Meet our
cyber heroes

Sascha Lobo

Digital Entrepreneur, Author & Podcast host

Sascha Lobo, a digital entrepreneur, author, and podcaster, has been discussing the advantages and disadvantages of digitization since 2006, including through his weekly column on spiegel.de. He has been particularly interested in the field of artificial intelligence and its role in digital transformation for the past decade. Sascha currently resides in Berlin with his wife and two children, as well as in the vast world of the internet.

Photo credits © Anatol Kotte

Jamie Bartlett

Bestselling Author, Journalist, and Tech Blogger

Jamie Bartlett is a prominent UK expert on politics and technology, focusing on cyber security, privacy online, new political movements, and internet cultures. He founded the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media and authored three books, including „The Missing Cryptoqueen” which tells the unbelievable story of the rise, disappearance and fall of Dr. Ruja Ignatova and reveals how OneCoin became the biggest scam of the 21st century.

Bartlett is a technology blogger for the Spectator and a journalist for various publications, including The Sunday Times, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, and The Telegraph. His TED talk “How the mysterious dark net is going mainstream” has been watched almost 5 million times. Bartlett also presented the BBC2 documentary series “The Secrets of Silicon Valley,” which explored the impact of technology on economies and politics and helped uncover the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He is the creator and host of the BBC podcast “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” which investigates topics such as online subcultures, hackers, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and the threat social media poses to democracy.

John Noble

Director at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) 2016-18

From 2016 to 2018, John Noble served as the Director of Incident Management at the newly established National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Under his leadership, the NCSC responded to nearly 800 significant cyber incidents, endowing him with an unparalleled experience in addressing and dissecting the roots of cyber threats. A particular area of his expertise lies in understanding the interplay between geopolitical shifts and their ramifications on cybersecurity.

Over a distinguished 40-year tenure in government service, John has been a pillar in operational delivery and strategic business transformation. His exceptional efforts in forging effective partnerships leading up to the London Olympics earned him the prestigious Commander of the British Empire (CBE) title in 2012.

In addition to his work with the NCSC, John serves as a non-executive director at NHS Digital, chairing the Information Assurance and Cyber Security Committee. He holds multiple advisory and non-executive director positions and stands as a senior cyber advisor at McKinsey.

Ulrich Irnich

CIO and Modernization Garage Director, Vodafone Germany

Ulrich Irnich has been with Vodafone as CIO since 2020, responsible for the customer-centric IT orientation. Additionally he is also responsible for the global Modernization Garage to drive BSS modernization across VF. Before that, as CIO at Unitymedia, he was responsible for the agile transformation of IT and business. He transformed the company from a project-oriented to a product-centric organization. With the extensive telecommunications experience, he brings deep insights into business and digital transformation.

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.

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.

Linus Neumann

Hacker, psychologist, and IT security expert

Linus Neumann is a renowned IT expert, hacker, and psychologist. Since the age of ten, Neumann has been fascinated by the world of source codes. Today, as a psychologist with a diploma, he advises financial sector companies and operators of critical infrastructures. He has also served multiple times as an expert consultant on IT security for committees of the German Bundestag. In addition, he is active in the Chaos Computer Club on digital policy issues, co-hosts the podcast “Logbuch: Netzpolitik” with Tim Pritlove, and contributes to the blog netzpolitik.org.

Gonçalo Gaiolas

CPO, 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.

Florian Jörgens

Chief Information Security Officer, Vorwerk

Florian Jörgens is Chief Information Security Officer at Vorwerk Group, a family-owned company with more than 220,000 employees in 60 countries. As an expert in the field of information security, awareness, and cyber security, he gives lectures and keynotes and is active as an author as well as research assistant at various universities. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems and a Master’s in IT Management. Most recently, he held security leadership positions at energy provider E.ON and chemical developer and manufacturer LANXESS, where he was responsible for the entire group’s information security.

Tobias Ludwichowski

CISO, Signal Iduna

Tobias Ludwichowski has a background in industrial engineering and has held a variety of roles at the SIGNAL IDUNA Group since 2015. These have included supervisory roles in risk management and IT governance, his role as head of the Chief Information Security Office since 2022, and serving as CISO for the SIGNAL IDUNA Group’s German insurance companies.

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.

Bart Sikkes

Global Security Officer, Valtech

With over 30 years of experience in many areas of IT, Bart uses his expertise to level up Security at Valtech. Bart leads an international team of 50+ local and regional security officers, located in Valtech’s 22 countries. These security officers spread the proverbial ‘security word’, train colleagues and support the sales and client delivery teams at all flavors of security. At the same time, Bart supports the global and local IT teams in keeping the good inside, and the bad outside of the organization. And of course, he leads the CSIRT team when it’s needed. His technical skills as a CISSP certified officer, combined with his well-developed communicative skills, enable him to target and tweak security communications depending on the purpose or target audience. During this conference, Bart will talk about his quest to make Security Awareness top of mind all throughout the organization, in such a way that it sticks and is being acted on.

