Tara Dharnikota

Critic
DISC Type : C

Chief Information Security Officer at Victoria University

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Overview

Tara Dharnikota is the Chief Information Security Officer at Victoria University, responsible for cyber and physical security, risk, and resilience. Her career, rooted in network engineering, spans leadership roles at PEXA and Telstra in areas like threat intelligence and governance. She holds a Masters degree in IT from RMIT University and is an active industry contributor.

Driven by a deep curiosity for how things work, Tara is passionate about mentoring the next generation of security professionals. She actively contributes to the cybersecurity community by presenting at conferences, participating in panel discussions, and serving on various advisory boards, including for the Australian Information Security Association (AISA).

She recently accepted a position as a Director on the Board of the Australian Access Federation (AAF).

Personality Overview

Objective Thinker

Negotiator

ROI Driven

They prefer to analyze logically and value objective facts over emotions.  It is very likely that they will negotiate pricing or other important terms. They like to take decisions independently and do not seek others' support often.

Topics They Care About

Building Security Culture
Believes long-term resilience depends more on people and culture than on controls, focusing on building trust, awareness, and shared accountability.
Cyber Resilience
Emphasizes the importance of being able to "bounce back quickly" from incidents, focusing on visibility, identity, data, and overall resilience as key priorities.
Industry Collaboration
Serves on the AISA committee, GIAC Advisory Board, and AAF Board, frequently speaking at conferences to share knowledge and insights.

Media Appearances

Victoria University completes year‑long search for CISO. Featured in iTnews

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Victoria University's CISO on protecting openness without sacrificing security. Featured in Adapt – Peer Insights

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Work History

4-2025
Chief Information Security Officer at Victoria University
5-2023 - 4-2025
Head of Information Security Management at PEXA
10-2019 - 12-2019
Cyber Security Risk & Strategy Industry Mentor at RMIT University
9-2017 - 5-2023
Information and Cyber Security Senior Lead - Open Source Intelligence Team and Red Team at Telstra
11-2014 - 2-2018
Open Source Security Analyst at Telstra

Education

2001 - 2003
M.E.IT from RMIT University
1996 - 2000
B.E from University of Madras

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 13 Location : Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Job Level : Leadership Designation : Chief Information Security Officer at Victoria University
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Insights For Selling To Tara

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Be formal and objective, they will appreciate it more
  • Tell them what ROI they can expect
  • Be ready for penetrating questions and critical examination of your pitch

DONT's

  • Don't give superficial answers, they are easily rattled by them
  • Do not use very emotional or colorful language
  • Don’t try to give too many examples of other users, they like to make their own decisions

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Tara is

  • Proof of ROI, low pricing and objective proof points are the important factors for them.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Tara

  • They do not mind saying no if they believe that it is the right decision.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Tara move?

  • Their decision-making is neither very fast nor very slow, they are somewhere in between.
  • Can Tara take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks if their analysis shows that it would be worth it.

You And Tara

Personality Compatibility


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