8:30	Registration and Coffee
9:00	Mihi Whakatau
9:10	Welcome from the MC Kendra Ross, Leader, Entrepreneur, and Community Builder
9:20	Welcome from Tech New Zealand Graeme Muller, Chief Executive, Tech New Zealand
9:30	Building a resilient Cyber Nation - aligning enterprise defence with NZ's National Cyber Security Strategy Michael Jagusch, Acting Deputy Director General Cyber Security, National Cyber Security Centre
10:10	Morning break
10:40	New Zealand Under the Microscope: What Global Threat Actors See in Aotearoa Kapil Barman, Regional Director GSI Business APAC, Cyble
11:10	Privacy Commissioner Address Michael Webster, Privacy Commissioner
11:40	Panel discussion: Incident Response and Threat Mitigation Building and managing effective incident response plans Detecting and mitigating cyber threats – the rise of AI and Quantum fuelled threats for organisations Using real-time data and analytics for intelligent decision making Eli Hirschauge, Head of Information Security, ANZ Bank New Zealand Phil Riley, Director, PwC Simon Burson, Chief Information Security Officer, Auckland Council
12:20	Lunch
13:30	Roundtables Join peers and subject matter experts for facilitated conversations around the hottest cyber security issues. Attendees will be able to join two topics. Topics may include: From Gatekeeper to Growth Engine: Cyber Guardrails that Accelerate Responsible AI at Scale - Cyble Cyber Policy in the Boardroom - helping directors and csuite understand and act on cyber risk - Cyble Human & AI Risk: The Assume Breach Era - Huntress Data dilemmas: Securing, complying, and knowing where your data lives - Veeam Building a Cyber resilient organization with SIEM – ManageEngine Secure by Design, Not by Restriction - Cloudflare Personalised, Relevant, Adaptive: Building Security Culture through Real-Time Engagement – Knowbe4 OT and Critical Infrastructure Security — protecting utilities, transport, and health from state and criminal threats - Datacom Security at Machine Speed: Why Vulnerability Management Needs a Paradigm Shift - NinjaOne AI Governance Gap: Control, Culture and Accountability - Lumify People, Process, Preparedness: Effective Cyber Defence Without Adding Another Tool – Arctic Wolf Cyber Resilience for the Real World – HCL Software Modernisation in the Age of AI: Securing Humans, Agents and Everything in Between - Rethinking trust, identity and control in an AI driven enterprise - PwC The AI Sprawl: From Chatbots to Agents & The Crisis of Visibility - Netskope Five key obstacles facing organisations adopting cloud and AI technologies - CyberCX Collective Defence in Practice: Cyber Leadership for a Resilient Aotearoa - Fortinet
15:00	Afternoon break
15:30	Zero trust and identity first to counter attackers using new tech Attackers are moving faster with generative AI, automation and novel social engineering—and identity is their favourite attack surface. This session distils the latest insights from our global threat intelligence into what’s really changing, what’s not, and where risk is concentrating. We’ll outline pragmatic, identity-first zero trust techniques - such as continuous verification, least privilege, and rapid containment - that leaders can apply now. Robyn Campbell, Partner, PwC
15:50	You can’t protect and govern what you can’t see From cloud sprawl to compliance, your journey starts by discovering and unifying your entire data estate, because you can’t protect and govern what you can’t see. Build safe, enterprise-ready AI on a foundation of strong data security, resilience, and compliance - even in the face of chaos! AI can’t deliver real business outcomes if your sensitive data is exposed, misused, or non-compliant. In today’s digital landscape, organisations face mounting risks from cloud sprawl, data exposure, and toxic combinations of excessive permissions and misconfigurations, often without knowing where sensitive data truly lives or if it’s governed. Compliance demands are growing, and tool sprawl makes it harder to centralise visibility, access, and context needed to protect critical information. The solution is to unify data security, resilience, and robust governance. Let us show you how leading organisations are addressing these challenges: ensuring data is always visible, compliant, governed, and automatically protected, with the ability to recover fast and with precision. Discover practical strategies to identify and mitigate hidden risks, strengthen access controls, avoid toxic combinations, and build a foundation for trusted AI. David Allott, Field Chief Information Security Officer, Veeam
16:10	Security as a Human Problem, Not a Technical One: Risk Management in ANZ’s Evolving Cyber Landscape Here's the reality: 68% of data breaches happen because of human error. Even with top-tier technical defenses, phishing and social engineering attacks, particularly via email, are still the #1 threat facing organisations in ANZ today. In this session, we'll explore why email remains the weakest link and how phishing and social engineering continue to be the main gateways for breaches and ransomware, with AI making attacks more sophisticated than ever before. Joe Gillett, Head of ANZ, Knowbe4
16:30	Regulations, Risks & Roles: Why IAM is Key to GRC Success Sujith Immanuel Pellican, Head of Presales, ManageEngine
16:50	Securing access in New Zealand’s borderless, high-risk environment Harman Nagra, Director, Cloudflare
17:10	Summary remarks from the MC
17:20	2026 National Cyber Security Summit Networking Function

