Last month, Ground Labs was proud to sponsor the AUSCERT Cyber Security Conference 2025, hosted at The Star Gold Coast. This year’s theme, “Evolve and Thrive,” explored the adaptive strategies needed for organizations to survive in today’s cyber-threat landscape.
In this post, we’ll share our session highlights and key takeaways from the event.
Digital Survivors: The Epidemiology of Cyber Resilience
Jess Modini’s keynote, “Digital Survivors: The Epidemiology of Cyber Resilience,” presented a compelling analogy between biological and digital systems. In her analogy, Modini equated cell walls with firewalls, offering protective barriers against attack, and the immune system with antivirus controls, defending against infection.
Modini’s talk also emphasized how understanding infection pathways from patient/system zero as it spreads can inform an effective cyber-epidemiological action plan that includes:
- Mapping transmission pathways, including authentication relationships
- Calculating a cyber “R value” to prioritize attack vectors
- Strategic “vaccination” of transmission hubs
- Building system diversity and isolation protocols
- Encouraging collective defense through information sharing
Legal and Regulatory Realities for Cyber Leaders
James Carlopio’s session exposed the legal obligations of directors and executives in managing cyber risk. With cybercrime losses projected to hit $10 trillion in 2024 – a 10-fold increase since 2015 – Carlopio emphasized the importance of the role cyber leaders play in organizational security and compliance.
Between 1 and 21 January 2025, 305 organizations worldwide were impacted by a ransomware attack, and according to the OAIC H1 2024 report, a third of all cyber-incidents in the period were due to phishing resulting in theft of access credentials.
Customer data has become more than merely a marketing asset to sweat. It should now be perceived as a cybersecurity liability by organizations, according to Carlopio highlighting the growing legislative landscape in Australia and worldwide.
Riding the Wave of AI Opportunity
In “Riding the Wave of AI Opportunity Without a Regulatory Wipeout,” Leah Mooney and Benjamin Di Marco explored the dualistic nature of AI as simultaneously an opportunity and a threat.
While AI offers immense potential – from product innovation to operational efficiency – it also introduces new cyber risks, including:
- Supply chain vulnerabilities from third-party models.
- Lack of sandboxing and direct exposure to sensitive systems.
- Susceptibility to adversarial attacks and data poisoning.
The session emphasized the need for AI-specific risk management strategies that reflect existing regulations and legislation for responsible use and compliant processing of personal information (PI), and anticipated reforms to ensure fair and safe AI use.
Business Resilience Through Data Discovery
At Ground Labs, we believe that data discovery is foundational to cyber-resilience, one of the key themes of the AUSCERT program.
Our solutions empower organizations to locate and secure sensitive data across complex environments, providing the foundation for data security, compliance and resilience.
It was a privilege to be part of AUSCERT 2025, and to join the gala dinner – connecting with cybersecurity professionals, sharing our expertise and learning from the best minds in the industry.
Thank you to the AUSCERT team for hosting an exceptional event. We look forward to continuing the conversation and helping organizations build a more secure digital future.
To find out how Ground Labs can support your business, arrange a complimentary data workshop or book a call with one of our experts today.