Big four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia has bolstered its cybersecurity leadership team with the addition of six new partners.
The partners were brought in as part of its mid-year partnership intake, with two external hires and four promoted from within.
The new partners are former Australian Risk Policy Institute (ARPI) director Pip Wyrdeman and Deloitte’s former cybersecurity lead Richa Arora, while Mary Attard, Philippa Cogswell, Mike Younger and Ryan Menezes were promoted.
Pip Wyrdeman joined from Canberra-based Providence Consulting, where she was general manager for delivery from 2019 to May 2021. She was also at ARPI from 2020 to May this year. Prior to that, she also worked at Elbit Systems and several Federal Government Departments.
“I’m a futurist and believe our successful future is tied intrinsically with our ability to integrate new technologies into our lives safely,” Wyrdeman said in a statement.
“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 was the cyber advisory director at Deloitte Australia before moving to PwC, where she held the role since 2015. She helped build and scale the company’s 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,” Arora said.
“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.”
Mary Attard, who joined PwC’s Cybersecurity and Digital Trust practice in 2017, will lead PwC Australia’s Digital Identity team. Philippa Cogswell, who’s been at PwC since 2018, will serve as Defensive Security lead.
Speaking on the new appointments, PwC Australia cybersecurity lead Mike Cerny said, “We’re delighted to welcome Pip Wyrdeman and Richa Arora who have recently joined the firm and I’d also like to congratulate our promoted partners Mary Attard, Philippa Cogswell, Ryan Menezes and Mike Younger.ADVERTISING
“Cybersecurity is a fast-moving sector with continuously evolving threats and opportunities and it is critical that we have the right team in place.
“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.”Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.