As we count down to next Friday’s WiSAA nomination deadline, New Zealand Security Magazine presents a series highlighting the achievements of last year’s winners. In this article we feature Natasha Hallet (Executive) and Grace Lee (Engineer)
New Zealand Security Magazine is a proud supporter of Women in Security Awards Aotearoa. More WiSAA news can be found on our listing of WiSAA-related articles.
If you’re considering nominating yourself or someone you know for this year’s Women in Security Awards Aotearoa (WiSAA) and in need of some inspiration, look no further than last year’s elite group of winners.
Natasha Hallett was 2020’s only winner from the public sector (Executive category), and so we’re hoping her story will inspire a bumper number of nominations from government, law enforcement, emergency services and defence this year. We know there’s more of you out there!
Grace Lee took out last year’s Engineer category. A talented Security Engineer and Penetration Tester, she is an active member of the New Zealand Network for Women in Security. We look forward to plenty of software and hardware technicians of excellence being nominated from across the information and physical security domains.
A Maritime Security Leader
Natasha Hallett is Senior Advisor Maritime National Security at Maritime NZ, and she is acknowledged for her dedication and commitment to improving maritime security both in New Zealand and the Pacific.
The international relationships Natasha has built up have provided ports in NZ exposure to agencies such as the US Coastguard and Pacific Islands, resulting in improving their overall knowledge of security risks and controls.
Tash has inspired the Port Security personnel she works with to aim for a higher standard of Maritime Security, and to work with the other agencies in this space to help achieve better results.
The benefit from Tash’s work is across multiple agencies, regions and port companies. The relationships she has built have not only benefitted the New Zealand ports, but also in the Pacific, and further afield as the work she does is acknowledged by other agencies and countries.
Natasha is committed to lead from the front, responsible for bringing together international security agencies that are traditionally lead at senior level by men though the development of trust and integrity. The positive feedback and support she has from these agencies is unheralded.
A Security Technical Leader
Grace Lee is a Security Engineer and Penetration Tester at Cyber Research. Her role involves planning and implementing security measures for information systems and computer networks.
Grace has been working in the security Industry in Aotearoa for the past five years and she holds a number of security certifications including OSCP which only a few women in this country have.
Grace is adept at all aspects of SOC operations including threat hunting, SIEM operation and management. She is also regularly involved in penetration testing and red team projects.
Coming to New Zealand from Korea, Grace excelled as a student at the University of Canterbury. She is an active member of the New Zealand Network for Women in Security and Tech Women New Zealand where she has presented her security research.
Look out for more inspiration over coming days as we profile more winners from 2020! In the meantime, find out more about how to get your nomination(s) in here.
Women in Security Awards Aotearoa in an initiative of the New Zealand Security Sector Network (NZSSN), a community of security and resilience-focused industry and professional associations and academic institutions. WiSAA is supported by the Women in Security & Resilience Alliance (WISECRA) and Defsec New Zealand, publisher of New Zealand Security Magazine.