Christian Metzler

Global Head of IT, NIEDAX

Since February 2022, Christian Metzler has held the position of Global Head of IT at the Niedax Group. In this role, he is pivotal in transforming the company’s global IT structures and is responsible for the entire IT security strategy. Prior to this, Christian served as the COO of a consultancy firm in the digitalization sector, specializing in the building supplier industry. With now over 17 years of experience in the IT and digitalization field, Christian brings a vast expertise from both the service sector and corporate environment.

Sarah Barclay

Head of Cybersecurity Operations, Sodexo UK&I

Sarah Barclay is a cyber security professional who has worked in the automotive, retail and legal sectors before taking up her role as Head of Cybersecurity Operations for Sodexo UK&I. Sarah has led multiple Security Culture transformations and is passionate about the interaction between people and security. She makes use of academic research, NCSC best practice and industry knowledge in her approach. In addition, she has significant experience in supporting security transformation through strategy and project management. At Sodexo, Sarah is responsible for security culture, incident management, security engineering, vulnerability management and threat intelligence for UK&I.

Yorn Ziesche

CISO, Handelsblatt Media Group

Information integrity is crucial for free societies. Holding deep ties to the publishing industry, Yorn Ziesche is ardently dedicated to preserving the authenticity and accessibility of information, while concurrently safeguarding team identities against external threats. Believing that knowledge empowers, Yorn emphasizes the importance of education on potential dangers. Originating as a programmer in the era before the internet, Yorn has progressed through diverse IT roles and leadership capacities, championing the integration of best practices in information security in line with industry standards.

Chris Denbigh-White

CSO, Next DLP

Chris Denbigh-White is an accomplished information security professional with a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors. With a background as a former police and intelligence officer, he has built his career in system design, defence, and governance.

Chris has held various roles, including serving as a member of the office of the CISO at Deutsche Bank. He is highly regarded for his expertise in cyber analysis and is currently leading the security function at Next DLP as Chief Security Officer.

Chris is also an active contributor to the advisory board of the SANS Institute and has played a role in the development of the ISC2 CISSP exam by assisting in certification question writing.

Dr. Torsten Brodt

SVP SME Market, Deutsche Telekom AG

Dr. Torsten Brodt leads the sales organization for small and medium-sized enterprises as Senior Vice Presidant at Deutsche Telekom AG. In his role, he is responsible for sales of the entire telecommunications, mobile, IT and security portfolio for approx. 2.3 million SME customers in Germany. Before his current role, he was SVP and responsible for the mobile and convergence business in the private customer segment of Deutsche Telekom and played a key role in shaping the current MagentaMobil generation. Before that, he managed Swisscom’s mobile communications business and earned his doctorate from University of St. Gallen. After graduating in business administration from the University of Mannheim, Dr. Brodt started his career as management consultant at A.T. Kearney.

Iskro Mollov

CISO, GEA Group AG

Since 2020, Iskro Mollov has served as the Group Chief (Information) Security Officer and Vice President of Security, Business Continuity, and Crisis Management at GEA Group AG. Within this role, he directly reports to the GEA Group Executive Board and the Audit and Cyber Security Committee of the Supervisory Board. He oversees a broad spectrum of security areas, including information security governance, IT security, OT security, product security, physical security, HR security, supply chain security, digital media security, business continuity management (BCM), and crisis management.

Iskro’s journey into the security sector began with his studies in Business Informatics at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. His early career at AREVA GmbH saw him climb the ranks to become the CISO, driven by his leadership in significant topics such as the development of Business Process Management and process-oriented internal control systems. Between 2017 and 2020, Iskro further honed his expertise at Schaeffler AG as the Manager of Information Security and Global Project Manager for ISMS. There, he spearheaded the development and introduction of the global Information Security Management System.

Hannah Bakx

Product Owner Security by Culture, HEINEKEN Digital & Technology

After completing a Master Degree in Crisis and Security Management, Hannah started her career in Heineken at the Heineken Experience 6 years ago. At the start of 2020 she joined Heineken Group to work in Global Information Security to lead the Global Security Awareness Program. After some time working also as Cyber Security Officer at the Heineken Brewery in The Netherlands, Hannah continued to develop the security awareness agenda and move towards a security culture.

Beginning of this year Hannah stepped into the role of Product Owner Security by Culture that takes on the Human Risk by creating a resilient and cyber-safe organization for all employees. By infusing cyber secure behaviors into Heineken’s DNA the team provides training, communication, assessments and events. The aim is to create a culture where everyone feels responsible for cybersecurity and thereby mitigating the human risk, while building the human firewall.

