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Qantas will reorganise its executive team following the resignation of its chief customer and digital officer, including responsibility for cyber security.
Catriona Larritt, who was promoted from executive manager of Qantas Freight when Vanessa Hudson took over as chief executive in 2023, is set to leave the Flying Kangaroo to “pursue external opportunities” at the end of the year, Hudson revealed in a note to employees.
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“I’d like to sincerely thank Catriona for her significant contribution to the Group since joining in 2015, across a number of areas including Jetstar and Freight, and particularly in her role as Chief Customer and Digital Officer over the past two years,” she said.
“Catriona will be finishing up at the end of December and I wish her every success in the future.”
In her portfolio as chief digital officer, Larritt was responsible for cyber security, a role which will now be given to Andrew Monaghan under the risk portfolio.
“Chief Information Security Officer Matt Biber and his team [will be] reporting into Andrew,” Hudson said.
“Bringing Cyber Security and Risk together will further strengthen governance in this critical area. This change will transition over the coming month.”
Chief corporate affairs and communications officer, Danielle Keighery, will take over responsibility for brand and marketing, with chief marketing officer Petra Perry and her team reporting to her.
“The other functions that currently sit under the Chief Customer and Digital Officer role will remain unchanged,” Hudson said.
Larritt’s resignation comes after Qantas suffered a major data breach earlier this year, which saw information including names, email addresses, and frequent flyer numbers for more than 5 million customers stolen and later dumped on the dark web by hacking group Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters.
The incident in July reportedly involved cyber criminals using AI to impersonate a Qantas employee and then tricking a customer service operator in Manila into divulging crucial information.
“Qantas is one of a number of companies globally that has had data released by cyber criminals following a cyber incident in early July, where customer data was stolen via a third-party platform. With the help of specialist cyber security experts, we are investigating what data was part of the release,” Qantas said in an update to its incident advisory on 12 October.
“Through the NSW Supreme Court, we have an ongoing injunction in place to prevent the stolen data being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone, including third parties.
“We have also put in place additional security measures, increased training across our teams and strengthened system monitoring and detection since the incident occurred.”
Short-term bonuses for Qantas executives, including Vanessa Hudson, were slashed for the year due to the impact the breach had on customers.
