In Episode 1, Season 3, Hamish Hansford, Head of National Security and Brendan Dowling, Deputy Secretary Critical Infrastructure and Protective Security sit down to reflect on stepping into new national security roles and leading through a period of converging threats. From lessons learnt during the CrowdStrike outage to future critical infrastructure protection, they unpack how collaboration and trust will shape Australia’s resilience.

In Episode 10 of Season 2, Brenden Dowling, Deputy Secretary of Critical Infrastructure and Protective Security sits down with Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator where they have a critical conversation about how culture and technology shapes resilience against threats like ransomware, social engineering, and state actors.

In Episode 9 of Season 2, Hamish Hansford, Head of National Security of the Department of Home Affairs sits down with Stephanie Crowe, Head of the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD’s) Australian Cyber Security Centre where they have a critical conversation about ASD’s evolved cyber security mission and priorities, quantum threats and collaborative partnerships.

In Episode 8 of Season 2, Sally Pfeiffer, First Assistant Secretary of the Critical Infrastructure Partnerships and Policy Division sits down with Jocelinn Kang, Technical Fellow at ASPI where they have a critical conversation about the vital role of subsea cables in Australia’s digital supply chain and building redundancy in this critical infrastructure.

In Episode 7 of Season 2, Sally Pfeiffer, First Assistant Secretary of the Critical Infrastructure Partnerships and Policy Division sits down with Colin Renouf, Chief Information Security Officer at Healius Limited, where they have a critical conversation about the multifaceted impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on cyber security and critical infrastructure.

In Episode 6 of Season 2, Hamish Hansford, Deputy Secretary of Cyber and Infrastructure Security sits down with Matt Salier, CEO of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (Aus3C), where they have a critical conversation about cross-sector collaboration, insider threats and cyber defence exercises.

In episode 5 of season 2 Critical Conversations, Deputy Secretary Cyber and Infrastructure Security Hamish Hansford and David Sandell, CEO and co-founder of CI-ISAC, sit down to a conversation about threat sharing in the critical infrastructure environment.

In episode 4 of season 2, First Assistant Secretary Justine Jones and James Watson, former Australian Border Force (ABF) Assistant Commissioner South, dive into Operation JETENGINE as it aims to identify, monitor and disrupt criminality within the aviation supply chain across Victoria and Tasmania.

In episode 3 of season 2, First Assistant Secretary Justine Jones sits down with George Dionisopoulos, co-chair of the Data Sector Group for the Trusted Information Sharing Network. They discuss the threat of trusted insiders in the data sector & nationally how critical infrastructure entities can approach risk management.

In episode 2 of season 2, Hamish Hansford Deput Secretary of Cyber and Infrastructure Security sits down with Rosemary Sinclair AM, the CEO of auDA. They discuss effective approaches to uplifting critical infrastructure and the importance of domain name systems.

In episode 1 of season 2, First Assistant Secretary Sally Pfeiffer of the Critical Infrastructure Partnerships and Policy Division sits down with Dawn Cappelli from Dragos. They discuss the business challenges associated with OT cyber security and the national level implications.

In this episode Deputy Secretary Hamish Hansford speaks with Louise Petschler, General Manager Education & Policy Leadership at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, about how Boards and Directors can address cyber risks.

In this episode Deputy Secretary Hamish Hansford and Ambassador of Ukraine in Australia, His Excellency Mr Vasyl Myroshnychenko, discuss protecting critical infrastructure assets and supply chains during times of conflict.

In episode 3, Deputy Secretary Hamish Hansford speaks with Dr Marcus Doherty from the College of Science at the Australian National University. They discuss quantum technology's role in Australia's critical infrastructure and the capabilities, and risks, it will bring in the future.

In Episode 2 of ‘Critical Conversations’, the National Cyber Security Coordinator speaks with Mr Brendan Dowling, Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology. The discussion canvasses cyber security in the Pacific, attribution of cyber incidents, and the importance of strong international partnerships.

Tune in, turn the volume up, and hit ‘subscribe’ because our new podcast series ‘Critical Conversations’ is available now. In this introductory episode, co-hosts Deputy Secretary Hamish Hansford and National Cyber Security Coordinator Air Marshal Darren Goldie discuss the critical conversations they’ll have with a range of expert guests about all things cyber and infrastructure security.

We close the first season by speaking with Griffith University to understand what industries can do to mitigate trusted and malicious insiders in high risk settings, especially in the aviation sector. 

In episode three, we’re joined by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute for a discussion on efforts to counter foreign interference, and the steps being taking to manage insider risks.

In episode two, we look into the risk of trusted insiders in the supply chain and how to manage and mitigate these risks with the Australian Logistics Council.

In episode one, we are joined by an Australian Security Intelligence Organisation officer who discusses trusted and malicious insiders and gives you the tools and information you need to mitigate this risk.