Frank Piotraschke

CRO of 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.

Jens Feistel

Information Security Officer, DEW21

Holding a Dipl. Ing. in Information Technology from the University of Dortmund, Jens Feistel initiated his career in the energy sector in 2007 as IT project leader. Joining DEW21 in 2015, a crucial entity in critical infrastructure, Jens became intrinsically involved in managing the special requirements for cybersecurity and adherence to unique regulations. From 2018, he has led the ISMS-Organization at DEW21, ensuring rigorous compliance with critical systems and regulations, while also creating and implementing ‘the HUMAN firewall,’ a dedicated initiative for enhancing cybersecurity awareness and training within DEW21. Jens possesses profound expertise in ISMS & BCMS management systems, aligned with ISO 27001 & ISO 22301 standards.

Matthias Furmans

Senior Task Force Manager, Phoenix Pharmahandel GmbH & Co KG

With a steadfast 30-year career in IT, Matthias Furmans spent a significant tenure from 1994 to 2021 at HP, managing application implementation and migration projects in the 90s, and later dedicating 20 years as Account Manager and Service Manager for HP Outsourcing and DXC Outsourcing Services. In 2021, Matthias transitioned to PHOENIX Pharmahandel as a Senior Task Force Manager, spearheading notable projects such as implementing SoSafe for 20,000 users across 20 countries. Despite decades in the field, Matthias maintains a passionate and engaged approach to their work in IT.

Reza Nazeman

CEO, CIO Ventures

Reza is an international career CIO with stops at EuNet, McKinsey & Co., Bank of Scotland, KPMG, Microsoft, Bain Capital, and SAP Concur. He is the founder of CIO Ventures, a new CIO dimension (compared to “Career Is Over”). CIO Ventures is becoming a practitioner led Venture Capital firm, which positively contributes to the digital ecosystem in Europe & USA, through innovation exchange between both sides of the Atlantic. The key differentiator is experience and recent conversations with more than 500 CIO’s, a dozen Venture Capital firms and numerous Scale Ups & Unicorns. Reza lives with his family in USA (Seattle), and travels to Europe frequently.

Tim Zahn

Commander of the Center for Cybersecurity, Bundeswehr

Colonel Tim Zahn is the commander of the Bundeswehr Cybersecurity Center, which is the central service for ensuring comprehensive protection of the Bundeswehr’s IT systems and services. As such, the center provides the core expertise for securing IT and the information it processes. With its incident response teams, the center ensures rapid and flexible responses to attacks against the Bundeswehr’s IT at home and abroad as well as during operations. It cooperates with external, national and international partners, as well as multi- or supranational organizations such as NATO and the EU.

Ralf Kleinfeld

CISO, Otto GmbH & Co. KG

As Information Security Officer, Ralf Kleinfeld has been responsible for ensuring overall information security at OTTO (GmbH & Co KG) since 2013. The network expert and computer scientist with an MBA has more than 20 years of professional experience in various functions in the security sector. He understands information security as an attitude that cannot be bought exclusively through products, but must be considered adequately and integrated in every solution from the very beginning. He lives up to this claim by actively participating in strategic projects that deal, for example, with the business model and the differentiation of OTTO in the market. In addition, he promotes security as part of the corporate culture and sensitizes employees to security issues in their everyday work with innovative measures and formats. As the first winner of the CISO Award 2018, Ralf Kleinfeld is also involved in the professional association of CISOs, the CISO Alliance e.V..

Sophie Davies

Senior GRC Analyst, Boohoo Group

Sophie is an accomplished security professional focusing on Governance, Risk and Compliance in the retail sector. Currently at Boohoo Group as their Senior GRC Analyst, she is supporting them in building a security culture in their day-to-day processes. Sophie’s journey also includes roles at companies like Allied Bakeries, AO, and THG, where she actively contributed to developing system security processes, risk assessments, and delivering security awareness training to staff.

Dirk Zimmermann

VP Awareness, Skills & Analytics; DHL Group CISO

Dirk Zimmermann is responsible for awareness, skills and analytics in DHL’s Group CISO organization. In addition to the group-wide awareness campaign, this also includes various cybersecurity trainings, the global phishing campaign, the management of the cybersecurity reporting platform and the development of a skills framework.

Prior to this, he held various management positions in DHL`s IT since 2002 and was responsible for major projects such as the group-wide intranet. Before joining DHL, he was a Senior Consultant at META Group’s E-commerce practice and Head of Intranet Office at Mannesmann Group.

