CREST Australia New Zealand (CREST ANZ) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening trust, capability and resilience across the region’s cyber security ecosystem following a strategic Board meeting held in Sydney on 4 August.
Bringing together senior cyber security, business, governance and policy expertise, the Board considered how CREST ANZ can continue to respond to a rapidly changing threat environment while delivering meaningful value to industry, government and organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
Discussions focused on the forces reshaping cyber security and assurance, including artificial intelligence, automation, digital supply chain risk and the expanding role of cyber security beyond traditional penetration testing.
The Board reinforced the importance of maintaining high standards of competence, integrity and accountability as new technologies and delivery models emerge. This includes recognising the continuing value of expert human judgement alongside automated and AI-enabled security capabilities, particularly where organisations require confidence that cyber security controls are effective in practice.
The meeting also considered how CREST ANZ can strengthen the connection between industry expertise and the organisations responsible for making critical cyber security decisions.
Greater collaboration between cyber security practitioners, business leaders, government, academia and other industry stakeholders was identified as an important opportunity to improve knowledge-sharing, strengthen assurance and ensure emerging risks are addressed with practical, evidence-based responses.
This direction builds on CREST ANZ’s growing policy and thought-leadership work across areas including critical infrastructure resilience, digital supply chain security and emerging AI-related cyber risks.
The Board also recognised the increasing breadth of cyber security capability across the sector, spanning offensive and defensive security, governance, risk and compliance, identity, incident response and other areas of cyber assurance.
CREST ANZ will continue to focus on initiatives that strengthen trust in the cyber security profession, support informed decision-making and contribute to a more secure and resilient digital environment across Australia and New Zealand.
