AWSN returning to in-person events around Australia

by Laura Jiew, AWSN National Social Media & Marketing Lead

May 2021 saw members of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) doing a “happy dance” around several parts of the country as we returned to hosting chapter events in-person. Below is a snapshot of the many activities conducted around Australia.

 QUEENSLAND

AWSN was proudly represented at the AusCERT2021 conference held at The Star Gold Coast from 11 to 14 May.

First and foremost, kudos and massive congratulations for our network’s founder and executive manager, Jacqui Loustau, on winning the prestigious AusCERT Individual Excellence in Information Security Award for 2021 (past winners have included Michelle Price, Mandy Turner and Troy Hunt). Jacqui was deservingly recognised for her tireless work in building the AWSN community to be where it is today.

Thank you also to our wonderful members Adeline Martin, Chelsey Costello, Sarah Gurry, Kelsy Luengen, Stefanie Luhrs and Daisy Wong for helping at the AWSN trade booth, kindly donated by the AusCERT team, for which special thanks to Bek Cheb. The booth was consistently busy and gave us an amazing opportunity to chat with the many conference delegates who attended, and promote AWSN as a membership organisation.

Last but not least, congratulations to Stefanie Luhrs, Jess Dodson, Virginia Matos Calegare and Daisy Wong for their workshops, presentations and speed debate involvement.

Heather Cardew Romina Carfi

 CANBERRA

On 25 May our Canberra chapter leads hosted the highly-anticipated return of their ever-popular Canberra networking breakfast event.

Those who braved the morning chill and fog (classic Canberra) were treated to an excellent welcome from Jill Slay, our newly-elected AWSN board president, and from Stephanie Males, PwC Australia managing partner, Canberra.

The breakfast was certainly an awesome way for our Canberra community to catch up with fellow network members, old and new.

 SYDNEY

The Sydney chapter, in conjunction with the folks from Secure Code Warrior, hosted a session on the topic of “Secure DevOps: Why is it still important in 2021?” at their brand-new HQ premises in Chippendale, Sydney on 19 May.

A note from Heather Cardew, a Sydney chapter lead below:

“Thank you to Stefania Chaplin, a solutions architect at Secure Code Warrior, for your very entertaining presentation on how security needs to become part of the DevOps cycle and not an afterthought.

“Thank you also to panellists Kasvi Luthra, Svitlana Vyshnivetska, Nelly Sattari and George Abuzo. It was fantastic to hear how we can tackle this issue from a diverse range of perspectives. It was encouraging to hear we are moving in the right direction. And we greatly appreciated your insights on how we can better collaborate and integrate security within DevOps.”

Many thanks to Laura Lees, a fellow Sydney chapter lead for moderating the above panel and of course, a BIG thank you to

Secure Code Warrior for hosting us and for sharing your beautiful new headquarters.  MELBOURNE

On the same date, but over in Melbourne, our chapter leads hosted a lunchtime career panel and networking session on the topic of “Security Education and Security Influence”.

The event featured panellists Jasmin Krapft from Bupa, Catherine Wise from Afterpay, Erica Hardinge and Fiona An from ANZ, and Daisy Wong from the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria.

Sharing a lovely quote from one of our attendees below:

“Hearing from some absolute champions in the industry that succeeding without a technical background is achievable gave me a little pep in my step!”

- Camille Kennedy, currently pursuing cybersecurity studies at Victoria University.

Nimisha Bhatta WOMEN IN SECURITY MAGAZINE 85