In September, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Asia-Pacific ACFE Conference in Sydney. The event was held at the lovely Sheraton Grand Sydney, with delegates attending from all over the Asia-Pacific region. General sessions featured inspiring keynote speakers, with break out sessions also providing innovative and educational material. Sessions focused on whistleblowing management and protections; fraud risk assessment, risk management and risk cultural change; data security and digital crime scene management and ethical considerations in the fight to reduce fraud.
Personally, I found the general session, delivered by Ian Yip (Chief Technology Officer, Asia-Pacific McAfee), the be utterly fascinating. Titled, Decrypting Cyber: Separating Reality from Hype, Ian commenced his presentation by discussing the NotPetya cyberattack on Copenhagen based A.P. Møller-Maersk; a cyber event that cost Maersk between USD250 and USD300 million. Investigators suspect that this attack was a Russian based operation, endorsed by the Russian government.
An alarming message from this session is the probability of an emerging culture of geopolitical state manipulation using technology. With the current global, public and private, dependence upon internet services and developing computer/smart technology, a new climate of clandestine cyber political influence is emerging. Yip’s main thesis maintains that nation states and global corporate entities down the sole operator businesses and the private users can no longer depend solely on cyber security, but must develop comprehensive cyber resilience, being flexible and responsive to cyberattacks. Fascinating!
For those of you who are looking at your diaries filling up for 2019, remember that Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) course dates are now available. These courses are again by our friends at RSM, and information on enrolment can be found at https://www.rsm.global/australia/events/ . This is a terrific qualification and I urge any of you interested to enrol. Course date for 2019 are: 19-22 March (Melbourne), 23-26 July (Sydney) and 15-18 October (Canberra).
The 30th annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, USA, from 23-28 June 2019. It is my understanding from conversations with others who have attended this event is that it is unique opportunity to meet like minded professionals from around the world. It is also a terrific opportunity to build currency in your fraud skill.
I would also like to thank our sponsors who have supported our Chapter over the last 12 months. It is clear that without your support our regular meetings would not be possible. I would also like to thank our current committee members for all your commitment. I wish everyone and their families, a very safe and happy festive season and look forward to productive 2019.
Your sincerely
Julie Witham (Chapter President)