Brenton Steenkamp, Clayton Utz

Law firm Clayton Utz said it has appointed Brenton Steenkamp as its new partner to lead the cyber and data governance practice.

Steenkamp joins from Big 4 consultancy EY cyber response and forensics practice across Europe, and was based in the Netherlands.

His experience includes managing highly sensitive cyber crime and regulatory investigations, and he has worked with risk advisers, prosecutors and law enforcement in Europe, Africa and the United States.

Steenkamp also led EY’s Western Australia Forensic practice in Perth for over six years, scaling it across Oceania.

“Australian businesses are all too familiar with the threat of a cyber-attack. Although many businesses have taken significant steps to protect their businesses, particularly so in the past 12 months, there is still a significant delta between the perception and reality of being adequately prepared,” Steenkamp said.

“In my experience of working with global Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, many businesses are still heavily reliant on internal, or outsourced IT services, rather than taking a leading role in developing, and implementing strategic response plans,” he added.
 
“Where technical response plans exist, often we find they are not fit to remediate a crisis or provide a strategic response.”

“Boards need to play a central role in preparedness and ensure that they, and the business, are fully-prepared for the chaotic and emotionally charged realities of a cyber-attack,” Steenkamp said.

Clayton Utz has over the past seven years built its cyber and forensic advisory practice from the ground up, the law firm’s forensic and technology services partner, Paul Fontanot, said.

“We have a deep pool of highly technical specialists and we have invested millions into cutting edge technology,” Fontanot said.

“Our legal and technical teams work as one and under the efficiencies of one instruction,” he added.