Cyber Defense at the Digital Frontlines
This panel convenes high-level cyber experts to address the escalating cyber aggression from nation-states that increasingly disregard international cyber norms to conduct espionage and attack critical infrastructure. As hostile regimes exploit digital technologies, carry out damaging cyber-attacks and now, leverage AI; defenders face the complex challenge of countering asymmetric warfare while upholding civil liberties and defending their citizens.
The panel will explore strategies for resilience, examining how to protect essential services in an era of persistent conflict. Ultimately, the session seeks to answer how defenders can secure their digital frontlines without compromising the very values they are seeking to protect
Andrew Lee Bio
Andrew Lee is the VP of Government Affairs, and Global CTI Strategist at ESET. Andrew combines a unique blend of corporate management and security expertise. He formerly served as CEO of ESET North America, the CTO of K7 Computing, and prior to that as ESET’s Chief Research Officer. Andrew has written extensively on cybersecurity topics and presented as a speaker at some of the world’s most prestigious cybersecurity conferences, as well as serving as a board member and advisor on various committees and cybersecurity organizations.
Colonel Mietta Groeneveld Bio
Colonel Mietta Groeneveld is the Director of the NATO Command & Control Centre of Excellence (C2COE). The C2COE’s core mission is to accelerate NATO’s transformation in Command and Control, focusing on enabling NATO’s Multi-Domain Operations, transforming multinational headquarters through technology, and improving multinational decision-making in the age of AI.
Since joining the military in 1986, Colonel Groeneveld has held a range of command and staff positions at the technical, operational, and strategic levels. She earned a Master’s degree in Applied Physics from Technical University Delft and, in 2014, completed both the Canadian National Security Program (NSP6) in Toronto and the EU High-Level Course on Security & Defence.
Following these achievements, she has held key positions at the international strategic level. In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, she served as the Branch Head for Multilateral Military Affairs. She also represented the Netherlands on the NATO Logistics Committee and the Committee on Standardization. Additionally, she chaired the board of the BENELUX Arms Control Agency and the NATO CIMIC COE and was a board member of the Strategic Airlift Capability C-17 and the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE). In recent years, she has served as the President of AFCEA The Hague.
Her deployments include a 2002 mission to Kyrgyzstan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and a 2017-2018 tour in Afghanistan, where she was CJ4/EF5 of the Training and Advisory Command-North and held the NLD-SNR/red card for the Resolute Support Mission.
Colonel Groeneveld has substantial expertise in emerging technologies, cybersecurity and their impact on the command and control of multinational Deterrence and Defence. She is a frequent public speaker at international NATO and technology events and a driver for change in the art of war.
Hans de Vries Bio
Hans de Vries is the Chief Cybersecurity and Operations Officer (COO) at the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) since April 2024. Hans provides guidance and direction on the Agency’s operations activities and strategically advises the Executive Director.
Hans specifically represents ENISA in the NIS Cooperation Group, the European Cyber Crisis Liaison Organisation Network (EU-CyCLONe) and the CSIRTs Network, which is composed of CSIRTs appointed by EU Member States and CERT- EU. His primary focus is the NIS2 implementation in the EU Member States and thereby helping to strengthen the current state of cybersecurity in Europe.
Prior to this role, Hans was the director of the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL) for almost a decade. In this position, Hans was a member of the ENISA Management Board and Executive Board. He was also one of the main organisational forces behind The Hague’s ‘ONE Conference’, which is among Europe's prime cybersecurity events.
Hans’ prior working experience includes a top management position at the General Intelligence Services (AIVD) and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), where he served as head of the ‘ICT Management Division’ and head of ‘Operational Management Coordination’. He has also extended working experience in the ICT security domain at an inter-ministerial and international level gained while in the Ministry.
Hans has a law degree from Leiden University in the Netherlands and began his professional career in the private sector, before working for the Dutch central government in 2002.
