A former Services Australia cybersecurity manager has joined the Department of Health and Aged Care as chief information security officer.

David Lang, who was the national manager for cyber operations at Services Australia, also serves as the assistant secretary of cybersecurity at DOHAC. 

He is replacing Monique Morgan, who was promoted to assistant secretary of corporate systems.

Lang also had a stint in the Australian Electoral Commission as assistant IT commissioner and director of ICT infrastructure.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Lang's appointment comes as the Health Department locks in on cybersecurity following major data breaches reported within the healthcare industry in recent years.

"The department has a focus on implementing best practice cyber security processes and has an in-flight cyber security uplift program. The CISO role supports this continued uplift," a DOHAC spokesperson said in a statement to Healthcare IT News.

The DOHAC recently announced that it will pilot the "long-overdue" Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, a network for sharing information on cyber threats, for the Australian healthcare system. About $4 million was set aside in its budget to launch this network, which has been in place in the banking and finance sector for years.

In May, the country saw one of the largest ransomware attacks in Australian healthcare, affecting nearly 13 million people. The impact was so severe that MediSecure, which used to provide national e-prescription delivery services, entered into administration in June. 

The healthcare and medical sectors were subjected to stricter cybersecurity rules only two years ago, compelling them to create cybersecurity incident response plans and undertake vulnerability assessments.

The HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum is scheduled to take place October 31-November 1 in Washington, D.C. Learn more and register.