Future of resilience: Fred Thiele appointed as CISO
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Fred Thiele as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In the role, Thiele will lead the strategic direction of Interactive’s Cyber Security practice and play an integral part in accelerating Interactive’s security offering.
Thiele brings with him decades of experience leading technology teams in large enterprises, government organisations, mid-sized consulting businesses, and his own consulting firm. Most recently, he spent three years as Group CISO at Transport for NSW where he led the uplift and operationalisation of its cyber security program. This resulted in a first of its kind for the government agency, a $60m cyber portfolio to enhance cyber culture and mature cyber controls. This investment grew Transport’s cyber security team from 30 to 150 people with a measurable annual increase in cyber maturity.
Prior to this, Thiele’s breadth of experience spans household names such as Velocity Frequent Flyer, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Hewlett Packard and IBM.
On joining Interactive, Thiele said, “Interactive’s track record speaks for itself. It has been helping Australian organisations build resilient technology solutions for the past 30 plus years and I’m humbled to be part of a team with such passion for its customers and keeping security top of mind. I look forward to working with the delivery teams to take Interactive’s cyber offerings to the next level and further our position as leaders in the Australian market.”
Parallel to Cyber Security, Interactive provides a suite of secure services for its customers including Multi-Cloud Services, Hardware Maintenance, Network Services, Data Centres, Business Continuity and a range of other managed services. As the provider of core technology foundations for thousands of organisations across the country, Interactive’s unique understanding of its customers’ businesses combined with an enviable team of technology experts puts it in prime position to deliver a holistic cyber security offering.
Interactive Executive Chairman, Brendan Fleiter said “Our cyber security practice continues to expand in line with the constantly evolving cybercrime landscape and our customers’ needs. We processed triple the number of security events for our customers last year compared with 2020. A clear sign of how organisations are increasingly reliant on and require a trusted technology partner to support them against these rising threats. I’m delighted to welcome Fred to Interactive, his impressive background and experience is a major addition to our Cyber Security practice and our ability to support and protect our customers.”