Judges 2024

James Bore

James Bore is a Chartered Security Professional with over two decades of experience and a MSc from Northumbria University. He regularly speaks at community conferences, keynotes for company events, and has guest lectured at Kingston and Geneva universities. He has written for textbooks published by Springer, articles in industry magazines, and HackerNoon among others. Currently his time is spent advising clients and providing crisis management exercises as the Director of Bores: a second-generation family security and technology consultancy, coaching security professionals to improve their public speaking, and working with retraining companies to bring more new entrants to cyber security.

Kim Chandler McDonald

Kim Chandler McDonald is the Co-Founder and CEO of FlatWorld Integration Pty Ltd. a Frontier/Deep-Tech firm leading the way with the Fl@World operating system and Three Steps Data the simple-to-use, secure, data sharing and governance application.

A Board member on, amongst others, the Paris-based Cybersecurity Advisors Network and Griffith University’s Enterprise board, Kim is a globally respected thought leader on disruptive approaches, transformational trends and innovative business strategies – particularly those involving innovation and enduser empowerment in the global DACE (Digital, Attention and Collaboration Economies).

The award-winning author of ‘Innovation: How Innovators Think, Act and Change Our World’, ‘Flat World Navigation: Collaboration and Networking in the Global Digital Economy’ and ‘Postcards From Tomorrow’ (all proceeds of which are donated in perpetuity to Lou’s Place, Sydney’s only daytime drop-in centre for female victims of domestic abuse and coercive control). She is also co-author of ‘Entrepreneurial Renaissance: Cities Striving Towards an Era of Renaissance and Revival’.

Tasha Cornish

Tasha Cornsh

Tasha Cornish is the Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, a 600+ member organization committed to advancing the cybersecurity industry through advocacy and collaboration. As the Executive Director, she leads CAMI’s implementation of educational programming, community resource development, and cyber career networking opportunities. Tasha has a Masters of Science in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and nearly a decade of non-profit leadership experience.

Lavinia Ferguson Dean

Lavinia Ferguson Dean joined NAFN as the Membership and Communications Manager in early July 2019.  Having held positions in both the private and public sector, she developed her career in Local Government at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council from 2011 and has amassed a great deal of experience in a number of service areas.  Her previous posts include working in and managing; Adult Services (Finance), Governance and Resources (Exchequer) and Economic Growth (Development, Sustainability, Employment and Skills). 

Currently working for NAFN Data and Intelligence Services, Lavinia’s priorities include Customer Relationship Management, business development, member training and webinars including CPD accredited e-learning delivered by the NAFN Academy.

Amanda Finch

Amanda Finch is the CEO of the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) and has specialised in Information Security management since 1991. She has always been an active contributor to the industry and for many years she has been dedicated to gaining recognition for the discipline to be recognised as a profession.

Over her career she has been engaged in all aspects of Information Security Management and takes a pragmatic approach to the application of security controls to meet business objectives. Through her work she has developed an extensive understanding of the commercial sector and its particular security needs. In her current role she works with Industry, Government and Academia, assisting all sectors in raising levels of competency and education. 

Amanda has a Masters degree in Information Security, Full Membership CIISec and is a Fellow of the BCS. In 2007 she was awarded European Chief Information Security Officer of the year by Secure Computing magazine, as well as most recently in June 2022 being awarded the inaugural ‘Editors Choice’ award by SC Media UK for her dedication to Diversity, Inclusion and Professional Standards within the industry. Amanda is frequently listed as one of the most influential women within the industry.

Mike Hughes

Mike is a director of Prism RA and has a wide range of experience of technology and cyber: governance, risk, compliance and security, gained through roles both within mainstream IT and for over 30 years in consultancy, including 20 years with KPMG and for the last 12 years, with Prism RA. During his time with KPMG, Mike held a number of senior roles including leading the Midlands Information Security team. With Prism RA, Mike helps organisations to effectively understand their technology and cyber risks and help them to make their business resilient from the ever increasing cyber threat.

Mike also plays a leadership role with ISACA, both at the Local and International levels and he was honoured earlier this year, as one of this year’s five inductees into ISACA’s Hall of Fame.

Mike has served on the Board of the local Central UK Chapter since its formation in 1993 and his international roles include: a term as an ISACA International Board Director; and a member of the Finance Committee, Membership Board and GDPR Working Group and currently Mike is a member of the UK Advocacy Group. Mike has also been involved in the development of a number of ISACA’s publications and lectures on ISACA exam preparation courses for CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, CISA, CDPSE and Cyber Security Audit.

