Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Cecilia Malmström

European Commissioner for Home Affairs, European Commission

Born in Stockholm on 15 May 1968. Married, two children.

Current responsibilities
• Commissioner of the European Commission in charge of Home Affairs

Education
• Ph.D. in Political Science, Department of Political Science, Göteborg University
• Bachelor of Arts, Göteborg University
• Studies in literature at the Sorbonne, Paris
• Social Science Programme, Schillerska Upper Secondary School, Göteborg

Positions and assignments
• 2007-2010 Vice-President of the Liberal Party of Sweden
• 2006-2010 Minister for EU Affairs, Swedish government
• 2004-2006 Substitute Member of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and

Consumer Protection
• 2004-2006 Substitute Member of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence
• 2004-2006 Member of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights
• 2004-2006 Vice Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee
• 2001-2010 Member of the Swedish Liberal Party Executive
• 1999-2006 Member of the European Parliament
• 1999-2006 Member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs
• 1999-2004 Member of the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs
• 1999-2004 Vice Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Hungary Joint Parliamentary Committee
• 1998-2001 Member of Västra Götaland Regional Council
• 1998-1999 Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Göteborg University
• 1997-2010 Member of the Swedish Liberal Party Board
• 1994-1998 Vice Chair of Göteborg Municipal Immigration Committee
• 1994-1998 Research Assistant and doctoral student at the Department of Political Science,

Göteborg University
• 1991-1994 Lay assessor at Göteborg City Court
• 1991-1992 Part time social studies teacher, Lindholmen adult secondary education service
• 1989-1992 Part time hospital careworker in a psychiatric unit, Lillhagen Hospital, Göteborg
• 1989 Technical assistant and translator with SKF in Barcelona
• 1986-1988 Technical assistant and translator with SKF in Paris and Stuttgart

Other
• Author of a number of books and articles on European regionalism, European politics, Spanish

politics, terrorism and immigration
• French, English and Spanish (spoken and written)
German and Italian (spoken)

Troels Oerting

Assistant Director, Europol & Head, European Cybercrime Centre

Present position:

Assistant Director

• Head of European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).
• Head of Counter terrorist and Financial Intelligence Centre (CTFC).

Previous positions:

• Assistant Director, Europol, Operations Department.
• Assistant Director, Europol, IMT Department. Responsible for Information Management and developing and IM strategy 2010-2014 for Europol.
• Assistant Commissioner, Director of Operations in Danish Security Intelligence Service. Responsible for counter terrorist and counter intelligence operations to secure Denmark utilizing corporation with external partners in the environment.
• Assistant Commissioner, Director and Head of Danish Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA). This agency is responsible for combating serious and organized crime in Denmark and to coordinate prevention and investigation on national, regional, international and global level. Responsible for Danish Police Corporation with Interpol, Europol, Schengen, Baltic Sea Task Force, Nordic Police and Customs cooperation and other important partners. Responsible for UC agents, witness protection program and hostage negotiation teams.
• Commander, Director and Head of NCIS DK.
• Detective Chief Superintendent/Superintendent/Chief Inspector – Unit chief responsible for combating national and international cases on organized crime, financial crime, fraud, tax evasion, money laundry, corruption and internal affairs.
Miscellaneous
• Board member in various international LE entities.
• Board member in various EU bodies.
• External lecturer and assessor on Danish higher police management education for senior police officers and prosecutors.
• Writer of a thriller published in DK.

Udo Helmbrecht

Executive Director, ENISA

Udo Helmbrecht has more than 30 years of professional management experience in the IT sector.

Udo Helmbrecht was born in 1955, in Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
He studied Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. In 1984 he was awarded a PhD in Theoretical Physics. In 2010 Helmbrecht was appointed honorary professor at the Universität der Bundeswehr Munich, Germany.

His experience in the field of security has been acquired through various sectors of society, which include: energy industry, insurance, engineering, aviation, defence, and space industry. He became the president of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in 2003.

