Winners Announced In Eighth Annual iSANZ Awards

Online scam simulators, malware free initiatives, specialist information security firms, and seasoned and emerging cybersecurity professionals were honoured last night at the Information Security Awards of New Zealand.

Now in their eighth year, judged awards were presented in six categories. A Hall of Fame Award was also awarded – recognising one person’s enduring industry contribution.

Held annually, the iSANZ Awards recognise the exceptional people and organisations contributing expertise and insight in improving and benefiting New Zealand’s digital security.

iSANZ Board Chair Kendra Ross says as a connected and thriving digital nation New Zealand confronts an unrelenting number of cybersecurity threats and incidents, including expensive data breaches, disruptive ransomware attacks and costly phishing scams.

"The current threat landscape is incredibly diverse, with digital attack surfaces having increased as remote and hybrid work takes precedence. Thankfully, we're lucky to have the very best in cybersecurity talent to protect and defend against those who would exploit and do us harm online.

"These awards are the preeminent national opportunity to reflect on the extremely high standard, variety and innovation of people and businesses who work tirelessly across New Zealand’s information security sector to see off malicious digital threats."

The iSANZ Board is pleased to announce that the winners in the 2022 iSANZ Awards are:

Best Security Project or Awareness Initiative

Education Arcade for its NFT scam simulator.

Designed for those at risk of falling prey to Non Fungible Token scams, Education Arcade's online, interactive simulator teaches people how to spot and avoid deceptive or malicious NFTs. The judges commented on its accessible, quirky, interesting and interactive nature; also noting that returns to the learners will be immeasurable.

Best Security Product or Service

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) for its malware free networks initiative.

Launched last November, NCSC's Malware Free Networks initiative is helping defend against an evolving range of cyber threats, and has increased the cybersecurity resilience of many New Zealand organisations. The judges commented on the strength of the initiative's design and implementation, and its ability to improve security across the country while also protecting the privacy of users.

Best Security Team

Spark’s Cyber Defence Tribe.

With more than 100 IT and cyber security experts, the Cyber Defence Tribe protects Spark’s vast network infrastructure. The judges commented on the team's commitment to measuring its program, and strong focus on diversity, training and career development pathways.

Best Start-Up or New Business

Mindshift.

The judges commented on Mindshift’s consistently high quality cyber security awareness campaigns and training, saying ‘the range of service providers who use their services to lift cyber security skills for all New Zealanders shows confidence in MindShift to understand their audience and make the right impact’.

Best Senior Security Practitioner

Nyuk Loong Kiw - Chapter Area Lead at Spark Cyber Defence Tribe.

The judges were impressed with Nyuk’s passion for helping create a strong cybersecurity community - evidenced by his commitment to mentoring others and going beyond his day job to speak at conferences. They also noted his people leadership and successful delivery of good client outcomes, which mark him as someone who cares about the impact he makes in his role.

Up-and-coming Cybersecurity Star

Amina Aggarwal from Spark.

The judges commented on Amina’s demonstrated drive to succeed, passion for cyber, focus on self-development and making a real contribution to help others into and through the cybersecurity industry.

Hall of Fame Award

Andy Prow was named the iSANZ Hall of Famer for 2022.

A strong and longtime supporter of New Zealand's infosec community, Andy is the founder of information security firms Aura and RedShield. He lends a portion of his time to working on the NZITF Board and is well-known as a cybersecurity thought leader. He's active globally, being a partner for a Silicon Valley VC investing in NZ tech startups, and is a lead advisor for one of the UK’s largest cyber-insurance brokers.

The 2022 iSANZ Awards are sponsored by Datacom, Quantum Security, Duo a division of Sektor, Spark NZ, Kordia, SailPoint, Check Point, Palo Alto Networks / NEXTGEN Group, CyberCX, NCSC, NTT, Tesserent, Comstor and Cisco.

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