Bureau of Meteorology finds new CISO

The Bureau of Meteorology has a new chief information security officer following the departure of Suthagar Seevaratnam to Australian National University (ANU) in September last year.

The new permanent CISO is Mary Kelaher, who was most recently digital security officer at Energy Queensland.

Kelaher’s appointment was revealed by Robert Deakin, who has been acting CISO for the past year.

“Congratulations to Mary Kelaher who is taking over as CISO from me at BoM,” Deakin wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“She brings a wealth of experience in transformation programs to help the Bureau continue with its major up-lift activities.”

Kelaher’s appointment was confirmed by iTnews, and also by Kelaher, who updated her own LinkedIn profile.

“As CISO, [I’m] reporting to the Chief Information and Technology Officer (CITO) and [a] member of the Data and Digital Group Executive accountable for leading enterprise wide information assets and technology security and protection across the Bureau of Meteorology,” her profile update read.

Kelaher was recently an adjudicator in the federal Department of Human Services' annual cyber war games, dubbed 'Operation: Tsunami 2019'.

At Energy Queensland, she oversaw the electricity conglomerate's cyber security program "aimed at protecting the organisation systems, network and assets from internal and from external threats."

She has also previously held senior executive roles with the Australian Government in Defence, according to an accompanying bio.

Deakin said he will remain on at BoM for a few weeks aiding the transition.

He also indicated he would “locum where needed” after that, noting an interest in “helping enterprises and governments deal with systemic threats and the intensifying risks driven by great power competition.”