Jesse Sonne

CISO, Symrise AG

Jesse Sonne is Chief Information Security Officer at Symrise AG, a DAX40 company with 12,000 employees at more than 100 locations across the globe. Symrise is a global supplier of flavors, fragrances and cosmetic ingredients. Its customers include perfume, food and beverage manufacturers, as well as producers of food supplements and pet food. As a rule of thumb, people interact with Symrise products an average of 20-30 times per day. Jesse is responsible for the development and implementation of the cyber security strategy and coordinates global security measures and initiatives with his team – including a campaign to change security culture and raise security awareness.

Arne Blum

Information Security Officer, Vitra

Arne Blum, Information Security Officer at Vitra, a family-owned Swiss company, is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s information security strategy. With a diploma in information technology and a background in working for several service providers, Arne has acquired in-depth technical knowledge. Upon completing his master’s degree in information security at the beginning of 2020, Arne took on the role of CISO at Vitra. His vision for this position is to professionalize information security by fostering overall awareness within the company, supported by carefully selected technical, organizational and structural measures in collaboration with strong partners.

Marian Swat

Information Security Specialist, Deutsche Bahn

A passionate consultant from Berlin, interested in (business) psychology, who does not like to take the straight and narrow path and achieves his goals in an unconventional but effective way. As an information security consultant, he has a proven track record in the IT consulting and project business since 2016 and currently as an internal consultant at Deutsche Bahn AG. His activities include, among others, the conception, planning, and coordination of the group-wide employee security awareness training of approx. 300,000 employees and the active support of the business units, to achieve their goals with regard to regulatory requirements. As a consultant at PwC and Deloitte, Marian was responsible for project management, staff allocation and service provider management, service providers. The focus was on IT and process consulting.

Boris Klimetzek

Senior Manager Information Security & Data Protection, Aareal Bank AG

Boris Klimetzek is a seasoned senior manager with broad knowledge of Information security and finance. At Aareal Bank AG he focuses on strategically developing the Information Security Management Systems (ISMS), on implementing a comprehensive awareness program and assessing of information security risks. Before that he was responsible for information security at Düsseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG und worked closely with the Board developing into an independent field by separating it from the IT Department. Klimetzek started out on the business side of the banking industry, for more than a decade he worked on real estate portfolios and the accompanying debt. This deep know how of bank processes is a critical advantage in his current role, it enables him seeing information security in a broader operational context.

Nicolas Mahler

B2B CFO & Sales Management, Deutsche Telekom AG

Nicolas Mahler is the Managing Director of Finance & Sales Management at Deutsche Telekom Geschäftskunden since 2023. The company operates in over 30 countries and offers solutions in communications, IT, security, IoT and digital consulting. From 2018 to 2022, Nicolas Mahler was CFO at Telekom Romania and Telekom Romania Mobile, where he played a key role in the restructuring and successful merger with Orange Romania. As SVP Business Management at DT Service GmbH (2016), he focused on customer orientation and digitalization, including the development of a robot farm. Between 2014 and 2018, he was Managing Director of Vivento Services GmbH, where he was responsible for restructuring and digitalization. Prior to this, Nicolas Mahler was SVP Operations and VP Strategy & Projects at Kundenservice GmbH, where he drove forward the implementation of 100% customer focus, digitalization and cost optimization. Nicolas Mahler began his career as a Senior Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Immanuel Bär

Co-Founder, ProSec GmbH

As Co-Founder of ProSec GmbH, a company active in the field of IT security and cyber defense, the protagonist has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry. His professional background includes previous employment with one of Germany’s largest insurers and involvement in government and military-related projects at an international level. His expertise lies particularly in IT security and white-hat hacking.

He specializes in social engineering, using his humanistic/alt-linguistic background to address the human factor in IT security. He has successfully put his skills and knowledge into practice, including taking down a large BlackHat hacking community in 2022 that had nearly 70,000 members.

He is currently involved in a media project with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and hosts the podcast “Hacking against cyber attacks?”, in which he shares his knowledge and experience. In addition to his professional activities, he is also involved in private life and is the father of a daughter.

Matthias Reimert

CISO & Head of Information Security Architecture, Rehau Industries SE & Co. KG

Strongly believing that a strong and comprehensive information security strategy is critical to the success of any business, Matthias Reimert has dedicated his career to information security management, strategy and architecture. Currently the CISO of REHAU Industries, Matthias has previously worked at German Federal Ministry of Defence and TMT GmbH & Co. KG. He remains committed to being one of the “good guys” fighting together with his team on the side of light.

Ingo Schmidt

IT-Security and Data Privacy Manager, SWM Services GmbH

Ingo Schmidt has a decade-long experience in strategic IT management consulting. Since 2010, he has been contributing to various IT security and data privacy projects at Stadtwerke München.