Mike led ISACA’s involvement in the creation of the UK Cyber Security Council (the Council) on behalf of DCMS, the UK government department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the National Cyber Security Centre and is currently a member of the Council’s Qualifications & Learning working group. Mike was a member of the ISACA team, who defined the Council’s Cyber Security Audit & Assurance Standard for the Council and was part of the Council’s first cohort to be awarded Chartered status, as a Chartered Cyber Security Professional (ChCSP).

Mike is also a Non-Executive Director of CyberQ Group, an innovative and award winning cyber security services provider and a member of the Institute of Directors.

Rowland Johnson

Rowland Johnson

As president of CREST, Rowland is focused on driving initiatives to deliver increased engagement across the 300+ CREST members and all CREST qualified individuals globally. He is responsible for working internationally with governments, regulators and other key industry stakeholders to build stronger technical cyber security ecosystems.

A former member of the CREST GB Executive, serving between 2014 and 2020, he has been a dedicated supporter of the organisation for many years and instrumental in CREST’s international growth, playing an integral role in the creation of CREST chapters in Singapore, USA and Hong Kong. Rowland was a founding director of cyber security company Nettitude and oversaw its acquisition by Lloyd’s Register in 2018. Following the acquisition, he worked with the leadership team as a strategic advisor focusing on global growth.

Rowland has worked closely with international governments and regulators to bring about increased levels of capability in the Penetration Testing, Threat Intelligence, Incident Response and Security Operations Centre markets.  He is able to talk about these from a government and strategy perspective as well as sharing real-world examples from the field. Rowland presents at many international events and is a passionate infosec leader who is actively trying to professionalise the cyber security industry.


Ioan-Cosmin Mihai, PhD

Cosmin is a researcher, professor, trainer, and conference speaker, with an experience of more than 16 years in cybercrime and cybersecurity. He is a cybercrime training officer at the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), associate professor at “Al. I. Cuza” Police Academy, visiting professor at the University Politehnica of Bucharest and “Carol I” National Defence University, Romania, honorary professor at CT University, India, and vice president of the Romanian Association for Information Security Assurance (RAISA).

Dan Patefield

Dan leads the techUK Cyber Security programme, having originally joined techUK in August 2017 as a Programme Manager working across the Cyber and Defence programmes. He is responsible for managing techUK’s work across the cyber security eco-system, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Dan also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and Government conduit for supporting growth across the sector. A key focus of his work is to strengthen the public-private partnership across cyber security to support further development of UK cyber security policy.

Before joining techUK he worked as Forum Lead for the Westminster eForum. In this role he had a focus on the technology and telecoms space, on issues ranging from Broadband and Mobile Infrastructure, the Internet of Things, Cyber Security, Data and diversity in tech. Dan has a BA in History from the University of Liverpool.

Jo Stewart-Rattray

Jo has over 25 years’ experience in the IT field some of which were spent as CIO in the Utilities and as Group CIO in the Tourism space, and with significant experience in the Information Security arena including as CISO in the healthcare sector. She underpins her information technology and security background with her qualifications in education and management. 
She specialises in consulting in risk and technology issues with a particular emphasis on governance and security in both the commercial and operational areas of businesses. Jo provides strategic advice to organisations across a number of industry sectors including banking and finance, utilities, manufacturing, tertiary education, retail, healthcare and government. 
Jo has extensive board and committee experience.  She has chaired a number of ISACA’s international committees including the Board Audit & Risk Committee, Leadership Development and Professional Influence & Advocacy.  She served as an Elected Director on ISACA’s international Board of Directors for seven years and was the founder of its global women’s leadership initiative, SheLeadsTech. 

Alastair Revell

Alastair Revell has been the Director General of the Institution of Analysts and Programmers since 2011, which is a founding member of the Cyber Security Alliance. The alliance won the bid to form the UK Cyber Security Council, which has recently launched. Alastair has been involved in this work from the Council’s inception in 2016. The Institution concentrates on Improving Software for Society, which increasingly means ensuring that software is secure by design.

Alastair Revell is a trustee of the UK Engineering Council and BCS The Chartered Institute for IT, where he is a Vice-President. He is also Chairman of the Trustworthy Software Foundation and Revell Research Systems, the management and technology consulting practice that he established in 1985. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and European Engineer (Eur Ing) as well as an IAP Fellow, a Chartered Fellow of BCS and a Fellow of the RSA.

He is passionate about promoting professionalism and high standards of ethics within IT, computing, digital and cyber security disciplines.

