CSO30 Australia 2023 winners unveiled

Australia’s top cybersecurity leaders and their teams have been recognised at this year’s CSO30 Awards at an exclusive, invite-only event in Sydney. 

The CSO30 Australia Awards is aligned to Foundry’s global awards programme and celebrates the leading individuals and organisations delivering cybersecurity initiatives that have changed the way the business is protected. 

Along with their cybersecurity initiatives, nominees were also evaluated based on how they collaborated with and influenced their stakeholders to improve cybersecurity and resilience within the enterprise. Judges also assessed their contribution to the wider cybersecurity community beyond their organisations. 

This year the CSO30 recognised two individuals with Business Value and Leadership awards for demonstrating outstanding leadership and business value in cybersecurity. 

In the Business Value category, Dan Maslin, Group Chief Information Security Officer at Monash University, took out the top award. Richard Heron, Global Chief Information Security Officer at Frontier Software, was highly commended by the judges in this category. 

Foundry

In the Leadership category, Daniela Fernandez Palacios, Head of Information Security at PayPal, took out top place. David Geber, General Manager, Information Security from REST, was also highly commended. 

And for the first time in 2023, an emerging cybersecurity leader was recognised with the Next CISO Award. Daniel Aldam, Head of IT at Keolis Downer, was the inaugural winner of this award. 

 CSO30 Australia Awards 2023 honourees (in alphabetical order)*: 

• Daniel Aldam, Head of IT, Keolis Downer 
• Sameera Bandara, Head of IT, St Barbara Limited 
• Dave Cowan, Chief Information Security Officer, Challenger Limited 
• Daniela Fernandez Palacios, Head of Information Security, PayPal Australia
• Marco Figueroa, Senior Manager, Cyber Security, Risk and Compliance, Australian Institute of Company Directors 
• David Geber, General Manager, Information Security, REST 
• Charles Gillman, Chief Information Security Officer, SuperChoice Services 
• Dan Goldberg, Principal Executive Partner & CSO, Cybza 
• Richard Heron, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Frontier Software 
• Daryll Holland, Chief Information Security Officer, Education Horizons 
• Andrew Hottes, Chief Digital Information Officer, Cranbrook School 
• Chirag Joshi, Founder and Chief Information Security Officer, 7 Rules Cyber
• Shannon Jurkovic, Chief Information Security Officer, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank 
• Chris Mace, Chief Information Security Officer, NSW Public Service Commission 
• Dan Maslin, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Monash University 
• Nathan Morelli, Head of Cyber Security and IT Resilience, SA Power Networks 
• Nicole Neil, Information Security Director, Seer Medical 
• Raza Nowrozy, Head of Cyber Security, Untapped Talent 
• Sunil Saale, Chief Information Security Officer, MinterEllison 
• Raheem SAR, APAC Region Manager – Risk, Compliance & Security, The Access Group  
• Siddiqua Shaheen, Head of Cyber Governance, Lander & Rogers 
• Prashant Singh, Chief Information Security Officer, WA Police Force 
• Bob Smart, Head of IT Service Governance, Hostplus 
• Scott Sorley, Chief Information Officer, University of Southern Queensland 
• Nadia Taggart, Chief Information Security Officer, Western Sydney University 
• Dr Kevin Tham, Chief Information Security Officer, eitka 
• Noel Toal, Chief Information Officer, DPV Health 
• Leron Zinatullin, Chief Information Security Officer, Linkly 
• Phillimon Zongo, Chief Executive Officer, Cyber Leader Institute  

*Rankings were removed this year to ensure winners were equitably recognised for their achievements. Congratulations to the 2023 CSO30 Australia winners!