Jake Johansen named Chief Information Security Officer at University of Utah

The University of Utah named Jake Johansen as chief information security officer for the university and University of Utah Health, effective July 15, 2024. Johansen previously served in the university's Information Security Office as director of enterprise security. He succeeds Corey Roach, who is retiring from the role in November 2024.

According to the university newsroom, Johansen reports to two chief information officers, Steve Hess for campus and Donna Roach for U of U Health. The newsroom says he will manage the Information Security Office, with responsibility for hiring, training, evaluating, mentoring and retaining its staff. The newsroom says Johansen will ensure that standards, policies, automated mechanisms and procedures for information security are both documented and followed. He will interpret information security regulations together with relevant government and regulatory agencies, according to the newsroom.

The newsroom says he is also to develop electronic safeguards, procedures and policies for information security that comply with government and industry regulations. The newsroom says he will work with senior leadership to enforce IT security and privacy policies. The university's general counsel teams and its administrative, research, health and academic organizations are among the groups Johansen will work closely with, the newsroom says. According to the newsroom, Johansen will also work with government and private agencies and with other higher education institutions in Utah.

Over the past 21 years, Johansen has held a range of IT security-related roles at the U, the newsroom reports. In his most recent post in the Information Security Office, he managed the Security Operations Center, Security Engineering and Information Assurance teams, according to the newsroom. That work included supporting, implementing and promoting the university's Cybersecurity Program, the newsroom says. According to the newsroom, he also hired, trained and managed staff and oversaw the gathering, analysis and assessment of current and future information security threats. The newsroom says he also took an active part in the IT security governance process. Johansen is a certified security administrator, a certified HIPAA professional and a certified information systems security professional, the newsroom says.

According to the newsroom, Corey Roach, who had spent 26 years with the university at the time of the announcement, was staying on at the U to help with the transition before retiring.