Round One: Day One

When I was preparing for my first boxing match, I received some excellent advice from a friend who had previously competed (and who, in doing so, inspired me to compete) ‘the rounds go SO quickly, don’t waste a second’ So, in training I worked judiciously to take full advantage of the limited time I had; 3 x 2 minute rounds. What this meant, and what it looked like was jabbing immediately to start wracking up points from the moment the bell rang.

Similarly, when WiCyS Australia offered passes to the Australian Information Security Association CyberCon in Melbourne, I was a lucky and grateful recipient and committed to taking advantage of every moment I had at the conference.

R1D1 was about familiarisation, the environments were new, the people were new but I had to utilise every moment and soak it all in. I was taken aback by the depth and breadth of both experiences.

In the boxing ring I was calm backstage pre-fight. Weigh-in and the medical check with the sports doctors earlier in the day had been smooth. We even had a chance to spend time in the ring and practice the walkout process with the stage manager. Everyone was so kind and welcoming, that by the time I was backstage that evening waiting for my walkout song (Kamasi Washington, Fists of Fury) I felt so chill and so ready to fight.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the intense adrenaline rush and subsequent dump half way through the first round, which left my normally agile and bouncy legs heavy, they felt like they weighed 100 kg. Despite this I began jabbing from the very first bell, and kept working. I immediately knew I had more power and also had height and reach on my opponent, but she was fearless and would charge forward despite eating punches on the way in. I couldn’t move the way I wanted to so I didn’t use my range to keep her at distance as I should have, but I got through the round and worked to keep getting points – PacMan style.

Tuesday morning. Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. The anticipation was palpable in the hallways. I printed my pass, attached the lanyard and swung it around my neck before venturing into the Exhibition hall which was abuzz with animated conversation and excitement in every direction I looked, it sounded like a bee hive and smelt like fresh coffee.

For an introvert, these situations can be overwhelming – but what had I promised myself? Maximise, soak it up and jump straight in. So I did, I went to the WicYs booth to say hi and thank you, Jane and Divya were manning the booth and it was wonderful to connect in person. I went to see Aly and the team at Code Like a Girl to say hi and thank you for the awesome support, it was their first time at CyberCon and as I have been doing, recommend anyone with an interest in coding to explore CLG as it’s a wonderful community with fantastic resources. It was so lovely to meet these women in person and connect on day one. Above all, I wanted to express my gratitude. Thank you for inviting me into the folds of each community. You allowed me the opportunity to learn.

The first talk I attended at CyberCon 2024 was ‘The Billion Dollar Heist…(almost)’ with Colin Howe. I’d followed this incredible story and it was fascinating to hear Howe illuminate new details. While there were many well-executed moments of the plan, such as the specific timing to align with the many geographical zones impacted, what has always struck me about this epic cybercrime, was that the key downfall was not the technical elements of the plan, but rather human error; a typo.

Next up was ‘Project strange: Reviving the internet’s lost ideals with an Open Source Creation – IAM reimagined’ with Sajeeb Lohani and Ben Christian. This talk provided a CTA to open-source ideas from a founders perspective. I recently pitched a concept to an incubator and was accepted into a program for 2025 (which I can’t name yet) so I found this talk very relevant – even if a number of the more deep dive technical aspects were beyond my grasp yet – it was inspiring.

Rodman Ramezian’s post-lunch talk, Very Pwn-able Network (VPN) – The gift to hackers that keeps on giving!” highlighted the ongoing challenge of convincing organisations to strengthen their security posture. Humans tend to like the familiar – which includes technology – which can make the transition away from legacy systems like VPNs difficult.

In a similar vein on the importance of communication and messaging but through a legal lens; Danny Wan and Annie Haggar explored the importance of finding balance in disclosure during a cyber breach and introduced the concept of non-defensible disclosure in their talk, ‘Goldilocks and the cyber risk disclosure porridge: Striking the right balance with disclosure of material cyber events.’ The concept of non-defensible disclosure was new to me. Haggar provided valuable insights into the consequences of poorly managed disclosures and emphasised the need for effective communication strategies in such situations.

D1 wrapped with a keynote by Jose Hernandez, an American astronaut with Mexican heritage. This was a personal one as my partner is Mexican with family in America, so Hernandez’ origin story was powerful. He spoke of tenacity and persistence as weapons to success – which I liked, as that’s what I took into the boxing ring as I jabbed my way out of the first round and back to the corner to re-set.