Nigel Patterson is the Chief Information Officer at Crest Accountants, based at the firm’s Burleigh Heads office on the Gold Coast. He leads Crest’s technology strategy, cyber security program and information governance, the work that keeps client records private, systems available and financial information protected.
Nigel has spent his career in information technology and cyber security, designing, building and running secure business systems for professional services, financial services, medical, education and commercial organisations. Before joining Crest in 2021 he held senior engineering, consulting and leadership roles advising Australian organisations on how to protect the information their businesses depend on.
That background shapes how Crest handles your information. Nigel works with the Crest team to make sure security is built into the way work actually happens, not bolted on afterwards, covering secure collaboration platforms, identity and access controls, staff awareness training and the compliance frameworks that sit behind them.
He is also a strong believer that cyber security should be explained in plain English. Business owners are told constantly that they are at risk, but rarely told which handful of things genuinely reduce that risk. Nigel writes and speaks on the practical controls that matter most for small and medium businesses, and why they matter.
Areas of specialist expertise
- Cyber Security & Risk Management
- Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance
- Information Governance & Data Protection
- Identity & Access Management
- Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
- Technology Strategy & Digital Transformation
What this means for you
- Your financial records, tax file information and payroll data are held on secured, monitored platforms.
- A secure portal is available whenever you would rather not send sensitive documents by email.
- Our team is trained to recognise the scams that specifically target business finances.
- Security is reviewed as threats change, rather than set once and forgotten.
Nigel writes on practical cyber security for business owners. His guide, Cyber Security for Australian Businesses, sets out the handful of controls that prevent most incidents.
