While technology moves fast, the corporate structure supporting IT tends to stick to the status quo. With a greater focus on corporate responsibility, however, there is a definitive move towards better information security, and that brings a new position into the top ranks of IT players – the information security officer.

“In terms of a permanent appointment in Absa, it`s a very new thing,” says Richard Peasy. “The challenge was formalising the whole issue of information security within the organisation. There`s no handbook that tells you how to do it. There has been a lot of theoretical stuff happening in terms of policies and governance rules, but I think that was done from a less-than-practical perspective, and what we`re starting to do now is formalise and assess those policies and procedures. We`re figuring out what works in theory, and what works in practice.”