Fred Streefland has joined Hikvision Europe as EMEA Cybersecurity Director. Streefland will lead and support EMEA cyber security programmes and initiatives, as well as working with cyber security institutions and researchers, public authorities, local partners and other key stakeholders of the company. He will be based in the European headquarters in Hoofddorp, in the Netherlands.
With more than 20 years of cyber security experience in both public and government domains, Streefland is joining Hikvision from Palo Alto Networks, where he worked as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) for Northern and Eastern Europe. During this period, he advised C-level executives of several multinational organisations and officials of Governments on their cyber security challenges and assisted them in implementing a Zero Trust approach. He served as the official spokesman of Palo Alto Networks and was often requested as a keynote speaker at international cyber security conferences.
Streefland will take the lead in EMEA cyber security activities at Hikvision Europe. He will be responsible for the structure, development and maintenance of key internal and external cyber security initiatives and programmes in the EMEA market.
“The hiring of Fred Streefland represents a key milestone for the cyber security efforts of Hikvision”, said Derek Yang, President of Hikvision Europe. “As a world-leading provider of innovative, award-winning security products and solutions, we have to take our responsibility and be a world leader in cyber security defence as well. To achieve this, we are continuously improving and investing in our cyber security programmes.”
Streefland’s initial goals at the company will be to further improve the cyber security and privacy of the Hikvision products and services, and serve as a trusted advisor on cyber security & Privacy for customers, partners, institutions and employees.
“Hikvision is a responsible manufacturer that already has a robust cyber security programme in place. I will be working on optimising this programme even further to minimize the potential cyber security risks in Europe and to make sure our European partners get the support they need in their operations”, said Streefland. He also believes education has a big role to play in the surveillance industry. “Shared responsibility is a key theme within cyber security, meaning manufacturers and users have to work together and be responsible.” Cybersecurity awareness and best practices should therefore become standard knowledge for every surveillance and security expert working in the industry.
Fred Streefland served as Intelligence and Security officer for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, the MIVD and at the NATO headquarters in Brussels for more than 16 years. He left this position to work at IBM Netherlands as central contact for all matters related to Public Safety and Security, as well as cyber security. After a period of 4 years, he joined Accenture as Senior Manager Security and served as project leader on Smart Grid Security. Other tenures include working in ICS/SCADA Security at the European Network for Cyber Security (ENCS) and as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Exact and Leaseweb. Before joining Hikvision, Streefland acted as Chief Security Officer (CSO) for Northern and Eastern Europe at Palo Alto Networks.