Helmbrecht took office as executive director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in October 2009.

For more information: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/about-enisa

Zoran Stančič

Deputy Director General, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Dr. Zoran Stancic is Deputy Director-General in the European Commission, DG CONNECT since 2009.

Trained as an engineer he started his professional career as a research assistant at the Department of Archaeology, University of Ljubljana. In 1994 he was employed as the Head of the Spatial Information Centre of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Associate Professor at the Department of Geodesy. From 1990 till 2000 he was a research fellow or visiting professor at the University of Arkansas, the Delft University of Technology, the University of Reading, the Boston University, the University of Trieste and the University of Paris. Zoran Stancic has published seven scientific books and a number of scientific papers on quantitative methods in archaeology and remote sensing.

During 1999 - 2000 he was Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

From the year 2000 to 2004 he was State Secretary for Science at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in Slovenia.

In the period 2004 - 2009 he served as Deputy Director-General in the European Commission, DG Research.

John Suffolk

Senior Vice President and Global Cyber Security Officer , Huawei

John Suffolk is a Senior Vice President and the Global Cyber Security Officer for Huawei. In this role, he oversees the enhancement and implementation of Huawei’s end-to-end global cyber security assurance system, which includes monitoring and improving all aspects of information security across the company’s global supply chain, in addition to the management of the Trusted Delivery Process. Mr. Suffolk is responsible for strengthening the company’s understanding of information security issues of governments and operators and ensuring the trusted delivery of telecommunications networks.

Mr. Suffolk has more than 25 years of experience in the information and communications technology industry. Prior to joining Huawei in 2011, Mr. Suffolk spent more than seven years in the UK Government, where he was Her Majesty’s Government CIO and CISO, leading the delivery of the Government’s strategy for the transformation of public services enabled by technology. Previously, he was Operations Director and Managing Director of Britannia Building Society, and Director of Customer Services at Birmingham Midshires.

He was named the most influential CIO in the UK in 2010 by Silicon.com and was ranked in the top five of the most influential people in technology behind Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

Mr. Suffolk received an MBA from The University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom.

Ilias Chantzos

Senior Director,Government Affairs EMEA and APJ, Symantec

Ilias Chantzos is Senior Director of Symantec’s Government Relations and Public Affairs programmes for Europe, Middle East & Africa as well as the Asia Pacific and Japan regions. Chantzos represents Symantec before government bodies, national authorities and international organisations advising on public policy issues with particular regard to IT security and data risk management and availability.

Prior to joining Symantec in 2004, Chantzos worked as legal and policy officer in the Directorate General Information Society of the European Commission focusing on information security policy. He covered the council of Europe Cybercrime Convention and the Framework Decision on Attacks against Information Systems. In addition, he managed a number of EU legislative initiatives relevant to information society and security, including directives on Privacy on Electronic Communications, the Data Retention Directive and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). He also represented the European Commission in various international debates and conferences.

Chantzos holds a law degree from the University of Thessaloniki and a Masters degree in Computers and Communication Law from the University of London and is a member of the Athens Bar. He serves as Chair of the Executive Board of TechAmerica Europe and appointed member of the Permanent Stakeholders Group of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) for a third consecutive term. Chantzos chaired for two consecutive terms the executive policy council of the Business Software Alliance, Europe. He speaks Greek, English, Dutch and German and is a member of the Oostakker Kickboxing Club and the Greek Circle, a thought leadership club in Brussels.

