KWM Podcasts

How simple things can harden cyber defence - in conversation with Australia's national cybersecurity coordinator

King & Wood Mallesons

Why does Australia’s cybersecurity coordinator think organisations should empower more people to play a role in defending against cyber threats? And what should they do?  Lieutenant General Michelle McGuiness CSC joined KWM’s Cheng Lim in conversation at our Digital Future Summit earlier this year, providing a fascinating insight into how she sees her role:

"My job is to be there to support an entity on their worst day and ensure we can minimise the greatest amount of harm across the greatest number of people."

Key takeaways include: 

  1. How doing the ‘simple things’, like implementing multi-factor authentication, updating software and using unique passwords across different systems, will greatly reduce Australia’s vulnerability to sophisticated cyber threats. 
  2.  Why cyber security is ‘everyone’s business’ - not just an issue for IT or CISOs.
  3. The critical importance of understanding your IT networks and where data is stored in preparing for cyber incidents
  4. The importance of communication:  'You can do the best incident response, but if you fail to communicate well, then it probably doesn’t matter in terms of your reputation'