Guests:

Asaf Dori, Cyber Security Lead, Healthshare NSW

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/adori/

Ashwin Pal, Partner – Cyber Security and Privacy Services, RSM Australia

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-pal-a1769a5/

Hosts:

Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/sean-martin

Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast & Audio Signals Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli

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Episode Notes

At the AISA CyberCon 2024 in Melbourne, Sean Martin sat down with Asaf Dori and Ashwin Pal to explore the often-overlooked areas of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework: response and recovery. Both guests highlighted the critical gaps organizations face in these domains and shared practical insights on addressing them.

Asaf Dori, a cybersecurity professional in healthcare and a researcher at the University of Sydney, underscored the need for governance-driven awareness to improve response and recovery capabilities. His research revealed that while organizations invest heavily in prevention and detection, they frequently neglect robust recovery plans. He emphasized the importance of comprehensive disaster recovery exercises over isolated system-based approaches. By linking governance to practical outcomes, Dori argued that organizations could better align their strategies with business resilience.

Ashwin Pal, a partner at RSM with 26 years of experience in IT security, brought a field perspective, pointing out how recovery strategies often fail to meet business requirements. He discussed the disconnect between IT recovery metrics, such as RPOs and RTOs, and actual business needs. Pal noted that outdated assumptions about recovery timeframes and critical systems frequently result in misaligned priorities. He advocated for direct business engagement to establish recovery strategies that support operational continuity.

A key theme was the role of effective governance in fostering collaboration between IT and business stakeholders. Both speakers agreed that engaging business leaders through tabletop exercises is an essential starting point. Simulating ransomware scenarios, for instance, often exposes gaps in recovery plans, such as inaccessible continuity documents during a crisis. Such exercises, they suggested, empower CISOs to secure executive buy-in for strategic improvements.

The discussion also touched on the competitive advantages of robust cybersecurity practices. Dori noted that in some industries, such as energy, cybersecurity maturity is increasingly viewed as a differentiator in securing contracts. Pal echoed this, citing examples where certifications like ISO have become prerequisites in supply chain partnerships.

By reframing cybersecurity as a business enabler rather than a cost center, organizations can align their response and recovery strategies with broader operational goals. This shift requires CISOs and risk officers to lead conversations that translate technical requirements into business outcomes, emphasizing trust, resilience, and customer retention.

This dialogue provides actionable insights for leaders aiming to close the response and recovery gap and position cybersecurity as a strategic asset.

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This Episode’s Sponsors

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Resources

Learn more and catch more stories from Australian Cyber Conference 2024 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/australian-cyber-conference-melbourne-2024-cybersecurity-event-coverage-in-australia

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