2024 Strategic Speakers

Melanie Anderson is the Director General Information Assurance Directorate at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, responsible for applied cryptographic research, architecture, engineering and development of secure cryptographic solutions.

In her previous role as Director, Cryptographic Security and Systems Development, Melanie and her teams were responsible for Canadian Communications Security (COMSEC ) policy and compliance, evaluating the security of cryptographic products, providing cryptographic advice and guidance including preparations for the quantum threat to Cryptography , and modernizing the Government of Canada’s classified infrastructure. Melanie is an Executive Champion of the Women in Cyber and Intelligence (WICI) group at CSE, and CSE’s Co-Executive Champion for Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) in Canada. She is passionate about promoting the well-being of women in the workplace, and mentoring and encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Melanie began her career at CSE in 2003 and has held numerous technical and leadership roles in cyber security and IT, including Manager of Cryptographic Systems Development, Manager of Cyber Threat  Relationships and Incident Management, and Supervisor of Cyber Health and Trend Reporting. She was a technical liaison for CSE in the United States, and has held roles as a software developer, a technical trainer, and a project manager for IT systems used by Government of Canada clients.

She holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program through the Harvard Kennedy School in 2020. In 2023, Melanie was recognized by Deloitte as one of 30 Women in Cyber at the forefront of the cyber revolution and she was named one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cyber Security by IT World Canada.