Brussels, February 5, 2026– The Belgian cybersecurity community came together on 1 December 2025 at the Africa Palace in Tervuren to celebrate the 5th anniversary (lustrum edition) of Belgium’s Cyber Security Awards, a milestone edition recognising the people and contributions that help strengthen cyber resilience across Belgium.
In the last five years, the Belgian Cyber Security Awards have evolved into a premier venue for acknowledgment, sharing insights, and fostering community connections. This special anniversary edition celebrates five years of innovation, teamwork, and leadership.
ISACA Belgium: proud partner
ISACA Belgium has been a trusted partner of Belgium’s Cyber Security Awards for many years, supporting the initiative and its mission to highlight excellence, leadership, innovation, and impact within our ecosystem.
We are especially proud of the continued involvement of:
- Egide Nzabonimana, our jury member, contributing to the integrity and quality of the selection process.
- Karolien Vanhuffel and Kian Bayat, members of the Cyber Security Awards Task Force (ISACA Belgium), helping drive the awards forward year after year.
Their engagement helps ensure the awards remain strong, credible, and connected to the community.
Congratulations to the 2025 winners
This lustrum edition celebrated five professionals whose work is shaping a safer, stronger digital Belgium, each in a different but essential pillar of cybersecurity
- Cyber Security Personality Award: Ann Mennens
Recognised as a leading voice for cybersecurity awareness and diversity, Ann Mennens (CyberAware Programme Manager at the European Commission) is celebrated for her strong leadership and her consistent impact across both Belgian and European initiatives. She is especially praised for championing inclusion and empowering more women to step into cybersecurity roles, helping build a sector that is not only stronger, but more representative.
- Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Award: Philippe Cornette
Honoured for being a visionary, approachable, and impact-driven leader. The award recognises his ability to combine strategic direction with practical execution, while bringing people along through clarity, collaboration, and trust. His leadership demonstrates how cybersecurity can be both a business enabler and a driver of resilience.
- Cyber Security Researcher of the Year Award: Peggy Valcke
Recognised for bridging worlds and empowering teams, connecting research, policy, and real-world impact. This award highlights how her work helps translate complex challenges into actionable progress, strengthening Belgium’s capabilities at the intersection of security, governance, and society. - Young Cyber Security Professional Award: Sarah Ampe
Celebrated for driving change with expertise and purpose. The award recognises her strong professional contribution, her forward-looking mindset, and the way she brings energy and clarity to digital risk and security challenges, setting an example for the next generation of cyber professionals.
- Privacy Professional of the Year Award: Nathan Vanhelleputte
Honoured for transforming privacy into a business enabler. The award recognises his ability to lead impactful change in a complex environment, combining operational excellence with strategic vision, and proving that privacy can support innovation and growth while maintaining trust and protection.
A rigorous and independent selection process
The awards follow a structured approach: applications are assessed using a scoring methodology to create a shortlist, followed by deliberation by an independent and multidisciplinary jury, ensuring fairness, integrity, and transparency throughout the process.
Learn more
To discover more about Belgium’s Cyber Security Awards and the initiative behind it, visit the channels of the Cyber Security Coalition.
About
The mission of the Cyber Security Coalition is to bolster Belgium’s cyber security resilience by building a strong cybersecurity ecosystem. We do so by bringing together the skills and expertise of the academic world, the private sector and public authorities on a trust-based platform aimed at fostering information exchange, operational peer-to-peer collaboration, making recommendations for more effective policies and guidelines, and finally carrying out joint awareness-raising campaigns aimed at citizens and organisations. More than 1,400 representatives of our 200+ member organisations participate in our activities and, as such, contribute to our mission.
Cyber Security Awards Task Force
The Belgian Cyber Security Awards annually honour the most inspiring and influential
professionals in Belgium’s cybersecurity sector. With five award categories, each
reflecting a crucial facet of the discipline, the awards have grown into a leading platform for recognition, knowledge sharing, and community building in Belgium. Belgium’s Cyber Security Awards are personally supported by Henk Dujardin, Cathy
Suykens, Guy Hofmans, Pascal Champagne (Cyber Security Coalition), Nicolas Ameye & Georges Ataya (Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management), Karolien Vanhuffel and Kian Bayat (ISACA Belgium), Jéremy Grandclaudon and Nina Hasratyan (Agence du Numérique), Carolina Stevens (Digital Flanders), Barbara Van Dyck (Antwerp Management School), Philippe Massonet (Cetic), Saskia Van Uffelen (Agoria), and Peter Berghmans (Data Protection Institute)