NBN Co to 'mature' its security architecture

NBN Co has set up a new internal team to “mature” its security architecture as it shifts from being primarily a network builder to network operator.

The company this week said it would bring on board a new “general manager of security strategy, architecture and consulting”.

The security strategy, architecture and consulting function will be overseen by a new team “tasked with maturing NBN’s securing architecture, defining NBN’s security technology strategy and consulting with the business to ensure effective security outcomes”.

The new general manager is expected to define security frameworks, target state architectures, patterns and blueprints, as well as “next generation security technologies and operational models”, NBN Co said.

At the same time, NBN Co indicated it would bring on a second general manager to oversee security assurance.

They will work with the CIO and CTO teams to “ensure systems are delivered … to properly specified security requirements”, and that existing assets are hardened against security threats.

It was unclear whether the two GM roles would sit within the same new team.

An NBN Co spokesperson declined to comment on how the roles fit into the company’s organisational structure.

“The new positions are part of the ongoing development of NBN’s security team as we start to transition from a network builder to a network operator,” the spokesperson told iTnews.

The last change to NBN Co’s security strategy was its adoption in September 2016 of a more offensive posture and data-driven approach to cyber security.

The company said it would adopt a ‘cyber hunt’ methodology to “detect, disrupt and eradicate threat actors” from its network, and would also build out a cyber threat intelligence capability.