9:00	Welcome back from the MC
9:10	Keynote: Digital Frontiers: Canada’s Cyber & Digital Strategy in the Pacific How Canada is collaborating with like-minded partners in the region Developing a strong Pacific connection Adapting to a changing world, a constant effort of strategy A year plus in the region: what I have seen and heard Etienne Lambert, Cyber/Digital Officer (Pacific), High Commission of Canada in Canberra
9:50	Protecting critical infrastructure in an evolving threat landscape In today's environment, critical infrastructure across New Zealand faces the same sophisticated threats targeting organisations globally. Our research shows over a third of attacks in our region exploit unchanged default passwords—essentially walking through unlocked front doors. Despite air-gapped networks and industrial firewalls, state-sponsored actors and ransomware groups are actively targeting the systems that run our power grids, water treatment plants, and manufacturing operations. Credential theft has become the dominant technique—increasing 65% in just six months. Drawing on real-world threat intelligence and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre, we'll explore why critical infrastructure environments have become attractive targets and how 68% of industrial wireless networks lack basic security controls. We'll guide you through five internationally-recognised principles for securing operational technology, demonstrating how Datacom can deliver the visibility organisations need to identify threats before they impact your operations. Join us to discover practical, effective approaches to protecting your critical infrastructure. Lee Faldo, Cybersecurity consultant, Datacom
10:20	Morning break
10:55	Collective Defence at Scale: Redefining Cyber Leadership for a Resilient Aotearoa Cybersecurity has graduated from the server room to the board room. In an era of heightened geopolitical tension and systemic interdependency, a "glitch" in private infrastructure is now a matter of national security. As New Zealand strengthens its national security and cyber resilience posture, the boundary between corporate duty and sovereign resilience has dissolved. This session explores the transition from individual perimeter defence to a "shared fate" model. We will examine how cyber resilience has become a core board-level accountability and a primary fiduciary duty. Join us to discuss how Aotearoa’s leaders are operationalising collective defence - moving beyond compliance checkboxes to build a proactive, high-trust partnership that secures our national digital ecosystem. Nicole Henry, Head of Government Relations Australia and New Zealand, Fortinet
11:20	The Evolving Threat Landscape Beyond the Enterprise: Building Cyber Resilience for Businesses of All Sizes Reece Appleton, Regional Director APAC, Huntress
11:45	Securing the Surge: Bridging New Zealand’s Resilience Deficit as AI Hits 2.5B In the AI-first era, trust is the primary driver of competitive advantage. With 2.5B AI transactions and a 16-minute breach window, find out the predictions from Zscaler’s ThreatLabz AI Report that will help prepare organisations for the surge ahead. Learn how to move from Shadow AI to Sanctioned Innovation, aligning with government priorities and industry regulations to turn security into a competitive productivity dividend. Eric Swift, Vice President and Managing Director, ANZ, Zscaler
12:10	Lunch
13:30	Panel Discussion: The Human Factor in Cybersecurity: Attracting Talent, Building Skills, Raising Awareness and Educating for the Future Strategies to make cybersecurity roles appealing to diverse talent pools Cultivating a security-conscious culture at every level Addressing “human error” as the most common vulnerability in cyber incidents Forecasting skills needed for emerging technologies (AI, cloud, IoT, quantum) Giovanni Russello, Head of School - Computer Science, University of Auckland Professor Monica Whitty, Head of Department - Software Systems and Cybersecurity and Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security, Monash University
14:00	Incident trends and the cost of getting it wrong in the NZ context Anthony Cooke, Partner (Cyber & Data), Atmos NZ
14:30	Precision Cybersecurity: A New Paradigm for Human-Centred Cyber Defence Professor Monica Whitty, Head of Department - Software Systems and Cybersecurity and Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security, Monash University
15:15	Closing remarks from the MC

17 - 18 March 2026 | Tākina, Wellington

National Cyber Security Summit 2026

Brought to you by

Headline Sponsor

The Premier Gathering for New Zealand’s Cybersecurity Leaders

“Do you have your ladder on the right wall? Are you protecting your customers, your people, your data, and your organisation?”

Graeme Muller, Chief Executive, Tech New Zealand

Why attend?

30+ Industry Experts and Speakers

125+ Organisations

35+ Exhibitors

400+ Cyber Security Professionals

2025 Event Overview

Check out our other upcoming events

Venue

The location and how you can get there

Agenda

Speakers

Professor Monica Whitty

Sujith Immanuel Pellican

David Allott

Nicole Henry

Simon Burson

Philip Riley

Joe Gillett

Rudo Tagwireyi

Reece Appleton

Michael Webster

Harman Nagra

Graeme Muller

Headline Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor

Gold Sponsor

Silver Sponsor

Exhibitors

Premium Booth

Premium Booth

Lanyard Sponsor

Notepad & Pen Sponsor

Supporting Organisaton

Coffee Sponsor

Breakfast Sponsor

Day 2 Lunch Sponsor

Networking Drinks Sponsor

Don't miss out on the connections and credibility boost!

Want to join this conference?

Register your interest, we will be in touch when tickets are available.

Tickets

Individual Ticket

DOUBLE PASS

Vendor Ticket Rate

Registration Conditions

Interested in Sponsoring?

Make an enquiry

General Contact