Jamie Shea

Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO

Jamie Shea is NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. He has been working with NATO since 1980. Positions included Director of Policy Planning in the Private Office of the Secretary General, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for External Relations, Public Diplomacy Division, Director of Information and Press, Spokesman of NATO and Deputy Director of Information and Press, Deputy Head and Senior Planning Officer at the Policy Planning and Multilateral Affairs Section of the Political Directorate as well as Assistant to the Secretary General of NATO for Special Projects. Jamie Shea is involved with several prominent academic institutions and acts amongst others as professor of the Collège d’Europe, Bruges, Visiting Lecturer in the Practice of Diplomacy, University of Sussex, Associate Professor of International Relations at the American University, Washington DC, where he also holds the position of Director of the Brussels Overseas Study Programme, and lectures at the Brussels School of International Studies at the University of Kent. He also is a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs and on public diplomacy and political communication and lobbying. He holds a D.Phil. in Modern History from Oxford University (Lincoln College), 1981. Amongst his many associations and memberships, Jamie Shea is Member of the Advisory Board, Security and Defence Programmes at Chatham House, Member of the Policy Council at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Founder and Member of the Board, Security and Defence Agenda Brussels.

Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar

Cyber Security Policy Advisor, European External Action Service

Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar advises the European External Action Service in Cyber Security Policy. Prior to this position, she was seconded as a Cyber Security Policy Advisor to NATO where she helped to develop the new NATO Cyber Defence Policy and its Action Plan. She has been working on cyber security issues since 2007 when she led an interdepartmental working group to develop the national Cyber Security Strategy after Estonian cyber attacks. In 2008-2010 she coordinated the implementation of Estonia’s Cyber Security Strategy and managed the National Cyber Security Council. She oversaw the development of Estonia’s Critical Information Infrastructure Protection system and facilitated public-private partnerships at national level. She also worked closely with European Union institutions for the launch of the EU Critical Information Infrastructure Protection policy, as well as with other international organisations.

She has served at various managerial positions at the Estonian Ministry of Defence between 1995 and 2005, including the Head of Security Policy Analysis Division, Head of NATO Division and the Head of International Organisations’ Department.

In 2005-2007, she established the Department of International Studies at the Tallinn University where she introduced the International Relations and Security Studies programmes at graduate level. She has contributed to several academic journals and books.

Erik Barnett

Attaché to the European Union for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US Department of Homeland Security

Erik Barnett is the Attaché to the European Union for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the second largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Mr. Barnett’s responsibilities include policy and operational guidance on child exploitation, counter-proliferation, intellectual property theft enforcement, human rights violations and war crimes, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and transnational criminal enterprises. Mr. Barnett is also the senior advisor to the Director of ICE for the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.
Mr. Barnett previously served as an Assistant Deputy Director of ICE, with specific responsibility for the Customs portfolio.
Prior to joining ICE, Mr. Barnett was a federal prosecutor for eight years with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he handled cases involving transnational crime, public corruption, and violent offenses among others. Mr. Barnett received a Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
In 2007, Mr. Barnett was appointed by the Deputy Attorney General of the United States to serve as a legislative fellow for the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate. Mr. Barnett was subsequently appointed by the Assistant Attorney General as a Deputy Chief in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, working on international criminal matters.
From 1995 – 2002, Mr. Barnett was a state prosecutor and before his career as a prosecutor, he worked for two members of the United States House of Representatives.
From 2003 – 2008, Mr. Barnett was an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School and at Georgetown University’s law school from 2008 until 2011. Mr. Barnett graduated from California Western School of Law in 1993. He has taught college level courses on criminal justice matters since 2004.
His offices are a part of the U.S. Mission to the European Union.

Manharsinh Yadav

Second Secretary, Embassy of India to the EU

Manharsinh Yadav, a carrier diplomat, is a Second Secretary (Political) in Embassy of India to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU since 2011. Prior to this position, he was Third Secretary in Permanent Mission of India to the UN in Geneva, in 2009-2010. During his postings in Geneva and Brussels, he has taken keen interest in Cyber issues and has attended Internet Governance Forum, relevant ITU meetings and other meetings on Internet Governance at various multilateral fora.

Prior to joining Indian Foreign Service in 2007, he studied Computer Engineering in Gujarat University.

