Meet our
cyber heroes

Ranga Yogeshwar

Science journalist

Ranga Yogeshwar is one of Germany’s leading science journalists. He is regarded as the “knowledge broker of the nation” and an expert on all topics relating to artificial intelligence. He presents complicated issues in a practical, understandable and passionate way.

Yogeshwar (*1959) grew up in Luxembourg and India, studied piano in Luxembourg and experimental physics at RWTH Aachen University. He then conducted research in Geneva at CERN and at the nuclear research center in Jülich.

He has worked as a journalist since 1983, initially for various publishing houses, then in radio and television. In 1987, Yogeshwar began working as a science editor at WDR Cologne and was involved in numerous programs, including “Wissenschaftsshow”, “Kopfball”, “Bilder aus der Wissenschaft” and “W wie Wissen” and developed numerous TV formats. From 1995 to 2001 he was deputy head and from 2001 to 2005 head of the science television program group at WDR. Since 2008, Yogeshwar has worked as an independent journalist and author.

Yogeshwar regularly contributes to leading newspapers and is a welcome expert on numerous talk shows. His books “Sonst noch Fragen?”, “Ach so!” and “Nächste Ausfahrt Zukunft” have become bestsellers and have been translated into numerous languages.

Aya Jaff

Tech founder, author, and coder

Aya Jaff, an Iraqi-born entrepreneur who sought refuge in Germany, is a renowned Forbes 30under30 honoree, keynote speaker, and author of the acclaimed book “MONEYMAKERS.” As Tradity’s voluntary CTO for five years, she attracted 5,000+ members across 80 schools, providing engaging finance education. A self-taught programming and trading expert, Aya’s commitment to learning earned her multiple tech scholarships.

Dr. Niklas Hellemann

CEO of SoSafe

Niklas Hellemann is a studied psychologist, social engineering expert, and CEO at SoSafe. Before founding his own company, he worked as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group for six years in the areas of People and Organization. Besides his Ph.D. in Business Administration, Niklas studied psychology – which led him to the human approach in the tech-savvy cyber security market. In 2018, Niklas founded SoSafe together with Lukas and Felix to strengthen digital self-defense worldwide. Today, Niklas is engaged as a speaker on various stages worldwide, including the OMR Festival, the Web Summit, and the RSA Conference, where he talks about the pressing challenges of social engineering and the newest cybercrime developments.

Anna Hartl

Product Owner Global User Awareness, Allianz Technology

Anna began her career in economics and business administration, equipping her with analytical skills and a strategic mindset. She transitioned to consulting where she honed her ability to dissect and optimize business processes within the dynamic automotive industry. Her career took a pivotal turn when she entered the insurance industry, focusing on Infrastructure & Information Security.

Anna developed a profound understanding of the human element in cybersecurity, becoming an advocate for empowering individuals as the first line of defense. As Product Owner for Global User Awareness at Allianz, she leads a global strategy to strengthen the human firewall, equipping teams worldwide with the knowledge to protect their digital landscape.

Her leadership goes beyond disseminating information; she fosters a culture of security awareness embedded in the company’s ethos. Anna’s initiatives resonate globally, ensuring vigilance and responsibility against cyber threats are embraced by all employees.

Frank Rieger

Spokesman of the Chaos Computer Club, Data Protection Expert

Frank Rieger is a hacker, author, internet activist and spokesman for the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), Europe’s largest hacker organisation. Since the 1990s, Rieger has founded various start-ups in the fields of data security, navigation services and e-reading and is the technical director of a communications security company.

Rieger initiated the EU’s Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights and regularly publishes in the FAZ. Together with Felix von Leitner, he runs the podcast ‘Alternativlos’, which was honoured as Political Podcast of the Year in 2011.

He has written three books with Constanze Kurz, including ‘Cyberwar’. Rieger has made a name for himself as a critical observer of digitalisation, he is a sought-after speaker and was an expert witness in the NSA investigation committee in 2014.

Hannan Ouhlous

Security Awareness Officer

Hannan is the Security Awareness Officer for Eneco Group and a speaker. Creating a vision on how to approach human behavior and reaching those goals in unconventional ways is what characterizes her. Using storytelling as a powerful tool and creating new views on interventions.

