MEET ARJAN VAN HATTUM
An interview with our Chief Information Security Officer
With over 15 years’ experience in security digital environments, TRACT’s new CISO shares his motivation for joining TRACT and why he’s aiming to make his job “highly boring”.
Tell us about your background.
I’ve worked in security digital environments in the telecom and cybersecurity sectors for over a decade. I first began my career in security operations at XS4ALL, an Internet Service Provider at the forefront of providing reliable and secure internet services, with a strong commitment to privacy and freedom online. Following this, I transitioned to the role of CISO adding on the responsibility for secure development, lawful interception and regulatory compliance.
Most recently, I was the Director of IT & Security at Threat Intelligence firm EclecticIQ where I worked to secure the product environments for global enterprise and government customers as well as leading the ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certification efforts.
What motivated you to join TRACT?
As someone passionate about both nature and technology, having the chance to work for an organisation that is trying to make the world more sustainable through innovative technology is honestly one of the most amazing opportunities I could have wished for. Joining during this startup phase also affords me the outright fun opportunity to create a security organisation from the ground up.
What are you responsible for exactly?
Defining, implementing and continually improving TRACT’s information security strategy and vision. This includes driving and championing our infosec roadmap and framework, setting and monitoring standards, policies and procedures and overseeing the protection of TRACT’s information and technology assets, as well as the management and mitigation of TRACT’s Infosec risk.
What are your departmental aims at TRACT?
To put it plainly, I'd like us to be as boring as possible. Because usually, as a CISO being surprised is not a good thing. In more conventional terms that means we need to achieve mature, defined and repeatable processes that are driven by industry aligned policies and standards to achieve predictable outcomes.
What has been your biggest learning since joining TRACT?
Just getting insight into the complexities and subtleties of agricultural supply chains has been a fascinating process to me. I guess on some basic level we all want our food to be sustainable and ethically sourced, but to see the total machinery that is behind it, and how that needs to align correctly for that to happen, has been eye opening for sure.