Louis Marinos

Senior Risk Management expert, ENISA

Dr. L. Marinos: Is senior expert at ENISA in the area of Risk and Threat Management with extensive experience in the management and operation of security and the coordination of European expert groups.

Currently, he is responsible Programme Manager for Projects in the area of Emerging Threat Landscape. He is also involved in issues regarding Consumerization of IT and Smart Grid Security. He also assumes responsibility for ENISA Flash Notes. His expertise is on:

• Threat Analysis, Risk analysis, Risk Management and Business Continuity Planning, including SMEs, Member States and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection.
• Assessment and management of Emerging and Future Risks, Threats and trends hereof.
• Integration of Risk Management with operational and governance processes.
• Strategic consulting in the area of security for major firms in the financial, telecommunication and commercial sectors.
• Security management with regard to critical business areas, such as financial institutions, B2B and telecommunications.
• Specification and implementation of security mechanisms.
• Society issues of information security.
• Systems security with focus on Internet security, security in large networks for telecommunication, security in banking applications and operating systems.
• Security standards and good practices, such as Risk Management, Continuity Management, Common Criteria.
• Co-author of the security part of CEN/TC 224 - ISO/TC 68/SC 6 “Card related secure commercial and financial transactions on open networks”, 1999.

Joanne Taylor

Director, Public Security, SAS

Joanne is director, public security at SAS. With 15 years’ experience in the public sector sales, consulting and delivery, combined with a background in technology for law enforcement and national security, forensic psychology and the application of business analytics.

Joanne joined SAS in 2004 as the head of the UK public sector practice, responsible for business consulting and sales support to the government sector. Joanne held previous positions with application vendors and system integrators specialising in data integration, data warehousing, business intelligence and analytics. Joanne has particular expertise in the public security markets and in intelligence solutions.

Joanne holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from London City University and studied for a Ph.D. in Forensic Psychology from Bristol University. Joanne has published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Journal of Police Science and Management, and the Journal of Legal & Criminological Psychology. In addition, she has lectured in Forensic Psychology and the application of Advanced Multivariate Statistics.

Albert Markus

Manager Development Public Private Partnerships & Programmes , National Cyber Security Centre, Netherlands

Since mid 2012 Albert is working for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in The Netherlands. He is responsible for the public-private partnership within the centre. From 1 April 2013 he also acts as department head (ad interim) for Development and Programs.

From the mid eighties till 2005, he was a Naval Officer and has done operational duties on submarines and frigates . He left the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2005. From 2005 he worked for a large Law Firm as firm director, for the dutch rail infrastructure company ProRail as assetmanager and for the high voltage grid operator TenneT as manager regions and productionmanagement.

Albert is married to Nicole and lives in The Hague. They have three children.

Raj Samani

VP and Chief Technology Officer EMEA , McAfee

Raj Samani is an active member of the Information Security industry, through involvement with numerous initiatives to improve the awareness and application of security in business and society. He is currently working as the VP, Chief Technical Officer for McAfee EMEA, having previously worked as the Chief Information Security Officer for a large public sector organisation in the UK and was recently inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame (2012).

He previously worked across numerous public sector organisations, in many cyber security and research orientated working groups across Europe. Examples include the midata Interoperability Board, as well as representing DIGITALEUROPE on the Smart Grids Reference Group established by the European Commission in support of the Smart Grid Mandate.

In addition, Raj is currently the Cloud Security Alliance’s Strategic Advisor for EMEA having previously served as the Vice President for Communications in the ISSA UK Chapter where he presided over the award of Chapter Communications Programme of the Year 2008 and 2009, having previously established the UK mentoring programme. He is also on the advisory council for the Infosecurity Europe show, Infosecurity Magazine, and expert on both searchsecurity.co.uk, and Infosec portal, and regular columnist on Computer Weekly. He has had numerous security papers published, and appeared on television (ITV and More4) commenting on computer security issues. He has also provided assistance in the 2006 RSA Wireless Security Survey and part of the consultation committee for the RIPA Bill (Part 3).


