This year marks the first ever (ISC)² EMEA Information Security Leadership Awards (ISLA), a chance for our community to recognise fellow information security and management professionals going the extra mile to enhance security across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Overall, we received a staggering number of impressive submissions, over 200, and these were shortlisted down to our finalists by our judges, members of the Europe, Middle East and Africa Advisory Council (EAC) . Winners will be announced at our Secure Summit UK  on 12 December 2017. In the meantime, we will be sharing their stories on the blog. Here is the fifth installment:

Denise Murtagh Dunne, Information Security Manager at PwC (Ireland)

Denise has been working in the IT industry for over 12 years, with eight specifically in IT Security. She has a BSc in Commercial Computing from Dundalk Institute of Technology and a MSc in Computer Security and Forensics from Dublin City University. Currently, Denise is the Information Security Manager at PwC, but before she that held positions at Ulster Bank, Citrix Systems and Jenkinson Agencies.

In her present role, Denise has been commended for her tireless work to improve the information security community within PwC. Denise has also been praised for her efforts outside of her job too, which has seen her encouraging more women to be involved in the community and look to the profession as an attractive career prospect; as well as organising and promoting a number of meetings and events in Dublin. Denise has also been hailed as someone who regularly goes above and beyond when working in the security community, exploring creative ways to engage the community and generally creating a real buzz in the sector. Her work has seen her secure leading keynote speakers to the city, allowing the local community the chance to see speakers including James Lyne, Brian Honan and Jane Frankland; as well as encouraging local talent to speak and contribute to the community.

It has been said that when you meet Denise, you cannot help but be struck by her enthusiasm and energy, and when you work with Denise her attention to detail cannot go unnoticed. She has a very positive influence on those around her and is always trying to do something new; be it via her comedy events to promote security, connecting local law enforcement in security community events, or working to get sponsorship from organisations, as well as many other of her innovative initiatives.