Healthcare industry battles an escalating cyber threat
Macquarie Cloud Services, part of Macquarie Telecom Group, today announced it has signed a deal with St John Ambulance NSW (St John NSW) to provide cyber protection across its cloud environment. With round-the-clock monitoring and threat detection, St John NSW is safeguarding patient, staff and volunteer information against the growing cyber threat faced by the healthcare sector.
Founded in 1883, St John NSW is a charity that saves lives through first aid. This includes via paramedic services, training, and advocacy, right through to assistance provided during natural disasters and at large-scale events.
According to Peter Bouhalis, CIO at St John NSW, moving to the cloud combined with rising cyber-crime accelerates the need for every business leader to give security a higher priority.
“Keeping our systems safe for our internal staff and our volunteer members is a full-time job” he said.
To uplift security as quickly and effectively as possible, Bouhalis and his team turned to the expertise of Macquarie. With the Managed Detection and Response solution, powered by Microsoft Sentinel, the charity has front row seats to its security posture, with the ability to monitor the entire perimeter and detect threats in real time.
Macquarie has also worked with St John NSW to offer tailored solutions and ongoing cyber education, primarily through a Threat Intelligence Platform, which is the culmination of input from more than 40 data sources. Peter said this has played a crucial role in keeping St John NSW secure amid industry-wide skills shortages.
“St John tries to make life easy for volunteers using our systems, and Macquarie helped us introduce tailored conditional access policies to help them. It is difficult for small organisations to hire their own cyber security personnel. Macquarie is my source for this high-level security talent, and the team consistently brings both new skills and proven experience to the table.”
Naran McClung, Head of Azure and Consulting at Macquarie, commented: “We all know the importance of St John NSW, and by extension the importance of keeping its data safe from the predatory claws of criminals. By leveraging a solution that is fast, reliable and spans its broad tapestry of stakeholders, St John NSW is upholding its enduring reputation for keeping Australians safe.”
