If you weren't at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre last week, you missed out on an amazing event.
AISA's Melbourne CyberCon 2025 saw over 5,000 people coming through the doors again this year. As Melissa Larkins from the Canberra Cyber Hub perfectly described it, the event, the conferences, the speeches and the fun around the place, was “absolutely electric”.
Canberra’s role in CyberCon:
We brought the force of the Canberra ecosystem with us to CyberCon. All the co-exhibitors and startups were in back-to-back conversations, fielding interest from customers, engaging with curious minds, and yes, delighting the legendary "merch hounds" (who know a quality stand when they see one).
The results speak for themselves: our delegation collectively generated over 150 actionable connections. Our impact was so significant that Canberra itself became a hot topic of conversation (who said Canberra is boring?).
"People from other states and territories were wishing we existed over there," Melissa noted.
It was a powerful reminder that Canberra is the place for building the future of the national cyber industry, as well as the fact that our power is in numbers and our interconnected network.
CyberCon Was a Social Marathon.
The FOMO of CyberCon isn't just about the keynotes (though with heavy-hitters like F1's Guenther Steiner and the first female White House CIO, Theresa Payton, the speaker list was world-class).
The nights were filled with parties that made us somewhat reminiscent of our 18ths.
By that, we mean the real magic of CyberCon happened when the formal sessions ended, and the dance floors lit up at the legendary Thales Block Party that took over the South Wharf Promenade.
When we say the "vibes were immaculate," this is what we mean. It was the perfect antidote to information overload, proving that the strongest partnerships are often forged over a drink, not just in a boardroom.
CyberCon really was a non-stop social calendar, designed for deep connection.
Amongst the parties, were also nights of pure glamour. Take the AISA Cyber Security Awards for example; a 600-person gala dinner celebrating the industry's absolute best, where a Canberra-grown company - Solution Tech Group - won the Small to Medium Business of the Year award!
Even the expo floor itself was an adventure. Back at the office, we followed Melissa’s stories like it was straight out of a fiction book by Suzanne Collins.
"I bartered a water bottle for a sick t-shirt from Cloudstrike and smashed a Space Invader game on the Telstra stand so I could justify stealing a table mat. But I sadly did not win the electric bike I wanted." – Melissa.
The Moral of the Story? We Were Transforming and Evolving.
The official theme for CyberCon 2025 was "Transform to Evolve” - a fitting moral for our story. This event proved that cyber security is more than technology; it's about the community, collaboration, and human connection between peers with similar passions and goals for national and organisational security.
If you missed it, don't make the same mistake twice. If you have FOMO, it’s not just the placebo effect; the FOMO is real (signed: the Content Creator who didn’t go). Start planning for 2026 now. We'll see you on the floor.
