Staying Ahead: Cyber & Fraud Resilience for SMEs

Join us for Staying Ahead: Cyber & Fraud Resilience for SMEs in partnership with AIB. 

Cyber threats in 2026 are increasingly defined by AI-powered phishing, social engineering and deepfake technologies. Is your business prepared? 

This event will explore the growing and very real impact of cyber crime and fraud on Irish businesses. With cyber-related incidents continuing to rise, this event aims to raise awareness, share practical insights and support SMEs in strengthening their protection against emerging threats.

Hear from leading experts across banking, academia and law enforcement as they discuss the evolving cyber risk landscape and outline practical steps businesses can take to strengthen their cyber resilience.

Speakers include:

Paul Ryan, Chief Security & Resilience Officer, AIB Group
Paul is a senior executive technology leader with over 20 years’ experience spanning start ups through to large scale enterprises, including leading cybersecurity for a Fortune 100 organisation. His expertise spans cyber defence, counter intelligence and security strategy development, with a strong passion for shaping culture and leadership behaviours as a core component of effective resilience. Paul is a Board Director of the Cyber Defence Alliance and holds extensive professional certifications, including a first class honours postgraduate qualification.


Dr Hazel Murray, Chair of Cybersecurity, MTU & Board Member of Cyber Ireland
Hazel is a cybersecurity lecturer and researcher at Munster Technological University and a board member of Cyber Ireland, the national cluster driving collaboration across industry, academia and government to strengthen Ireland’s cybersecurity capability and talent pipeline. She is passionate about advancing cybersecurity education and translating research into practical solutions for Irish businesses and critical infrastructure.


Paul O’Riordan, Detective Garda, Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau 
Paul is a serving member of An Garda Síochána with nearly 3 decades of experience. He specialises in Computer Forensics, with a particular focus on victim identification in complex investigations and has played a key role in analysing digital evidence and supporting investigative outcomes. Paul also contributes to public awareness efforts by sharing insights from ongoing cybercrime investigations. This information is used to develop media packs aimed at educating and warning the public and particularly businesses about emerging cyber threats and evolving criminal tactics. 
 

MC & Chair, Will Goodbody, Head of External Communications, AIB Group
Will is the Head of External Communications at AIB Group, where he leads the bank’s strategic communications engagement with media and other external stakeholders. With extensive experience in journalism and corporate communications, Will oversees AIB’s external narrative, reputation management and proactive communications across the group. Prior to joining AIB’s Corporate Affairs team in 2025, Will spent 25 years working as a journalist, correspondent, editor and presenter for a number of national outlets and titles. These included RTÉ where he spent more than two decades, including as Business Editor and Science and Technology Correspondent, as well as TV3 News and The Sunday Business Post.