Next to his work Raj has also obtained;

CESG Listed Advisor Scheme, (CLAS), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE – in NT4, Win2k, Win2003), Check Point Certified Security Administrator (CCSA in NG and 4.1), Check Point Certified Security Expert (CCSE - NG), Citrix Certified Administrator (CCA), QualysGuard Certified, RSA Certified Systems Engineer (SecurID), Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA), as well as a BA (Hons), and a MSc.

He can be found on twitter @Raj_Samani

Gustav Kalbe

Deputy Head of Unit, Trust and Security, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Dr. Gustav Kalbe is German, born in Belgium. From 1986 to 1990 he studied Applied Physics at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. In 1991 he studied Applied Optics at the Imperial College of Science in London. In 1995 he completed his studies and earned a PhD in Physics, Molecular Spectroscopy, at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

In 1995 he began working as a project manager in photonic networks at Belgacom S.A., where he was R&D manager when he left the company.

In 1998 he joined the Directorate General Information Society & Media of the European Commission where he started working as a Project Officer managing research projects of the European Framework Programs for Research. The main areas covered were optical telecommunications, photonics, quantum information processing, ICT security and foundational ICT research.

In 2007 Gustav Kalbe became Head of Sector in the Photonics unit of Directorate General Information Society and Media and in 2009 Deputy Head of Unit in the Trust & Security unit. Since July 2012 he is Deputy Head of Unit Trust & Security of Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology.

Jacques Bus

Associate Member, Digital Enlightenment Forum & Research Fellow, University of Luxembourg

Born in the Netherlands in 1947, Jacques Bus received his PhD in Science and Mathematics at the University of Amsterdam. He worked as a researcher for 12 years and subsequently as research programme manager for 5 years at (CWI) in Amsterdam (NL).

From 1988 he worked at the European Commission in leading positions in various parts of the Research programmes ESPRIT and ICT, including IT Infrastructure, Programme Management, Software Engineering and since 2004 in Trust and Security, as well as the establishment of the Security Theme in FP7.

Since 2010 he works as an independent advisor on Trust , Security, Privacy and Identity in the digital environment. He is Secretary General of Digital Enlightenment Forum, Director Business Development of PI.lab (NL), senior advisor at the Centre for Science, Society and Citizenship (CSSC, IT) and Research Fellow at the Univ. of Luxembourg - Interdisciplinary Center for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT).

Tomas Jakimavičius

Counsellor for Telecommunications, Information Society and Postal Services, Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the EU

Tomas JAKIMAVIČIUS is Telecommunications Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the European Union (2010- present). He is responsible for the Digital Agenda issues, which include the information and communications technology (ICT) and telecommunications sectors. Prior to that he held a position at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania as the chief officer of the ICT department (2009-2010). Before joining the public service he worked as an enterprise information systems developer (2005-2008)

Currently Tomas is deeply involved in the preparations for the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council, since he will be chairing the Council working groups in the fields of Telecommunications, Information Society.

Mr. Tomas Jakimavičius holds a Master of Science in Leadership from Boston University, a Master of Science in Enterprise Information Systems from the University of Westminster and a Bachelor of Science in Informatics from the Kaunas University of Technology.

