The panel · 2026

The people who judge.

The Cyber Security Awards are decided by an independent, international panel of 30 practitioners, chief information security officers and researchers. They score every nomination against the published criteria, and a place is earned on the evidence alone.

Quick answer

Who judges the Cyber Security Awards?

The Cyber Security Awards are judged by an independent panel of 30 senior practitioners drawn from across the field, including chief information security officers, security architects, researchers, consultants and community leaders working in banking, water, retail, government, telecoms and beyond. The panel scores each nomination against the published criteria for its category and reaches a decision on merit. Judges are credentialed professionals who volunteer their time and expertise; they are not chosen for their employer's spend, and a place on the shortlist or in the winners' list can never be bought. Sponsorship has no bearing on who is recognised or where a name appears. Where a judge has a connection to a nomination, they recuse themselves from scoring it, so that every result rests on the strength of the work.

The judging panel

An independent panel

30 judges who read the evidence and decide on merit. No photographs are published — each judge is listed by name and role.

Dr. Andrea Cullen

CEO and Co-Founder of CAPSLOCK Education | Information Security Specialist

Etizaz Mohsin

Senior Security Consultant at Digital.ai

Goher Mohammad

Head of Infosec at L&Q Group

Jennifer Cox

Director for Ireland at Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) UK & Ireland

Jon Staniforth

Former CISO at Royal Mail

Karla Reffold

Chief Product Officer at Surefire Cyber Inc., Industry Speaker, NED, Cyber Security Awards Judge and American Cyber Awards Judge

Lisa Ventura MBE

Founder of Cyber Security Unity | Cyber Security Awareness & Tech Professional, Writer & Speaker

Martyn Booth

Chief Information Security Officer at dunnhumby, part of the Tesco group

Naveen Vasudeva

Global Chief Information Security Officer at The CyberTree Paradox

Raj Meghani

Co-Founder, CMO & Head of Product & Sales at BlockAPT™️

Rob Merrett

Chief Information Security Officer at Credera

Shishir Kumar Singh

Group Head of Information Security at Advance Intelligence Group

Stella Tsitsoula

President of the BoD, Hellenic Cybersecurity Institute | Co-founder & Vice President Women4Cyber Greece

Stuart Seymour

Group CISO and CSO at Virgin Media O2

Umar Waheed

Chief Information Security Officer at Nuance Communications

John Paul Richard G. Alarcon

CISO and Cyber Security Head

Alex Lim

Director of IT at Horizon Quantum

Indrani Chandrasegaran Kermorvant

Senior Director Cyber Advisory and Global Technology Services APAC

John Patrick Lita

Head of IT Security and Infrastructure

Rei Nikolai Magnaye

CISO

Dr. Kunal Sehgal

Cybersecurity Leader

Mike Loginov

Co-Founder Executive , Cybersecurity & AI Governance Initiative (CAGI)

Somjat Maksomboon

BI and IT Director

Željko Posao

CISO

Gaetan Labat

CISO

Antonio Paolo M.

CISO & Head IT Security | Data Protection Officer (DPO) at DSwiss

David Mantock

CISO

Leron Zinatullin

CISO | Board and Startup Advisor | AI Governance

Fred Streefland

Global CISO (EMEA)

Jean Carlos

Head of Information Security

Panel alumni Judges who have served · 17

The panel is refreshed each edition. These 17 judges served through the 2026 Awards, and their record stands.

Adrian VallecchiaCybersecurity Team Leader
Ahmed AfifiCyber Security Manager at Spark Engineering Consultants.
Jon HoldenCISO at Atom Bank
Lee WhatfordFormer CISO Domino’s Pizza Group
Mohsin ChoudhuryU.K. Information Security Architect | CISO Advisor
Rajinder Tumber MBECyber Security Consultancy Team Lead, at Sky
Sharat WilliamsFounder & Director at Ultra Realis
Steven WhitchurchCISO and VP of Enterprise Services at GSG
Tarnveer SinghDirector of Cyber Wisdom
Matheiu ManaloInformation Director
Russell HernandezCISO
Kris TrinidadChief Risk and Information Security Officer
Guy FridmanDirector Of Cybersecurity at Agoda
Geert WarlopTechnical and Data Director,BTS group
James McLearyChief Information Security Officer
Lorenzo D'AmbrosiRegional CISO and DPO at Rothschild & Co
Mark BarwinskiCISO

The panel is reviewed each edition and judges recuse themselves from any nomination they are connected to. Read how winners are chosen, browse the categories, or submit a nomination. Every result is judged on merit and never bought.