by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG – THE African information and communications technology (ICT) provider, NEC XON, has appointed Armand Kruger as the Head of Cybersecurity.

He will oversee all cyber security offerings including cyber security strategy, programmes and executive advisory.

Jason Barr, NEC XON Executive Safety Solutions, said Kruger brings deep cyber security nous to the new role, having served as the Head of Cyber Operations.

“His (Kruger) core focus has been on tactical incident response and threat hunting. We are delighted to promote Armand into this key position given the excellent reputation he has built with us over the years,” Barr said.

Before joining NEC XON, Kruger worked at Vodacom as a “threat hunter”, focusing on cyber threat simulations and attack scenarios.

Kruger has been in countless major cyber security incidents, including digital hands-on-keyword battles with ransomware operations.

He believes that incident response can be complex and business coordination is key.

“The contemporary demand for connecting numerous individuals in far-flung locations through interconnected systems, data sources and storage presents a complex and extremely demanding cyber security landscape,” Kruger said.

Kruger said the landscape comes with various competing requirements like accessibility and availability versus privacy and protection.

“Hackers frequently take advantage of the vulnerabilities that arise due to the intricacies of managing and maintaining these diverse environments,” he said.

Kruger sees artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning playing a major role in the future of cyber security, especially around automated security operations.

– CAJ News