Ulrich Seldeslachts

CEO, LSEC – Leaders in Security

Ulrich joined LSEC - Leaders In Security, a European not for profit association representing the ICT Security Industry late 2006, to support the organization in its future growth strategy. With over 125 industry members, more than 5000 enterprise and government it security professionals connected, Ulrich runs a team of 8 security and innovation professionals in the Netherlands, UK and Belgium to further develop the collaboration between ICT security industry, research and public authorities. LSEC is active in FP7 and Competitiveness and Innovation Programs in Europe and on a number of other research projects, where it brings industrial expertise to the research table, connecting to user communities and end users. LSEC is within ACDC in charge over the pilot developments, the largest task within the anti-botnet pilot action. Prior to LSEC, Ulrich has started the European branch of SprintClearwire the North-American Wireless Broadband operator, founded by Craig Mc Caw. Ulrich was responsible for the development of 7 broadband wireless operations throughout Europe. Ulrich has an experience in business and corporate development, and company innovation. He led the Venture Capital company of the Belgian incumbent telecoms operator Belgacom between 1998 and 2003. He aims to use his experiences to solidify the further growth of Information Security business throughout Europe with worldwide recognition of the it security expertise of Europe.

Nicolas Villatte

EMEA Labs Manager, RISK Team, Verizon Enterprise Solutions

Nicolas Villatte is an information security specialist combining a broad technical knowledge to a deep understanding of effective processes and risk management alignment to business strategy. Mr. Villatte is a member of Verizon RISK Team and is based in Luxembourg. In this role, he has been responsible for building and managing the EMEA incident response laboratory as well as overseeing and performing incident response and investigation, helping customers mitigate against and investigate incidents such as stolen information, hacked servers and applications, anonymous email threats, malware infections and fraud.

Trevor Peirce

Activity Chain Leader - Security, Privacy and Governance, Internet of Things European Research Cluster

Trevor has played a leading role in wide range of topics related to automated identification and information capture technologies, mobile applications, solutions and including security, privacy and standards since 1993. Currently Trevor is the Co-coordinator of the EC’s Internet of Things European Research Cluster (IERC) Activity Chain – privacy, security and governance, Public Policy Leader and CFO of RFID in Europe and an independent technology consultant working upon innovative “smart” solutions within healthcare, automotive, retail and distribution/transport. Trevor is from the UK, has an Engineering degree from the University of Birmingham and is based in Brussels.

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1032229&trk=tab_pro

Martin Porter

Chair, Edelman EMEA Public Affairs & Managing Director, Edelman | The Centre

Martin Porter is Managing Director of Edelman | The Centre and was a co-founder of The Centre, Brussels’ first think-do tank, before it joined the Edelman network in March 2010. Since April 2012, he has also taken on the role of overseeing Edelman’s EMEA Public Affairs practice.

He is closely involved and highly active in consulting activities, where he specialises in strategic advice and high-level Public Engagement support especially in areas related to the low carbon economy, sustainability and risk management issues.

His track record during his 15 years of EU public affairs activity in Brussels includes advocacy and communications campaign design and support to companies, associations, coalitions, NGOs and governments involved in the above areas to created shared value outcomes that deliver public goods as well as private enterprise benefits.

With a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Bath and a first class joint honours degree in Modern Languages and European Studies from the same university, he is also a visiting fellow of the School of Public Policy at UCL, a Board Member of UCL’s European Institute, and a Senior Associate of the Cambridge University Programme for Sustainability Leadership.

A British national, he speaks English and French fluently, with conversational Italian and German. Married to another graduate of Bath University, Nikki Pattison (who is half British, half Austrian), with whom he has three children, he is a constructively critical, pro-European Liberal Democrat who lives by the motto ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ – combining a love of many sports (he notably plays and coaches hockey and runs marathons) and ‘the great outdoors’ with a passion for learning, reading, teaching and enjoying others’ company, especially where fine food and drink are involved.

John Lyons

Chief Executive Officer, International Cyber Security Protection Alliance

John Lyons is Chief Executive of the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA), a not-for-profit organisation which aims to provide private sector funding and support globally to law enforcement organisations engaged in the fight against cyber crime.

John’s previous public service appointment with the UK’s National Crime Squad as the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit’s Crime (NHTCU) Reduction Coordinator required him to lead the Unit’s interaction with the UK’s major blue-chip companies. At the NHTCU he was responsible for writing and implementing the Unit’s Crime Reduction Strategy and for leading their Industry Outreach Programme. In April 2004, he established the first UK national public/private sector information security awareness campaign for Internet users –called “Get Safe Online”. He subsequently chaired the Steering Group comprising senior representatives from HM Government and a number of blue-chip private sector companies including HSBC, eBay and Microsoft.

