How did you end up at Databalance?
While studying Information Security Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, I did an internship at Proserve. This is also where I started working after graduating and I was given the opportunity to grow into the role of Security Engineer and Security & Compliance officer. After having enjoyed working at Proserve and it’s sister companies for a few years, I was given the opportunity to join Databalance. This seemed like a great next step, as several labels would be hooked up. Since then, we have welcomed SJ-Solutions and IT creation and I am working on the integration of all quality systems, compliance and security services.
What knowledge do you add to the team?
As Security & Compliance officer, I add knowledge of security, privacy, compliance, and quality control (standardization frameworks). In short, I focus on the availability, reliability and security of systems and information, both on the axis of technology and on the axis of people. I do this for our own organization and those of customers. Something that makes my job very diverse. I am both internal and with customers and share best practices in knowledge sessions with customers. I have a lot of contact with colleagues and I’m the main point of contact for the auditor during our periodical audits. Finally, I have contact with the suppliers of our network and security tooling.
What are the most important developments in your area of expertise?
Actually, there are two trends that are very relevant. On the one hand, we see a stronger focus on compliance from politics (EU) and more laws and regulations, which will also weigh more heavily and demand more from us. On the other hand, we see the increase in technical tooling, which makes it increasingly easy for ‘bad actors’ to carry out attacks with potentially big impact. So, both in terms of regulations and technical tooling, more is coming our way and more is being demanded of us to ensure and protect information security.
What is your passion and for what can we wake you up?
Well, I recently swam in ancient Mayan canals in Mexico. I enjoy discovering new things. Both privately and in terms of work. Learning new things and discovering new things. I prefer to do this in the form of traveling but also by learning a new language (both human and computer languages) or a ‘capture the flag’ challenge as a part of a security course.
Which project are you most proud of?
The integration of our security, compliance and quality management systems across all labels is a great joint achievement of the teams. Together we have set a standard that we continuously optimize so that our systems and processes meet our customers’ requirements and expectations. That we, as one team, have achieved this for the entire group is a great achievement.