Cybersecurity experts booked to speak at an annual conference on the subject were told just days before they would no longer be presenting.
Thomas Drake and Dr Suelette Dreyfus were told eight days before the Australian Cyber Conference (CyberCon) in Melbourne last week that they had been “disinvited” from speaking because their presentations were “incongruent”.
CyberCon is an annual event that aims to provide business leaders with insights and best practices taught by the cybersecurity industry’s experts through keynotes, panel sessions and live demonstrations.
The conference is supported by the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
Drake was told he was no longer wanted as a speaker at CyberCon in Melbourne just before he boarded a plane to Australia from the United States.
Drake is a former National Security Agency (NSA) executive and whistleblower who brought to light what he saw as concerns over illegal activities, waste and mismanagement at the NSA.
In his presentation, Drake would have addressed national security, surveillance and the growing demand for people’s data. Instead, he was disinvited from the October event and told he could continue at the conference as a delegate.
“They want to silence my voice, suppress my voice that no one would be able to hear me,” Drake told ABC Radio National.
“I would just show up as a delegate and that’s just raw, raw power being exercised by a largely secret state security service.”
Drake also vented his frustration on Twitter, and told The Guardian it marks the first time he has had a speech cancelled at a conference.
CyberOz memory holes? After acceptance of my talk “The Golden Age of Surveillance” at #cybercon2019 got disinvited as speaker & could only attend as delegate. Informed was “incongruent” w/ conference. Silencing voices in cyber security undercuts democracy. https://t.co/gpeCrmYS5u
— Thomas Drake (@Thomas_Drake1) October 7, 2019
The University of Melbourne’s Dr Suelette Dreyfus was also originally confirmed as a speaker at CyberCon, where she planned to explore the roll-out of digital drop boxes as an option for safe and secure anti-corruption whistleblowing.
However, like Drake, Dreyfus was told she could only attend as a delegate.
“There’s now a culture of fear about speaking up,” Dreyfus told ABC News.
“Nothing highlights this quite so much as disinviting speakers who have been confirmed.”
Both Drake and Dreyfus were told by AISA that a conference partner had made the decision to have them both disinvited as speakers.
AISA deputy chair Alex Woerndle confirmed to ABC News both Drake and Dreyfus were replaced in the conference program only recently.
“AISA supports and encourages diversity of views; however, it’s important to note we work with a number [of] partners, including government, and as such, need to manage a variety of views to deliver an event catered for all our stakeholders,” he said.
The Nibbler has reached out to AISA and the ACSC for comment.