Sarb Sembhi

Sarb is the CTO at Virtually Informed and was the Global CISO for AirEye and the Noord Group. He has previous worked as a consultant covering most issues in risk and security. Sarb’s contributions to the industry include the Executive Steering Board of the IoT Security Foundation.

Other contributions include: Past President of the ISACA London Chapter, Chair of ISACA International GRA Region 3 Sub-Committee, Chair of ISACA International GRA Committee, ISSA UK Advisory Group member, InfoSecurity Magazine Editorial Group member. Sarb has also served on several Security Standards Groups, and continues to write for several publications and speak at risk and security events around the world.

Colonel Inderjeet Singh

Colonel Inderjeet Singh has served in the Indian Defence Forces, is Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune. He is an experienced Information Systems professional with experience of more than 29+ year across wide spectrum of areas spanning cybersecurity operations leadership and influencing policy level decisions in multiple organizations. Throughout his career, he has parlayed his extensive background in security and a deep knowledge to help organizations build and implement strategic cybersecurity solutions. spanning Information Security ,Risk Management, Cyber Security, He has held prestigious appointments while in Indian Army and has been CIO of E-Commerce Company. He has also served in United Nation Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo.

He is visionary for Start-Up Incubation, Entrepreneurship Development, Strategic Consulting and New Technology Evaluation for commercial viability. He is a Subject Matter Expert on latest innovative Technological domains and effectively managed mission critical projects

He has consistently delivered mission-critical results in the field of in Information Security Management, Cyber Security, Cyber Warfare and Cyber Risk Management.

Martin Smith MBE FSyI

Martin Smith SASIG

Martin Smith MBE FSyI is the Founder and Chairman of The Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG). With nearly 40 years’ experience in the security and crime prevention industries, Martin Smith is a well-known and highly respected personality in the security industry.  He is an established and successful businessman, philanthropist, communicator, visionary, and internationally recognised author, blogger and speaker. Martin gained his degree in behavioural psychology before spending 15 years as a commissioned officer in the RAF employed on the whole range of policing and security duties.  After being awarded the MBE for this work, he left the Service to establish a second career in the commercial sector.  In 1997 he founded The Security Company (TSC)  to assist organisations in improving their security cultures and staff awareness. In 2004 he founded the SASIG, a free networking forum to improve trust online which now has more than 5,000 members from around the world. 

Lisa Ventura MBE

Lisa Ventura MBE is an award-winning cyber security specialist, writer and keynote speaker. She is the Founder of Cyber Security Unity, a global community organisation that is dedicated to bringing individuals and companies together who actively work in cyber security to help combat the growing cyber threat. In addition, Lisa has worked with a number of cyber security and infosec organisations including Proficio Inc, Boost Technology Group, Pinsent Masons, Blue Voyant, CyBourn, the UK Cyber Security Council and currently Qualitest to name but a few.

Lisa is in high demand as a speaker and writer on various topics in cyber security including the cyber skills gap, career pathways into the industry, managing mental health and burnout, imposter syndrome, combatting bullying and abuse in the cyber security industry and the human factors/elements of cyber security. She is also a cyber security mindset and mental health coach and offers help and support to those affected by stress, burnout, bullying/abuse and mental health issues in cyber security and Infosec.

James Willison

James Willison is Project and Engagement Manager at the Internet of Things Security Foundation and a recognised International leader in Security Convergence and Enterprise Security Risk Management. Named #8 Cyber Security Professional IFSEC Global Influencers Security and Fire 2020. James is a judge for the 2022 IFSEC Global Influencers. Shortlisted in Security Serious Unsung Security Heroes Awards 2018 as a Security Leader/mentor. He is project manager for the IFSEC Converged Security Centre and a reseller of Kaseware, an innovative cyber physical investigative tool. James is Co-Chair, Smart Built Environment Working Group, Internet of Things Security Foundation and a member of ASIS International, ISACA and the Security Institute.

James was awarded the Imbert Prize for an ‘outstanding contribution to the Security Industry in 2011’ for his work on convergence with ASIS Europe and the Information Security Awareness Forum. He has more than 20 years of management experience in the physical and information security industry, including posts as Advisor on Convergence to the Mitie TSM Board, Senior lecturer in Security Management at Loughborough University and Digital Security Expert with the European Union. He has co-authored three White Papers on ESRM, SMART GDPR Assurance for a Smarter world and Smart Buildings and Cities Security with his colleague and fellow convergence expert, Sarb Sembhi, sponsored by AXIS Communications and published by Unified Security Ltd. He has helped develop and build partnerships and relationships in numerous projects between security professionals including writing new content in published International Standards. He regularly writes articles for IFSEC Global and is an established speaker at International security conferences. 

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