Executive Private Lunch
Hosted By
Date: Thursday, 13th November 2025
Time: 12pm – 2:30pm (AEDT)
Location
Saké Restaurant & Bar The Rocks
12 Argyle Street
The Rocks NSW 2000
www.sakerestaurant.com.au/the-rocks/
Session Overview
For many Australian organisations, the Essential Eight is the de facto cybersecurity standard to follow in order to improve and measure their cyber posture. Almost two years in since the Essential Eight maturity model was updated in late 2023 by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), 62% of cyber incidents leading to notifiable data breaches were the result of compromised credentials with a further 24% related to ransomware – both threats that the Essential Eight directly addresses.
We understand that meeting the Essential Eight may not be an easy process for many organisations. It is our mission to support businesses and bodies by keeping the process simple, increasing their cybersecurity maturity without compromising productivity or adding to operational complexity. Modern Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions can remove the inherent complexity and ongoing overheads of traditional solutions, secure the
access of both employees and remote third parties all while helping organisations bridge the gap for multiple requirements of the Essential Eight, including application control, user application hardening and restricting admin privileges.
BeyondTrust invites you to a discussion among peers, held under the Chatham House rule, on the challenges and successful strategies taken to increase organisational security posture over lunch.
Four key takeaways attendees will learn by taking part in the session
- Hear from your peers on how they are approaching the Essential Eight
- Understand their leadership engagement and planning to foster and strengthen a cybersecurity culture in their organisations
- Learn how identity security maps against the Essential Eight, NIST and other frameworks including the rise of non-human identities
- How artificial intelligence can help us yet pose a threat at the same time
Presenters
Scott Hesford – Senior Director, Solutions Engineering, BeyondTrust
Scott Hesford has over a decade of experience in IT security. Before joining BeyondTrust in 2019, he worked as Principal Consultant across APJ for CA Technologies where he specialised on technologies within Identity Governance and Administration, Advanced Authentication, Privileged Access Management, Web Access Management and API management. A trusted cyber security advisor to enterprise and mid-market customers alike, his experience spans across several industries including finance, utilities and manufacturing in addition to state and federal governments.
Simon Hickson – Enterprise Account Manager, BeyondTrust
With over 8 years at BeyondTrust, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with 100’s of organisations, helping them achieve their cybersecurity goals through effective Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity Security solutions. My career has been driven by a passion for working closely with clients to ensure their unique security needs are met, rather than only focusing on sales metrics.
Roshi Balendran – Regional Director, BeyondTrust, BeyondTrust
Roshi Balendran leads BeyondTrust’s Australia and New Zealand business with over 18 years of experience, guiding government and critical infrastructure organisations through complex regulatory and threat environments. His background includes leading NetApp’s ANZ public sector business, architecting and advising on national identity and biometric programs at NEC Australia for law enforcement and border security. He navigates the competing demands of cyber risk, compliance mandates, and constrained budgets through pragmatic identity security strategies. His approach balances risk mitigation with operational feasibility, informed by deep experience in technology investment decisions, regulatory frameworks, and enterprise transformation across Australia’s most sensitive sectors.
About BeyondTrust
BeyondTrust is the global cybersecurity leader protecting Paths to Privilege™. Our identity-centric approach goes beyond securing privileges and access, empowering organizations with the most effective solution to manage the entire identity attack surface and neutralize threats, whether from external attacks or insiders.
BeyondTrust is leading the charge in transforming identity security to prevent breaches and limit the blast radius of attacks, while creating a superior customer experience and operational efficiencies. We are trusted by 20,000 customers, including 75 of the Fortune 100, and our global ecosystem of partners.
Website: www.beyondtrust.com
Moderator
Anthony Caruana, Principal Advisor, Focus Network
Anthony Caruana has worked for almost every major masthead in the Australian IT press with his work appearing around the world. As an experienced IT professional – having worked as the lead IT executive in several businesses, he brings a unique insight to his reporting. He is the CEO of Media-Wize and continues to also work as a freelance writer for corporate clients. He is also a regular presenter on radio and television, as well as at events and webinars.
His work has covered the Australian and Asian markets. He writes about enterprise and consumer technology, information security, customer advocacy and the channel.
He also has an extensive career in IT having started his career as a trainer before becoming a business analyst and eventually rising into senior management positions.
His social media profiles are
https://twitter.com/Anthony_Caruana
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-caruana-australia/
Andrew Milroy, VP and Head of Research, Focus Network
Andrew Milroy leads the research and advisory business at Focus Network. His work involves empowering organisations to make decisions more effectively with data-driven insights — derived from Focus Network’s communities.
He is a well-known and respected thought leader and speaker in the APAC region. With more than two decades of leadership experience in the technology sector, Andrew has worked with clients in a variety of tech domains including cybersecurity, IoT, supply chain automation, eCommerce, fintech, cloud computing, AI, and customer experience — and EHS and HR management.
He was recently an adjunct lecturer at ESSEC Business School, Asia Pacific where he taught technology and cybersecurity strategy to Masters students.
Andrew has held regional leadership roles — predominantly based in Singapore — with Frost & Sullivan and Ovum (now Omdia). Prior to working in Singapore, Andrew gained invaluable technology knowledge and experience while working in Europe and the United States.
Andrew is frequently invited to speak, chair and moderate at major technology events. He has also been quoted on global broadcast media, including BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg and Channel News Asia.
Andrew has a BSc from Newcastle University (UK), an MA from Middlesex University (UK) and an MBA from MGSM (Australia). He also a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language.
Agenda at a glance
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Registration & networking
4.00 pm – 4.05pm – Welcome address
4.05 pm – 5.15pm – 3 course lunch served4.05 pm – 4.45pm – Embracing disruption in the financial services industry: A Privacy versus Security conundrum – Amanda Chan, BlackBerry
4.45 pm – 5.15pm – Demo
5.15pm – 5.45pm – Discussion
5.45 pm – 6pm – Closing remarks