During her studies, Hannan started her corporate career at Eneco Group. After several project management roles, she started her journey in optimizing value chains as a lean six sigma blackbelt. Driven by making impact and making people part of that process, she started her leadership journey. The human part is really what drew her to the Cyber Security domain.

“I’m still amazed by the fact that in all my years in change management, I feel that Cyber Security is the first domain that really acknowledges the importance of human behavior and that it really is an expertise.”

Her aim is to make everyone with a heartbeat aware by finding creative new ways of learning, but also keeping it inclusive.

Lia Fey

Teamlead Information Security

Guided by the motto “You can achieve anything, you just need the courage,” and inspired by Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s words, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” Lia Fey embarked on a new career after completing her training as a dental assistant and serving in the military. She became a Data Protection Officer at a rehabilitation clinic, taking her first step into the field of information security. Recognizing that security awareness and the implementation of sustainable security cultures are fundamental pillars of information security, she spent several years as a Customer Success Manager, helping clients implement these practices in their organizations through phishing training and eLearning. After building the enterprise customer support and assuming a leadership role, she moved to Kaufland e-commerce. There, she took on new challenges as the Team Lead of the Information Security Team, further share and deepening her expertise in the field.

Yasmine Douadi

Cybersecurity expert & CEO of RISKINTEL MEDIA and RISK SUMMIT

Yasmine Douadi is the founder of RISKINTEL MEDIA and RISK SUMMIT, and a renowned speaker on cybersecurity issues in Francophone social and mainstream media. As the leading content creator on cybersecurity in France, her media aims to inform professionals about pressing issues and make cybersecurity a mainstream topic to raise global awareness. With over 15 million annual viewers, RISKINTEL MEDIA is a premier hub for learning and discussion. Risk Summit is an exclusive event for decision-makers in cybersecurity (CISOs, CEOs, Army and Police Officials), held annually in Paris at les Salons du Pré Catelan, with conference content broadcast via Riskintel Media channels.

Daniela Almeida Lourenço

CISO from the financial industry

Daniela is a Netherlands-based information security practitioner who bridges the gap between technical and cultural understanding. With international experience and a unique academic background – a master’s in communication and Cultural Studies and an Executive Master’s in Cybersecurity – she understands the human element of information security in tech, as well as the cultural nuances of organizations. Daniela also holds top cybersecurity certifications (CISM, CISSP, C|CISO) and leverages this expertise as Chief Information Security Officer for a financial services company. She is committed to creating an attitude of security awareness and ensuring that everyone plays a sustainable role in protecting information. She is a frequent industry contributor with thought-provoking keynotes, webinars, and insightful panel discussions.

Inge van der Beijl

Human Resilience enabler & threat actor communications expert, Northwave

Meet Inge, an expert in cyber resilience. With her mission to make organizations more cyber resilient, Inge understands the importance of involving people in this process. She knows that the psychological factor in cybercrime has been neglected for too long, and she is determined to change that. Inge’s goal is to turn the people in your organization into a human sensor, enabling your staff to secure your organization. With degrees in Social & Organizations psychology and Change Management, and solid experience at research institute TNO, Inge has a strong scientific basis. Additionally, her practical side shines through her service in the military in Afghanistan and being a lead communicator in ransomware incidents. Inge currently is the Head of Expertise and Director Behaviour and Resilience at Northwave.

Gonçalo Gaiolas

CPO at SoSafe

Gonçalo Gaiolas – a computer scientist with extensive experience in the tech industry – joined SoSafe as Chief Product Officer in April 2023. During his more than 15 years in the B2B SaaS space, he has been committed to maintaining high standards in product development. Most recently, as CPO at low-code platform provider OutSystems, he was responsible for scaling the platform strategy and was leading developer and community relations. He is excited to meet security experts from all over Europe at the Human Firewall Conference and to jump into conversations about the latest trends that will inspire and inform the future development of the SoSafe product.

Frank Schätzing

Best-selling author

Frank Schätzing, born in 1957, is a renowned German author best known for his groundbreaking eco-thriller “The Swarm,” which has sold over 4.5 million copies since its publication in 2004 and has been translated into 27 languages. Schätzing made his literary debut in 1995 with “Death and the Devil” and has continued to captivate audiences with a series of bestsellers, including “Limit” (2009), “Breaking News” (2014), and “The Tyranny of the Butterfly” (2018). In addition to his fiction, Schätzing has written two bestselling nonfiction books: “Notes from an Unknown Universe” (2006) and “What If We Just Saved the World?” (2021). His contributions to literature have earned him numerous awards, and his works have collectively sold some 9 million copies worldwide. Schätzing’s unique blend of scientific intrigue and complex storytelling has established him as a major figure in contemporary literature.

