Segment session: cybersecurity

In his presentation, ‘Cybersecurity and the boardroom: what hackers and board members can learn from each other’, Jeroen guided participants through the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape and the growing strategic relevance of cybersecurity at board level. He illustrated how cyber risks are increasingly triggered by regulatory pressure, customer and supply chain requirements and high-impact incidents affecting peers and competitors.

Drawing on his background as an ethical hacker and more than 12 years’ experience advising management teams and boardrooms, Jeroen provided a clear view of how modern cyberattacks unfold, from reconnaissance and phishing to lateral movement and ransomware, and how attackers exploit small weaknesses to gain disproportionate impact. He also highlighted the professionalisation of cybercrime ecosystems, including ransomware-as-a-service and initial access brokers, reinforcing the need for organisations to assume that being targeted is a matter of when, not if.

Jeroen emphasised that cyber resilience is as much a governance and leadership issue as a technical one. Given the significant financial impact of incidents, boards must actively steer on risk appetite, continuity and crisis decision-making, while ensuring that essential cyber hygiene is firmly in place.

The session concluded with practical board-level takeaways, including the importance of aligning cybersecurity strategy with business strategy, regularly testing the organisation through realistic attack simulations, and positioning cybersecurity as a business enabler rather than solely a compliance obligation.

The themes covered align closely with the priorities of the HHT agenda, which emphasises secure high-tech systems, robust data infrastructures and strengthened digital resilience.

Presentation:
https://nag.aero/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cybersecurity-en-de-boardroom-NAG.pdf

*This event is made possible with the support of HHT and is organised in collaboration with HIVE Aerospace Collective