In this episode, we sit down with Simon Hodgkinson, Strategic Advisor at Semperis, as he shares his insights on the persistent and evolving tactics of state sponsored cyber actors targeting Australian organizations. Simon explores motivations behind these attacks, emphasizing that their primary drivers are often espionage and the prepositioning of access in critical infrastructure rather than financial gain. He discusses the persistent targeting of Australia due to its geopolitical alliances, the growing desensitization to data breaches, and the rising threats to sectors like healthcare. Simon also highlights the dual-edged role of AI in both defending against and enabling sophisticated cyberattacks, the importance of speed in responding to incidents, and the necessity of robust foundational controls to manage growing risks.

Simon Hodgkinson, Strategic Advisor at Semperis

Simon Hodgkinson is the former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at bp. He was responsible for cybersecurity including strategy, governance, architecture, education, counter threat operations, and incident response. He joined bp in 2002 and has held several senior IT leadership roles.

Prior to becoming CISO, he was the VP for Infrastructure & Integration Services at bp. During this time, he drove a significant improvement in IT operational integrity, led a transformation program and spearheaded the commitment to improve employees’ IT experience. He led the CISO function in bp Supply & Trading, where he delivered a program to improve cyber-controls, many of which have been implemented across the bp group. Before joining bp, Simon worked in IT for a dotcom, an investment bank, and commercial software companies.