The partnership gives St John NSW protection against cyber threats.

According to St John NSW chief information officer Peter Bouhalis, 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.

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 provide cyber education, primarily through a Threat Intelligence Platform, which is the culmination of input from more than 40 data sources.

Bouhalis 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.”

“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,” commented Macquarie head of Azure and Consulting Naran McClung.

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.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 14 April 2023.