CISO at Gemeente Den Haag
CISO of the Year nominee
As the CISO of the Municipality of The Hague, Jeroen is responsible for creating and maintaining the security program of the international city of peace and justice. In his role as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Jeroen hosts the well-known ‘Hâck The Hague’ event during Cyber Security Week. This event brings together professionals and students to test the security of the city’s live digital systems and its suppliers.
Prior to joining the Municipality, Jeroen worked for the Ministry of Defense, where he focused on Information Security at tactical and strategic levels.
On being CISO of The Hague
“My goal is to build digital resilience. We don’t just focus on securing the systems, we want to make sure we are prepared when something actually happens. This is why we practice a lot and train people in cyber crisis management. Our motto is ‘security by transparency’: everything we generate is available freely so that other organizations can also benefit from our lessons learned.
My role as CISO is to explain a complex sector in a simple way. And this is working: with initiatives such as Hâck The Hague, I see awareness and interest growing. Inside and outside of the organization.”
On transformation and innovation
“CISOs need to start looking outward, outside of their own organization, outside of their region or sector. I’m actively working on this: we need to share knowledge, consult each other, and actively collaborate because criminals and state actors do the same. If we don’t catch up, we will lose that cyber arms race.”
On his CISO of the Year nomination
“I regularly work in the trenches of the cyber war. The Municipality of The Hague has a distinct threat profile, having many international organizations, international courts, embassies, ministries, and the Royal Family located in this city. We experience the reality of these threats every day. If, for instance, something appears in the news about the prosecution of possible war criminals at the International Criminal Court, we know that we as a city will be attacked digitally within the next 48 hours. This makes my role an important one: I’m actively building a more secure world, together with my team.”