Qantas Cyber Boss Leaving After Data Breach

By Andrew Curran.

Qantas’ chief customer and digital officer Catriona Larritt is leaving the airline to “pursue external opportunities,” according to an internal employee memo seen by The Australian newspaper.

As part of her role, Larritt oversees cyber security, and her resignation follows a major data breach which saw the personal details of almost six million Qantas published on the dark web.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said Larritt, who has worked for the company since 2015, had made a “significant contribution to the group.”

While Hudson did not specifically link Larritt’s resignation to the breach, it is common for the person in charge of cyber security at an organisation to move on after a serious breach.

In June, hackers stole Qantas customer data after tricking an employee working at the airline’s call centre in Manila.

The stolen information included dates of birth, phone numbers, address, emails and frequent flyer numbers. However, no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details were stolen, and no frequent flyer accounts were compromised

Aside from Larritt, and other than trimming the short-term bonuses payable to Qantas executives, the airline’s senior management looks set to emerge from the episode relatively unscathed.

However, a law firm is laying the ground for a class action against Qantas and has made a representative complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for a breach of the Australian Privacy Act.

“The complaint alleges that Qantas breached privacy laws by failing to adequately protect the personal information of its customers,” the law firm says.

Meanwhile, following Larritt’s resignation, Hudson is taking the opportunity to carve up the airline’s customer and technology roles.  According to the Qantas website, Larritt handles "the end-to-end customer experience, both digitally and physically, as well as brand, marketing and technology."

Now, Group Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer Danielle Keighery is taking on Larritt’s brand and marketing responsibilities, with immediate effect.

Group Chief Risk Officer Andrew Monaghan will take on cyber security.

“Bringing cyber security and risk together will further strengthen governance in this critical area,” said Hudson.

Larritt is due to leave Qantas at the end of the year. Until then, she will keep the title of chief customer and digital officer – minus the reassigned responsibilities.

Photo: LinkedIn.