The CSO30 ASEAN & Hong Kong Awards return in 2026, as an important moment to recognise the cybersecurity leaders and teams who are making resilience measurable across the region. In a landscape shaped by rapid threat evolution, board-level scrutiny and rising expectations of business continuity, these awards spotlight the people and programmes that are turning security into an enterprise capability, not just a control function. On our fifth consecutive run this year, this awards programme is a regional benchmark for cybersecurity maturity across ASEAN and Hong Kong, and a unique platform for organisations to showcase their most impactful achievements, gain regional and global visibility, and join a distinguished community of Chief Information Security Officers(CISOs) and Chief Security Officers(CSOs) who are redefining the role of cybersecurity.

Globally respected, the CSO30 ASEAN and Hong Kong Awards celebrate not just individual leaders but the collective efforts of teams that drive transformation, cyber resiliency and business continuity. This year, you and your team could stand alongside the past winners which include this region’s most influential organizations, to be a recognise force in the ASEAN and HK cybersecurity landscape.

Calling on CISOs and CSOs to nominate themselves, their peers and their teams now. If your organisation has strengthened its cyber posture, shifted strategic decision-making, or built stronger ecosystem partnerships in the past year, this is the moment to put that work forward.

This year’s awards spans three nomination pathways: 

CSO Leadership – Individual Online Form

CSO Transformation – Individual Online Form

Ecosystem – Team Online Form

Together, these categories reflect the full scope of modern security leadership, from board-level influence and enterprise transformation to ecosystem collaboration and measurable resilience.

Individual Leadership nominations are expected to show how a cybersecurity leader has delivered real value, changed the way the organisation is protected, influenced executive decision-making, and prepared the business to respond to emerging cyber risks while ensuring long-term resilience and continuity. 

The Transformation category goes further, asking for a cybersecurity-led project from the past one year that changed how the organisation is protected, overcame key challenges, delivered quantifiable impact, and contributed to the wider cybersecurity community. 

Ecosystem Team nominations must show how a project shaped and strengthened the cybersecurity agenda across the organisation, its partners and even the broader country context, with clear challenges, outcomes and quantifiable value.

If you lead a cybersecurity team that has delivered measurable impact, or if you know a peer whose leadership deserves broader recognition, nominate them. If you are a CISO or CSO whose work has materially improved your organisation’s resilience, nominate yourself. The region needs to see the leaders and teams setting the standard for security maturity, operational continuity and business trust.

The deadline for nominations: 31 July 2026.

Awards Gala website: https://event.foundryco.com/cio-100-asean-and-hk/

Due to the sensitive nature of cybersecurity work, project details will not be published, which gives nominees the confidence to submit meaningful work without exposing sensitive information.

The CSO30 ASEAN & Hong Kong Awards matter because we recognise a kind of leadership the region increasingly depends on – decisive, collaborative, strategic and resilient. We give visibility to the people and teams making cybersecurity a stronger part of business performance and long-term continuity.

Media Contact: Estelle Quek Editorial Director, CIO ASEAN & CSO ASEAN