Introducing New HSD Premium Partner: BOEM Consultants

BOEM Consultants recently became a premium partner of Security Delta (HSD). The company started their business last year and are a young consultancy firm based in the Rotterdam area, with a specialisation in soft skills such as awareness, security policy and organisational training. To get to know them better we spoke to Christian Boertje, Owner of BOEM Consultants.

Can you tell us a little more about how you founded BOEM, and what you do?

My career started off in the financial business. I decided that was not my cup of tea and got caught up in IT and security as project manager. A few years alter I got the opportunity to start my own business within this company and former employers. After 4 years the parent company was sold. At that point I decided it was time to start a new venture.

At BOEM we help our customers in the critical sector with safe and responsible digitalisation, and offer support related to privacy and information security. Working in this sector puts us close to the fire, especially in this age of geopolitical tensions. We mainly focus on consultancy and secondment and specialise in soft skills such as security policy, awareness and training.

What kind of services does BOEM Consultants deliver?

It is tailor-made and depends on our customers, how the organisation is set up. We support our clients in the field of security, privacy and awareness with experienced consultants. These are both one-off assignments and temporary assignments of one year. For example, we are rolling out a complete security awareness program in which all employees within those organizations are permanently trained. This can consist of helping customers to be compliant with ISO2001 or the BIO, training, or setting up an complete security awareness program where we train security champions. They help us share the knowledge within the organisation. This way the knowledge can spread like an oil slick. We make the entire organisation more resilient by increasing the security awareness level of the employees.

What was the main reason you wanted to become a premium partner of HSD?

I’m looking for new partnerships and collaborations that can help both parties grow. I also saw that HSD has a big network of security professionals, and I currently have my eyes and ears open for new security talent, as we’re looking to expand. To optimally serve our customers it’s of vital importance that we have enough knowledge and expertise to keep up with the newest developments and trends regarding security. Sharing knowledge is another important reason we’re looking for partnerships. That’s why the website of Security Talent was so interesting to me. I’ve already posted two job openings!

What do you view as the biggest challenge within the domain of security? 

I think there’s many challenges we’re facing in this field, but I would like to name a few. A big one is the current labour market, making it a big challenge to find qualified cybersecurity personnel. There are new plans that have been presented by our current government, but how effective those will be is still not certain. The changing laws can make it a challenge to keep up with the latest rules while also maintaining an adequate level of security.

Then of course there’s the current situation with geopolitical tensions. There’s a big increase in threats, and a lot of uncertainty for everyone involved. It’s also difficult to keep up with new threats, as cybercriminals are constantly developing new methods of attack. Lastly, I would like to mention the human risk aspect. People make mistakes, and those can be quite costly when it comes to security incidents. That means it’s as important as ever to keep training employees and make them aware of potential security risks, and the tools and procedures to negate them.

What does the future look like for BOEM Consultants?

We’re a young organisation, and we’re eager to grow. My vision is that in a few years we have expanded quite a bit to better serve our current (and new) clients. I think we can really make our mark when it comes to helping our customers make their organisation more cybersecure, and their personnel more aware. I’m looking forward to mutual collaboration with the rest of the security cluster to contribute to that shared mission of a more cybersecure future.