The Paris-based international NGO Cybersecurity Advisors Network has now appointed its new representative for Asia Pacific, a former leader of Australia's Internet Industry Association.

Peter Coroneos will now lead the Cybersecurity Advisors Network (CyAN) efforts across Asia Pacific. He is based in Sydney.

CyAN comprises multi-disciplinary experts in cyber policy, cyber law and technology, including expertise in cryptocurrencies, blockchain, malware mitigation and recovery.

“CyAN provides a not-for-profit platform that helps private and public organisations as well as governments to identify trusted advisors from various disciplines and background, to build a better future,” the organisation states on its website.

CyAN president Jean-Christophe Le Toquin says he welcomes Coroneos to the role. He says it is a significant step for CyAN's mission to bring timely and effective cybersecurity advice to both government and business.

“I have personally known Peter for nearly 20 years. I met him when he was leading the Internet Industry Association in Australia and I was running EuroISPA, the pan-European association of European Internet Services Providers Associations. I have always been inspired by his passion for Internet issues, his commitment to building a trusted environment for users and his obvious subject-matter expertise across a wide range of issues,” comments le Toquin.

Coroneos led the Australian Industry Association from 1997 to 2001 and has also represented the industry to the Senate, Joint and House committees.

The CyAN board unanimously approved Coroneos' appointment and it was particularly impressed by his leadership roles.

One such leadership role involved the development of ‘icode', a malware detection and mitigation initiative. It resulted in two visits to the United States White House to advise the Obama Administration.

 “The list of Peter's achievements is long and we are delighted to have him join our leadership team to help spread best cyber practice and capacity throughout the Asia Pacific region,” Le Toquin says.

Australia adopted a similar scheme that includes icode to protect users.

 “The times we live in call for international cooperation and information sharing and CyAN is a perfect vehicle for that,” Coroneos says about his appointment.

“As we saw with WannaCry and NotPetya, the threats are global and spread almost instantaneously with no regard for borders. So, we cannot move too quickly to empower vulnerable businesses and users to become more prepared with what are likely to be escalated attacks in 2018.

“I will do my best to engage the strong cyber talent that exists locally, so we can target our regional efforts more effectively,” Coroneos concludes.