Customer Story: St John Ambulance NSW
Protecting people is St John’s mission. Protecting St John is ours.
Customer
St John Ambulance NSW
Industry
Healthcare
Solutions
Cyber Security
The Challenge
Mitigating risk and powering growth.
Peter Bouhalis’ technology career began in the ‘hard science world’ of CSIRO and spanned decades of innovation and leadership at the intersection of health, technology and product. When the opening appeared to lead technology and infrastructure as CIO of St John Ambulance NSW, Peter saw an opportunity help an organisation dedicated to helping others.
The aim of St John Ambulance NSW is to save lives through first aid. Whether delivered as training, advocacy, provisioning AEDs or event health services at everything from a local basketball tournament to a 3-day music festival, St John Ambulance NSW’s reach is as pervasive as it is important. Their most high-profile contributions undoubtedly come from working with the community during natural disasters, including bushfires and floods, providing paramedic services and other medical support.
With so much important work to deliver in so many parts of the community, St John Ambulance NSW needed to ensure that its own safety and security were well managed.
Public trust
target
As a trusted community organisation, St John became an increasingly attractive target for cyber attacks.
Sensitive health
data
Storing and protecting health records required a higher level of security and vigilance.
Volunteer workforce risk
A large volunteer base created unique identity, access and user security challenges.
Rapid security
uplift
St John needed to uplift cyber defences quickly while balancing operational demands.
“Having a trusted partner like Macquarie Cloud Services
who are so responsive and available is an absolutely vital
tool for any team wanting to remain in control of their
security.”
Peter Bouhalis
CIO, St John Ambulance NSW
The Solution
Partnering to modernise cyber defence.
Having worked previously with Macquarie Technology Group earlier in his career, Peter was familiar with their customer service and partnership model. He invited Macquarie Cloud Services to present their credentials and approach to uplifting security while modernising defences to accommodate the unique nature of St John’s largely volunteer workforce.
Macquarie Cloud Services delivered a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution designed to provide proactive monitoring, advanced threat detection and continuous visibility into St John’s security posture.
A proactive Managed Detection and Response solution, powered by Microsoft Sentinel, delivered real-time monitoring, threat intelligence and expert support to keep St John protected.
Key Results
Need to protect your people?
Find the people who want to protect you.
For an industry veteran like Peter, coming to a NFP organisation like St John represented a new operating landscape, but also a rewarding opportunity.
“It’s really about giving back to the community. I was motivated to do something that’s worthwhile for a company that’s very, very well respected and does a lot of work in the community.” Peter Bouhalis, St John Ambulance NSW CIO
Peter certainly lived up to his own promise, taking St John’s cyber security defences to Essential 8 Level 3 – a level that has been independently audited and constantly monitored. The key was to find a security partner that had not only the experience and the skills, but also the willingness to collaborate and partner for the long term.
“It is difficult for small organisations to hire their own cyber security personnel. It can be doubly challenging for NFPs to attract and retain experienced people with both technical and
interpersonal skills. Macquarie Cloud Services is my source for this high-level security talent and they consistently bring both new skills and proven experience to the table.” Peter Bouhalis, St John Ambulance NSW CIO.
Essential 8 level 3
Cyber security maturity was uplifted to Essential 8 Level 3 and independently audited.
Real-time visibility
Power BI dashboards delivered live insight into threats and security posture.
Proactive threat detection
Managed Detection and Response improved the ability to identify and stop attacks early.
Specialist expertise
St John gained access to high-level cyber security talent without building an internal SOC.
Volunteer-friendly access
Conditional access policies strengthened security while supporting volunteer usability.
Trusted partnership
A responsive local team provided constant support as threats evolved.
The Technical Solution
A modern MDR security framework.
Delivering proactive Managed Detection and Response (MDR) requires the confluence of the right people, bringing a proven technology stack and process to deliver advanced monitoring capabilities. The Macquarie Cloud Services MDR solution includes:
- Industry leading Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) platform, that supercharges our capabilities to identify threats in real time.
- Comprehensive operational and executive dashboards aligning security metrics to business priorities.
- Industry leading security frameworks including MITRE ATT&CK.
- Comprehensive detection logic, that is built over years of experience delivering security monitoring to enterprise and Government clients.
- Microsoft Sentinel, a cloud native SIEM, bringing best practices in the domain of Cyber Security.
How Macquarie Cloud Services helped St John Ambulance NSW.
Learn how a Not for Profit took control of its security to provide peace of mind for staff, volunteers and the Australian public.
“It’s really about giving back to the community. I was
motivated to do something that’s worthwhile for a company
that’s very, very well respected and does a lot of work in the
community.”
Peter Bouhalis
CIO, St John Ambulance NSW
Contact us
Talk to an expert.
- 1800 004 943
- Level 15 2 Market Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia