Healthscope appoints Mitra Minai to newly-created CISO role

Melbourne-based private hospitals operator Healthscope has appointed Mitra Minai to the newly created chief information security officer (CISO) role as it focuses on addressing security challenges in the health industry.

Minai will be in charge of the development and delivery of the cyber security and data privacy vision, strategy and transformation initiatives to ensure information assets and critical systems are adequately protected across Australia and New Zealand.

The security area was previously the responsibility of the information security manager, a role held by Lachlan McGill for three years. McGill, who is now executive manager of cyber security for the Salvation Army in Australia, left Healthscope in May 2019.

Due to the acquisition of once publicly-listed Healthscope by Canada’s Brookfiled Asset Management – completed in June 2019 –, the hospitals operator decided to start the hiring process after the acquisition was complete.

Minai was appointed in December and reports to Healthscope CIO Matt Malone. She will also collaborate with the company’s CTO and the technology executive leadership to deliver strategic cyber security and data privacy outcomes for the organisation.

“Healthscope understands the importance of good Security practices and has decided to create its first CISO role to ensure appropriate Security and Data Privacy Operations, Governance and Controls are effectively embedded across the Enterprise,” Malone told CIO Australia.

“Following the resignation of the previous Information Security Manager and in consultation with Brookfield our new owners it was decided to elevate the role to CISO to take a more strategic approach to Cyber Security and also to capture a broader remit of responsibility including oversight of data privacy for the whole organisation and IT general controls/SOX compliance.”

She will be in charge of expanding the team and will recruit “key security and data privacy roles”.

Minai joins from the National Australia Bank where she worked for approximately five years across different roles starting as the group technology risk director later moving to cyber and data security risk lead, then principal cyber security risk and controls advisor and she was lastly NAB’s head of technology specialist controls.

During her career she has also worked for PwC, ANZ and Accenture to name a few.

Mitra was a standout with her extensive skills, knowledge and experiences across the security and privacy landscape,” Malone told CIO Australia about Minai’s recruitment.

“Just as importantly her obvious passion and drive for improvement in these crucial areas regardless of the industry sector she would be working in is crucial to succeed in this role.

“One of our key focus areas at Healthscope is driving cyber security and privacy awareness amongst our staff in order to protect the sensitive information of our patients (and also within their own personal/family lives), so having a CISO with the passion and improvement focus that Mitra brings was seen as critical to raising this awareness.”