Lars Kukuk

CISO, German Federal Employment Agency

Lars Kukuk has more than 17 years of professional experience in various positions (engineer, architect, project manager) in IT security. He has been working as a department head and Information Security Officer (CISO) at the German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) since 2000.

As a computer scientist, he has been working in the field of IT security since 2004, mainly in the areas of network and application security, penetration testing and IT baseline protection.

Today, he is responsible for defining the BA’s information security strategy and has overall responsibility for the Information Security Management System (ISMS), maintaining the German security certificate for one of the largest information networks and important critical infrastructures in Germany, as well as compliance with the associated legal regulations (BSIG, Kritis -Vo).

His vision is to be a pioneer in information security in public administration and a promoter of digitalization and automation transformation. He wants to set the standards in information security, resilience and performance.

Yousef Farschtschi

Director IT & Digital, PROKON

Dr. Yousef Farschtschi holds a Ph.D. in computer science and leads the IT department at Prokon eG, Germany’s largest energy cooperative. After completing his computer science studies in Hamburg, he began his career as a researcher in the aviation sector, culminating in his Ph.D. at TU Clausthal. He then transitioned to Generali Deutschland AG, where he worked in the life insurance division and later served as a senior consultant in data analytics. At Hamburg Airport, he initially took on the role of Data Analytics Lead and was later promoted to CTO. In this role, he was responsible for IT security at Germany’s fifth-largest airport. His guiding principle: “IT security must be considered in the design phase of an IT system to ensure a secure application landscape.”

Vera Sikes

Head of Technology Strategy and Information Technology, BSI

Vera Sikes is head of the technology strategy and information technology department at the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). After studying business administration and electrical engineering and working for many years in IT operations and cybersecurity, Sikes joined the BSI in March 2022. She works with the centers for security in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, among others, to identify technical changes and develop appropriate solutions to ensure information security.

Bianca Zonne

Risk Compliance Manager

After more than 20 years in security, one slogan still really makes Bianca wince: “people are the weakest link”. She has made it her mission to fight the camp of the “user” and arm them with information and knowledge to stay safe on- and offline. “Let’s remind everyone why the PPT framework starts with People!”

Campbell Murray

Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Sodium Cyber

Murray is an established global leader in the field of information security. With over 25 years of experience spanning offensive security assessments and security engineering in a vast range of environments providing him with a rare level of insight into the broad fields of cybersecurity.

Previously the founder and technical director of Encription Limited, Murray became the Global Header of Cyber Security Delivery at Blackberry following acquisition. Murray formed Sodium Cyber in 2022 which provides specialist consultancy in the areas of IoT, OT, IT, and security engineering as well as penetration testing and red team activity.

Murray was a founding director of the Tiger Scheme in 2007 and the Cyber Scheme in 2013 where he is now the chair of the technical panel and a CTL assessor for both infrastructure and applications exams and is currently the CEO of both Sodium Cyber and the IMCSO.org.

Markus Beckedahl

Founder of netzpolitik.org, co-founder of re:publica, activist

For over 25 years, Markus Beckedahl has been observing, analyzing, and explaining how the internet and key digital technological developments are shaping our societies, cultural practices, and political decisions. In doing so, he has played a key role in shaping a new field of politics: digital and network politics.

As a prominent political journalist with an IT background, he provides a critical, up-to-date, and far-sighted assessment of the effects of digitalization and challenges decision-makers at all levels to think about digital societies in a fairer, more sustainable and bolder way.

A blogger from the very beginning, he founded netzpolitik.org, one of the most influential public interest-oriented journalistic media in Germany and has received numerous awards as editor-in-chief.

In 2007, Markus founded re:publica, the most important event platform for the digital society in Europe and is currently the curatorial director again.

Markus also advises organizations on digitalization issues, in the broad field of campaign and communication strategy and accompanies them on their way to digital sovereignty.

He writes an irregular newsletter that can be subscribed to at digitalpolitik.de.

