Antonio Brandao joins advisor team for Vancouver cyber exercise

BCNET’s Antonio Brandao has been named an advisor to Operation: Defend the North Vancouver 2026, a Canadian cybersecurity exercise in Vancouver on Oct. 15 focused on AI systems that are compromised through logic, not malware. The event aims to help security teams test readiness for emerging AI-enabled threats across critical operations.

Why it matters: - Operation: Defend the North Vancouver 2026 is built around a fast-growing risk: AI systems that can be manipulated through their own logic and decision-making processes. - The exercise is designed to test how Canada’s security community responds when logistics, trade, security and other critical systems still function technically but have been strategically undermined. - Brandao’s advisory role adds operational and academic cyber expertise to a national readiness effort at a moment when AI-enabled threats are becoming more complex.

What happened: - Antonio Brandao, Director of Cybersecurity Services and CISO at BCNET, was confirmed as an advisor to Operation: Defend the North Vancouver 2026. - The national cybersecurity exercise will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Oct. 15. - siberX is producing the exercise. - The event brings together partners from across Canada’s security community.

The details: - Participants will work through high-pressure scenarios involving AI-driven logistics, trade, security and decision-making systems. - The exercise focuses on systems that are functioning technically but have been undermined by adversaries who understand how those systems think. - Brandao said AI is reshaping how organizations operate and how adversaries attack them, and said the exercise helps Canada’s security community stress-test readiness against threats that do not look like traditional attacks. - Brandao is a former Brazilian Army lieutenant colonel who coordinated operations for 1,500 personnel. - Brandao also spent seven years as a cybersecurity professor at Brazil’s Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras. - Brandao advanced internally at BCNET from SIEM Systems Administrator to Cybersecurity Architect to his current role. - BCNET is a not-for-profit shared services consortium serving 44 post-secondary member institutions across British Columbia. - Brandao leads cybersecurity readiness for a sector facing increasing threat complexity with constrained resources. - Brandao has spoken at BCNET CONNECT, BSides Vancouver, the TRU Privacy and Security Conference, VanTUG, siberX and ISACA Vancouver. - Brandao created Canada’s first national Cyber Scenarios Challenge, a 60-hour online Capture the Flag competition open to all Canadian universities and colleges. - Brandao wrote Unlock the Secrets of the Dark Web, a four-volume series available in Kindle and paperback editions. - Brandao received the 2026 ISACA BC Cyber Excellence Community Leadership Award earlier this year. - siberX is led by Founder and CEO Mahdi Raza. - siberX has run signature annual events and immersive crisis simulations since 2018. - The company describes itself as a global cybersecurity events and training organization. - More information on Operation: Defend the North Vancouver 2026 is available here.

Between the lines: - The exercise reflects a shift in cyber defense thinking from malware-centric attacks to AI compromise scenarios that exploit system logic, optimization and decision-making. - Brandao’s background combines military command experience, teaching, and higher-education cyber operations, which fits the exercise’s focus on complex, real-world response. - The advisory appointment also reinforces BCNET’s visibility in Canada’s cybersecurity community beyond the post-secondary sector.

What's next: - The Vancouver exercise is scheduled for Oct. 15. - siberX and its partners will use the event to test response readiness against AI-era threat scenarios. - Brandao will serve in an advisory capacity as the simulation unfolds. - The full speaker and media details are available at abrandao.net and Brandao’s Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine profile.