Recently, Atmos Sphere 2026 had over 1,500 attendees turn up to figure out how Australia can strengthen cyber resilience before the next major breach, ransomware incident or geopolitical disruption hits. The event brought together government officials, CISOs, intelligence professionals, legal experts and media figures.

“We set ourselves a very ambitious target, which was to try and change the entire industry mindset,” said Reece Corbett-Wilkins, Head of First Response Australia and Chief Strategy Officer at Atmos.
“Instead much more focused on the resilience. The before, not after… boom.”

There’s a burgeoning consensus across the cybersecurity industry that traditional approaches are no longer keeping pace with the constant forever changing threat landscape which is powered by AI enabled attacks, geopolitical instability and refined cybercriminal operations.

Throughout the event, speakers repeatedly returned to a common undertone, that cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue buried inside IT departments. It has become a societal issue touching governments, businesses, families and even children.

Leah Pinto, Director of Cyber Intelligence at CyberCX, said one of the strongest takeaways from the day was seeing how many different sectors are now confronting the same underlying problems at the same time, “We had everyone from lawyers to tech to CISOs. Also we had media in the room and we’re all fighting the same fight, but we’re fighting it slightly differently,” Pinto said.
“It was really cool to see everyone fighting in the same objectives.”

Conference organisers said the event attracted representatives from roughly 800 organisations, including ASX-listed companies, small businesses, government agencies and critical infrastructure operators. The goal was to create a space where industries that often operate in silos could confront shared risks together.

Pinto described several moments during the event as “heavy,” saying the scale of the challenges facing Australia’s economy became impossible to ignore.

“There was some big concepts tackled, some big issues and some big proposals on how do we move forward together as an industry,” she said.
Among the concerns raised was the intensity of artificial intelligence, cybercrime targeting small businesses, misinformation, the role of social media platforms, data privacy and the intersection between cyber threats and geopolitics.

One discussion that drew particular attention featured a journalist, litigator, company director and cybersecurity executive debating accountability, privacy and public trust.

Corbett-Wilkins said the panel shared how industries that often appear at odds with one another may actually share common ground and goals.
“Whether you are a litigator funding class actions to hold companies accountable for wrongdoing, whether you are a CISO responsible for safeguarding the gate, whether you are a director responsible for governance, or indeed whether you are a journalist who’s trying to report on public affairs… we all fundamentally agree that they all have the same intent,” he said.

There’s a growing frustration within the cybersecurity sector over how difficult it remains to communicate cyber risks to the broader public and everyday Aussie.

The years of front page media breaches which have impacted millions of Australians, many people still struggle to understand the severity of the threat landscape or take basic online safety measures seriously.

“I can’t even get family members to change their passwords,” Pinto said.
Ms Pinto recounted how even her own 10 year old son had started questioning the privacy implications of apps after repeated conversations at home.
“That is a moment. That is a win,” she said.

The media’s role in shaping public understanding also emerged as a major topic throughout the day.

Corbett-Wilkins argued that mainstream coverage often struggles to explain highly technical cyber issues in ways everyday Australians can understand, despite the enormous consequences breaches can have on people’s lives.

“How do we make certain really nuanced discreet issues… mainstream?” he asked.

Pinto echoed the concern, saying cyber issues are fundamentally connected to the “human condition,” even if many people do not yet recognise it.
“To us it is blatantly connected to the human condition,” she said.
“Whether it be the harm from sensitive data or the operational disruption of a hospital.”

Corbett-Wilkins shared that Australia still lacks a unified understanding of the scale of cyber risk, particularly among small businesses.

“The first wish on my wish list… can we get alignment on the data?” he said, pointing to inconsistent definitions of what constitutes a ‘small business’ across the sector.

He also advocated for stronger cyber insurance requirements, suggesting small businesses may eventually need mandatory cyber coverage similar to workers compensation insurance.

“Small businesses shouldn’t have the choice to be able to buy cyber insurance,” he said.
“They just can’t afford to protect themselves or respond to cyber incidents.”

Yet despite the suggestion, Pinto and Corbett-Wilkins reiterated that the event was ultimately designed to inspire action rather than incite fear.

Organisers say next year’s conference will focus less on discussion and more on accountability, measuring whether organisations actually implemented the resilience strategies discussed this year.

“We really motivated people to take action,” Corbett-Wilkins said.
“Next year it’s going to ramp up… it’s going to be more of a you need to do, not a you should and can do.”

For Pinto, the biggest challenge ahead may simply be sustaining momentum in an environment where technology, regulation and geopolitics are all moving simultaneously.

“We’re in a very unpredictable state,” she said.
“There could be a major incident, there could be a major technological development or something geopolitically could shift significantly.”

At the end of the day, the overwhelming turnout and engagement from attendees offered hope that Australia’s cyber sector is beginning to move beyond reactive crisis management and towards a more mature conversation about resilience, trust and national preparedness.

“It’s everybody’s business,” Corbett-Wilkins went on to say.

Watch the full interview here: https://kbi.media/interview/reece-corbett-wilkins-leah-pinto/