Munich, Germany – SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training and certifications, today announced that Kai Thomsen has been named the recipient of the SANS Industrial Control System (ICS) Cybersecurity Difference Maker Award – EMEA Region.
“When meeting Kai during my military assignment in Germany, I was drawn by his dedication to the community and passion to learn and teach others. I helped bring him into SANS as an ICS515: ICS Active Defense and Incident Response instructor because his skills in security monitoring and incident response with a focus on ICS were impressive and I knew he was a unique player in this space. I can think of no one more deserving for the SANS ICS Cybersecurity Difference Maker Award.” - Robert M. Lee, SANS Certified Instructor and ICS515 course author
Thomsen is currently the DFIR lead at premium automaker AUDI AG, where he established an IT Service Continuity Management organization. He also designs and runs Red Team exercises at Audi that integrate IT, business and physical aspects. Before Audi, Thomsen worked for over 12 years in the steel industry, designing and implementing defensible LANs for enterprise and ICS environments.
Thomsen continues to be a highly active member of the community, speaking and teaching at various security conferences. In 2018, he chaired the SANS Automotive Cybersecurity Summit and SANS ICS Europe Summit. He also holds the GIAC Response and Industrial Defense (GRID) certification.
About The SANS ICS Cybersecurity Difference Maker Award
This award honors a deserving individual in the EMEA region who is making a significant positive difference by increasing awareness of the cybersecurity threats to the region’s critical infrastructure and working to mitigate through technical and educational contributions to the community. The award winner will share a positive outlook and belief that ‘Defence is Doable.’
For more information on The SANS ICS Cybersecurity Difference Maker Award – EMEA Region, please visit:
https://ics.sans.org/awards/ics-difference-maker-award
About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cyber security training events and on demand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers a master’s degree, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cyber security. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to easily and effectively manage their ‘human’ cybersecurity risk. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community. (https://www.sans.org)