Australia's largest uni on the hunt for first ever CISO

Monash University is seeking its first chief information security officer to lead its IT Security & Risk team and oversee the development and delivery of the university’s security strategy and practice.

A Monash spokesperson confirmed to iTnews the CISO position is a new one at the university, however, the functions of the role have already been performed in other capacities.

“The chief information security officer role is a new title for an existing function and will be responsible for further strengthening Monash's commitment to cyber security and driving the optimisation of the University's IT risk posture,” the spokesperson said.

Any mitigation activities will need to account for Monash’s 17,500 staff and 72,000 students across multiple local and international locations, plus the huge number of devices and apps they connect to the university’s network on a daily basis.

Management of the security and risk team includes leading, coordinating, directing and reviewing the university-wide strategic and operational activities.

The CISO position will report into the chief information officer portfolio, which is currently being helmed by Teresa Finlayson in the interim following Trevor Woods’ announcement he will be leaving to become CIO at the University of Sydney.

The CIO portfolio is central to the university’s Focus Monash strategic plan, which aims to increase the institution’s competitiveness in a global environment by strengthening its achievements and performance.

It also enables the highly-centralised administrative function at the university, which was set up to enable efficient and effective inter-division collaboration.

Monash said in the CISO job posting that it is currently looking to uplift its security culture, especially in regards to those interconnected domains and increasing awareness of best practice.

Applications for the position close on July 22.