Swinburne University's CISO leaves for Gartner

Swinburne University is looking for a new CISO to create and implement a cyber security strategy, following the departure of Mardi Paterson.

Paterson left in December last year after almost three years in the role, and has since been appointed executive partner of CISO advisory at analyst firm Gartner.

“As a result of recent turnover, the university is undertaking a comprehensive search to appoint an ongoing CISO," a spokesperson for the university told iTnews.

"While the search is undertaken, an interim CISO arrangement is in place to ensure seamless continuity for Swinburne’s information security.”

According to the university’s advertisement for a replacement, the CISO has a role to play in a “significant uplift” in internal IT capability “in support of the university’s ambitious Horizon 2025 strategy”.

The cyber security strategy will be based on the ASD Essential Eight and the NIST cyber security framework, and will include an implementation roadmap.

The CISO will also provide “relevant education, technical advice and direction to IT teams and business staff as required on the cyber security architecture, technical standards, and risk management framework”.

Swinburne also said the role would include making sure IT risk management standards are consistently applied across the university’s “applications, integrations and data repositories, networks and infrastructure including both on-premises and cloud solutions, and service providers.”

Reporting to the university’s CIO Philip Roe, the role will be based at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus.