BAE appoints cyber chief

BAE Systems has recruited Tim Scully, a former Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) senior executive with over 26 years of experience in the Australian intelligence community, to head the company's new Cyber Support Unit (CSU).

Scully, formerly the DSD’s Assistant Secretary for Information Security Operations, led the establishment of the Australian Government’s Cyber Security Operations Centre.

He will lead a BAE Systems team based in both Canberra and Adelaide, offering Australian government agencies and corporations a range of specialised cyber security services.

“Our Cyber Support Unit will complement the Government’s activities in this area, consistent with the National Cyber Security Strategy,” Scully said.

“It will offer analytics, training and solutions that are designed to help government agencies and commercial organisations deal with the challenge of protecting information and assets from cyber threats.”

In October BAE Systems’ CSU team worked with CERT Australia, other government agencies and critical infrastructure providers as participants in the international Cyber Storm III, an exercise coordinated by the US Department of Homeland Security.

Scully confirmed that BAE Systems was now actively recruiting to expand its workforce.

“We are focused on building a professional, sovereign, security cleared team that can deliver innovative cyber solutions to problems that exist now and those we have yet to encounter,” he said.

The CSU also draws on the company’s global information protection capabilities in the US and UK, including Detica, a BAE Systems-owned cyber security provider.