Government role to focus on information security, information assurance and cyber security. Over the next 9 years he gained valuable experience in different roles, was promoted twice, completed CISSP, and an MSc IT Security Masters’ Degree (part-time). Andrew joined AISA Melbourne branch as a volunteer when he arrived in Australia and have held all branch roles through to becoming a branch executive and was successfully voted onto the board by AISA members in 2020 and again in 2023.Andrew is fortunate in his career to benefit from others volunteering time, wisdom and experience and firmly believe in giving back and paying forward for the betterment of society. Outside of work, he recently moved to rural Victoria and have a small farm where he plans to transition to retirement, living off-grid and sustainably. Andrew enjoys the arts, sketching and painting, has a heathy interest in food, drinks and living a heathy lifestyle (walk, swim, cycle). A fan of architecture including Frank Lloyd Wright and Norman Foster and love to travel nationally and internationally.

Craig is an experienced cyber security professional with various qualifications including two master’s degrees. He is the Head Unicorn (co-founder and director) of Cyber Unicorns, in which he acts as a vCISO to clients such as Baidam Solutions, Wesley Mission, PCYC, Hungry Jacks and Ipswich City Council. He was CTO (Chief Technology Officer) for Baidam Solutions between January 2022 to June 2023, where he led the technical services team, helping to build out the internal services capability for Baidam. Craig was QLD chair for AISA for two years until he was appointed to the national board of directors in December 2022.Craig is a published author with three different book series – 'A Hacker I Am' cyber education series, 'Foresight' is his Cyber punk/hacker fantasy novel series and then there is 'The Shadow World', a co-authored kids cyber education book. He is a freelance cyber security journalist who is best known for his work on CSO Australia (IDG Communications) which he contributed almost 100 cyber security articles between 2018-2020. He is now a regular columnist with the Women in Security Magazine, as well as a freelance contributor for Cyber Today, Top Cyber News, SecureGov, Careers with STEM and Cyber Australia magazines.

Kyle is a self-described “polymath” who, in addition to various retail, hospitality and volunteer roles, has worked in various Technical & Support roles over the last 2 decades, moving from technology into cybersecurity over the last decade, in that time his also developed his passion & skills for Training, Education, Career Development, Youth mentoring (mostly through the Raise Foundation), as well as Child & Youth development / education.

Kyle currently splits his time between his roles as a Cyber Security Analyst, Cyber Security Consultant, Local & International public speaking (centred around general cyber security, cyber awareness & education, and cyber technology), as well as writing multiple articles for cyber industry-based publications.

Outside of his professional passions, he spends a lot of time with family, the forge (as a semi-professional blacksmith), or simply enjoying the HALO & Star Wars universes, both of which he claims to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of.

For over 10 years, Reece has focused exclusively on cyber and privacy risk, having helped 1,000+ organisations through some of their most challenging times. Reece is particularly experienced in managing large scale multi-party data breaches, both locally and globally, and ransomware response. Reece works closely with the incident response industry, government, and law enforcement to achieve optimal outcomes for clients.

Reece's true passion is bringing the industry together to tackle this risk at an aggregate level. Reece is recognised for his contributions to thought leadership and law reform initiatives, including through AISA NSW.

Tara Dharnikota is a Chief Information Security Officer with close to two decades of experience across information security, risk, governance and strategy, spanning higher education and telecommunications. She has led major enterprise initiatives across identity, data security, intelligence and security operations, always with a strong focus on practical, real world outcomes. Tara also serves as a Board Director at the Australian Access Federation and an advisory member. She actively contributes to AWSN, AISA and other communities. She is passionate about building resilient organisations, supporting others in their careers and creating inclusive, connected cyber communities.