Andrew Rose

Chief Security Officer at SoSafe

Andrew Rose is the Chef Security Officer (CSO) at SoSafe. He has 25+ years of experience as CISO for UK Air Traffic Control, Mastercard, Proofpoint, and two ‘magic circle’ global law firms. He was also Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. Andrew recognitions include ‘European CISO of the year’ (2018), “Best Security Awareness Campaign” (2015), and is regularly listed in the CSO30 (2020-2023).

Oliver Schneider

Managing Partner, RiskWorkers GmbH

Oliver Schneider is the managing partner of RiskWorkers GmbH. He has been working as a so-called Kidnap Response Consultant for over 20 years and has negotiated with kidnappers, blackmailers and pirates all over the world. For several years he has also been advising companies on ransomware attacks, both preventive and reactive. More than 30 successfully managed cyber extortions with 100% provision of decryptors are on the credit side here.

As an author, he has published the book “The Will Decides” in Germany and China, where he provides an exciting insight into his field of activity.

Frank Fengel

CEO, Protektis GmbH

Frank Fengel is a renowned expert in information security management systems in accordance with ISO 27001 and the Managing Director of Protektis GmbH. With more than 15 years of experience in the industry, he has made a name for himself by advising medium-sized companies and public authorities on the pragmatic implementation of IT security measures.

His expertise covers a wide range of areas, including security audits, the creation of emergency plans, the promotion of security awareness and the implementation of IT policies. His approach is characterized by its pragmatism and efficiency, making him a valued advisor to his clients.

Frank advises a wide range of industries, including hospitals, energy suppliers and district offices as well as freight forwarders, plant manufacturers and architects. His extensive expertise enables him to develop and implement customized IT security solutions for these diverse industries.

In his private life, Frank enjoys spending time with his family and tending to his garden. He appreciates quiet moments with a good book and a glass of wine. He also has a passion for soccer and is a fan of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Frank Piotraschke

CRO at SoSafe

Frank Piotraschke is Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at SoSafe. He is responsible for all go-to-market areas and therefore understands exactly the main concerns of our customers. He uses his many years of experience in SaaS companies to question the status quo on a daily basis, constantly driving innovations forward. The close exchange with other organizations is particularly important to him in order to give enough room for new impulses.

Daria Catalui

Head of Allianz Group Human Firewall

Daria Catalui is a cyber security professional always searching for impact and connecting ideas. Daria gained over 15 years of experience at local, regional, and European level while working for EU’s cyber security agency ENISA, the European Commission and the RO Presidency of the Council of the EU. Another initiative she leads since 2019 is a public private collaboration called #CyberEDUcall4papers one of the few focusing on cyber education and the complementarity of a trained Human Firewall vs up to date Technical Firewall.

Philipp Amann

Group CISO, Österreichische Post AG

Philipp is an internationally recognized cybersecurity expert with more than 20 years of experience in fighting cybercrime and managing complex projects. His technical expertise and ability to communicate with various stakeholders enable him to provide innovative solutions in the areas of strategy, governance, and operations.

He holds advisory roles at ENISA, the Cyber Defenders Council (Cybereason) and the World Economic Forum and is a member of international cyber security task forces and advisory boards. He also chairs the Security Advisory Board for the H2020-funded CC-Driver project on cybercrime.

As co-founder of an NGO for peace, justice and security, he is also committed to these important goals outside of his professional activities.

Maximilian Ahrens

Managing Director T Digital, Deutsche Telekom

Maximilian Ahrens has been Managing Director T Digital at Deutsche Telekom since January 2023. Previously, he held the role of CTO and VP Cloud Strategy at T-Systems, the corporate customer division of Deutsche Telekom. Maximilian has a background as an entrepreneur. Before joining T-Systems, he founded and then sold a majority stake in a cloud infrastructure technology company that allowed customers to deploy and manage distributed clouds. As CTO and CPO, he led the product strategy and development teams. Maximilian is on the Board of Directors of the GAIA-X Association and was its Chairman from 2021-2023.

Shannon Jaritz

VP Customer Success at SoSafe

Shannon Jaritz is Vice President Customer Success at SoSafe. She and her team are responsible for everything concerning our customers – from onboarding and supporting with the integration of our awareness product to customer satisfaction and retention. Shannon’s whole career journey was and still is dedicated to customers. She is a data-driven person that believes that customers are the highest asset in any company – and that is what she and her team are advocating for at SoSafe.