John began his security career in the Royal Air Force where he served for 20 years. During his service in the RAF Security (Provost) Branch he was engaged in operational and investigative roles involving crime, counter intelligence and counter terrorist activities. He qualified on the Senior Detective Training Course at the Metropolitan Police Service Training College and subsequently led a large number of joint investigations with police and military agencies throughout NATO countries. John retired from the RAF in 1993 in the rank of Squadron Leader.

Before returning to the public sector to join the National Crime Squad, John held a number of senior management positions in the technology sector, where he worked on mostly foreign-based assignments. Some of his most rewarding projects involved responsibility for multi-million pound engagements with Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and a number of foreign government police and security agencies.

John is a Freeman of the City of London’s 100th Livery Company, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Board adviser on risk and security to UC Group and a keen, but not great, golfer.

Giles Merritt

Director, Security and Defence Agenda (SDA)

Giles Merritt is the Director of the Security & Defence Agenda (SDA), the only Brussels-based security and defence think-tank.

A former Brussels Correspondent of the Financial Times (FT), Giles Merritt is a journalist, author and broadcaster who has specialised in the study and analysis of public policy issues since 1978. He was named one of the 30 most influential
“Eurostars” by the Financial Times, together with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Commissioner Neelie Kroes, to name but a few.

With defence and security now critical issues in Brussels, the SDA raises awareness by anticipating the political agenda and focusing attention on European and transatlantic security and defence policies and challenges. The SDA’s Co-Presidents are Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former Secretary General of NATO, and Javier Solana, former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Merritt is also head of the SDA’s sister think-tank Friends of Europe, whose debates and reports cover the whole spectrum of non-defence topics, and Editor-in-Chief of the policy journal Europe’s World. Published three times a year, Europe’s World is the only pan-European publication that offers policymakers and opinion-formers across Europe a platform for presenting ideas and forging consensus on key issues. It is published in partnership with a coalition of over 150 think-tanks and universities worldwide, and has a readership of 120,000 senior decision-makers and opinionformers.

Merritt joined the Financial Times in 1968. From 1972 he was successively FT correspondent in Paris, Dublin, Belfast, and Brussels, until leaving the newspaper in 1983. Since 1984 he has been a columnist for the International Herald Tribune (IHT),
and his articles on the editorial page of the IHT range widely across EU political and economic issues.

Neil Robinson

Research Leader, Rand Europe

Neil Robinson is a research leader at RAND Europe, working in such areas as European cybersecurity policy, cyber defence capabilities, and the broader socioeconomic implications of the Information Society.

Robinson is presently leading a study for the European Defence Agency (EDA) taking stock of European military cyber defence capabilities. In 2012, he worked on a study for the European Commission into the feasibility of a European Cybercrime Centre (ECC), which informed the Commission decision to establish the ECC at Europol. In 2011 he worked on a project investigating the security, privacy, and trust implications of cloud computing and has also undertaken work into identity theft, cyberinsurance markets, and computer and network misuse. Robinson is leading RAND Europe's contribution to the PACT FP7 project, a pan-European emprical research project that aims to understand, measure, and monetise how individuals make privacy/security trade-offs.

Robinson has also worked extensively on projects for the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in the domains of information sharing and exchange between Computer Emergency Response Teams and other stakeholders.

Nationally, Robinson has advised a number of European government organisations including the UK Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the French Interagency Joint Doctrine Centre (CICDE), and the Swedish Centre for Assymetric Threat Studies (CATS). Robinson received his B.A. in war studies and history from King's College London and his M.Sc. in information systems and technology from City University London, where he studied the physical and logical vulnerability of fibre optic Metropolitan Area Networks.