A former NHS Scotland digital leader who helped deliver emergency online services during the Covid pandemic has joined a leading cybersecurity firm.
Deryck Mitchelson takes up a new role as strategic chief information security officer (CISO) for Systal, appointed in 2024 as the delivery partner for NHS Scotland’s security operations centre (SOC).
Mitchelson, who has more than 30 years of experience in cybersecurity and digital transformation, will strengthen Systal’s leadership team and help organisations address increasingly complex cybersecurity and operational resilience challenges.
Prior to joining Systal, Mitchelson led the Global CISO Programme and ‘executive business centre’ at Check Point Software Technologies, helping organisations align cybersecurity strategy with business growth, operational resilience and executive decision-making.
At NHS National Services Scotland before that, he oversaw the NHS’ tech response to Covid-19, spearheading the delivery of several high-profile projects, including the Protect Scotland contact tracing app, the QR-code based ‘check in’ app, and the Covid passport app.
Gary O’Neil, chief operating officer at Systal said: “Deryck brings exceptional experience and credibility in cybersecurity and resilience at a time when organisations are facing rapidly-evolving risk and regulatory pressures. His ability to connect board-level strategy with operational security outcomes will be a significant asset to both Systal and our customers.”
Mitchelson said: “I’m delighted to join Systal at such an exciting stage of its growth. Organisations today face increasingly complex cyber and operational resilience challenges. Systal’s approach, combining security expertise, intelligence and managed services, creates a powerful platform to help customers strengthen resilience whilst continuing to innovate and grow.”
In November 2024, Systal was selected by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to accelerate the delivery and increase the capacity and capability of its security operations centre (SOC), providing an incident response capability to ensure 24/7 protection across NHS Scotland’s assets, infrastructure, and patient data.