PwC appoints six new cyber partners

PwC Australia has appointed six new Cybersecurity and Digital Trust partners, including four females indicating the growth of women and opportunities in the sector. The partner admissions include two external and four internal promotions for the year to July 2021.

Biotechnologist, cyber policy specialist and previous director of the Australian Risk Policy Institute, Pip Wyrdeman joins PwC Australia’s Cybersecurity and Digital Trust team from Providence Consulting. Wyrdeman has over 15 years’ experience in ICT Security policy and cybersecurity and was formerly Senior Cyber Security policy adviser at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has also held positions in the Department of Defence covering roles in ICT Policy, Architecture and Business Relationship Management.

Pip Wyrdeman said, “I’m a futurist and believe our successful future is tied intrinsically with our ability to integrate new technologies into our lives safely. At this moment in history that challenge is bigger than it has ever been with massive increases in cyber threats and major challenges to the resilience of our technology systems. PwC’s ambition of delivering value at the intersection of human and digital is perfectly timed and aligns with my personal vision, and I’m thrilled to join the team.”

Richa Arora has over 14 years’ experience in technology consulting, leading digital transformations and cybersecurity programs of work supporting organisations in federal and state government, financial, healthcare and education sector. Prior to joining PwC Australia, Arora was responsible for leading the cybersecurity practice at Deloitte in Perth and built and scaled the digital identity strategy capability nationally.

“I am very excited to be joining PwC to help grow the cyber business in the healthcare sector. It’s a humbling opportunity to work in a space that has the potential to impact all Australians. Working together with digital healthcare leaders in PwC, I’ll be responsible for designing solutions where cybersecurity and digital identity is an integral part of the core solution offering for key initiatives in virtual healthcare and other patient-centric digital healthcare services, to ensure a secure and safe digital experience for all,” Arora said.

PwC Australia’s Cybersecurity and Digital Trust internal partner promotes include Mary Attard, Philippa Cogswell, Ryan Menezes and Mike Younger.

Mary Attard, who was admitted in January 2021, joined the Cybersecurity and Digital Trust practice almost four years ago after 12 years in Financial Services and currently leads PwC Australia’s Digital Identity team.

“As a new partner my priorities are to continue developing awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and protecting our personal identities and information through the launch of our Cyber Foundations learning platform. I'm passionate about driving equality in our industry and sponsor our Women in Cyber program to inspire other women to pursue a career in cybersecurity,” Attard said.

Newly promoted partner Philippa Cogswell is PwC Australia’s Defensive Security lead, with 20 years’ experience in cybersecurity and operations. Philippa has extensive global and cross-sector experience, with a focus on critical national infrastructure.

“As part of the PwC partnership my key priorities will be centred around driving our national defensive cybersecurity capabilities, with a particular focus on working with our clients to build cyber capabilities that will address not only today’s threats, but will provide a resilient foundation, protecting critical digital services and sensitive data that underpin their operations,” Philippa Cogswell said.

PwC Australia’s Cybersecurity Leader Mike Cerny welcomed the appointments. “Our Cybersecurity and Digital Trust team is about helping companies solve their cybersecurity challenges and creating a safe and secure digital experience for their staff and customers. Our great strength as a firm is our breadth and depth of capability across all areas of cybersecurity, including the societal importance of the work we do in cybersecurity; both in helping protect society against cyber threats and the need to grow a cybersecurity literate workforce of the future,” Cerny said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Андрей Яланский