CyberArk Experts in Germany

As a Council Member at GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group), the world’s leading expert network, I provide organizations, investment firms, and consulting companies with expert discussions on demand – wherever specialized knowledge in information security, IT governance, and regulatory compliance is needed.

My assessments are based on many years of practical experience in highly regulated industries: from building and implementing information security management systems (ISMS according to ISO 27001), IT risk and vulnerability management, and business continuity (ISO 22301) to the practical implementation of European regulations such as DORA, NIS2, BAIT, and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

The cooperation is project- and discussion-based. I provide decision-makers with a practical perspective gained from real-world experience on cyber risks, security governance, and operational resilience – exactly when it is needed.

• Conceptual consulting for securing business processes
• Consulting for planning and implementing IT and IT security projects
• Security and policy checks, process optimization, contingency planning
• Project management and interim management in IT infrastructure and information security

Overview of relevant projects:

• 2025: Consulting on a DLP concept and for Digid GmbH.
• 2025: Consulting for a customer after a cybersecurity attack in which the IT infrastructure was compromised and the attacker gained M365 tenant admin rights. Investigation and recovery of the IT infrastructure. Preparation of recommendations for increasing IT security.
• 2025: Continuation of the projects listed below for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Norddeutsche Landesbank.
• 2024: Preparation of a DNS concept including consulting on DNS strategy and technology, DNS design, DNS security, load balancing, reverse lookup zones and automation. Preparation of a DHCP concept including consulting on DHCP design, the central DHCP management system and automation. Consulting on the operation of the products mentioned, operating processes, and adapting the IT documentation and IT service description for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
• 2024: Analysis and assessment of the network and security infrastructure established by the providers with regard to the overall architecture, consisting of the design and components. Development of proposed solutions to improve current operations, maximize performance and security, and reduce complexity. Presentation of the results, their causes and possible solutions to C-level management, including the required decision templates. Development of a SASE concept based on a Zero Trust architecture for Norddeutsche Landesbank.
• 2024: Continuation of the projects listed below for Atlas GmbH and Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG.
• 2023: Consulting on resolving findings from an IT security assessment of the IT infrastructure, conducting proof-of-concepts for DDoS protection and Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) with Zscaler (ZIA, ZPA & ZDX), creating a new security architecture based on Zero Trust, redesigning a Cisco ISE implementation and designing a DNS security solution to protect guests and financial advisors for Atlas GmbH / Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG.
• 2023: Continuation of the projects listed below for Digid GmbH, Vaillant Group GmbH (until 09/2023), Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (until 05/2023) and Union Investment IT-Services GmbH (until 07/2023).
• 2022: Preparation and review of white papers for infrastructure and security architectures, planning new network infrastructures for Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum.
• 2022: Development of a concept for the technical and process-related modernization of a disaster recovery plan for United Nations Volunteers.
• 2022: Development of a concept for moving measurement data to a cloud environment, introducing Network Access Control and conducting an awareness training session for Digid GmbH.
• 2022: Development of a network segmentation concept for DZ Hyp AG.
• 2022: Development of a network segmentation concept for Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
• 2021: Development of a new load balancer architecture for Bundeswehr Fuhrparkservices GmbH.
• 2021: Vulnerability scan and penetration test of a web frontend, including evaluation and preparation of recommendations for remediation, taking risk and probability of occurrence into account, for customer ifi GmbH.
• 2021: Consulting, concept development and sub-project management for introducing a Network Access Control solution (certificate authentication and MAC address bypass) and macro-segmentation (area and zone concept based on dynamic assignment of endpoints) in office and production IT for customer Vaillant Group GmbH.
• 2021: Upgrade and optimization of the LAN and WLAN infrastructure for customer United Nations Volunteers.
• 2021: Development of a target concept for modernizing the IT security infrastructure consisting of the DMZ (Cisco switches, firewalls, WSA, ESA, SMA), internet access, admin and management networks and wireless LAN, including support during implementation, for Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe.
• 2021: Creation of a micro-segmentation concept based on Cisco DNA and SGT and Zero Trust for Union Investment IT-Services GmbH.
• 2021: Review and update of ISMS Level-3 policies and preparation of process instructions for customer Software AG.
• 2021: Project management for the global Tec-Refresh project Meraki WLAN 2.0, coordination of outsourcing the LAN/WLAN infrastructure to a managed service provider and preparation of a WLAN concept for automated guided vehicles for customer Heraeus Infosystems GmbH.
• 2021: Project management and technical support for the “Transition of SIEM/SOC Services” project of a customer into a shared environment and assumption of the interim role of Head of Security Operations at customer Datagroup SE.
• 2021: Workshop for a future implementation of Mobile Device Management at customer Allgeier Experts Go GmbH.
• 2021: Sub-project management for introducing a rule management tool for firewalls and recertifying NAC endpoints based on 802.1x and MAB at customer Union Investment IT-Services GmbH.
• 2020: Development of a network segmentation concept for two data centers based on Cisco and VMware for Aareon AG.
• Recording and analysis of the current network architecture, including project initiation.
• Development of a concept for micro-segmentation in the data center and access network.
• 2020: Infrastructure and security architecture audit for customer Stuttgarter Versicherung AG.
• Analysis of the IT infrastructure and IT security architecture with regard to the configuration of network and security components. Additional review of contracts, process descriptions and manuals for completeness. Development of recommendations to improve the stability and operation of the infrastructure. Preparation of a network segmentation concept and project management for implementing the measures from the analysis project.
• 2020: Consulting on setting up an ISMS-Light for customer Josera foodforplanet GmbH & Co. KG.
• 2020: Security architecture consulting for customer Datagroup SE.
• Development of a future IT infrastructure and IT security architecture.
• Analysis of the current IT architecture of all 23 companies.
• Recommendations for optimizing the IT infrastructure and preparation of a comparison between a classic perimeter security concept and the Zero Trust model.
• Preparation of a security zone concept.
• Preparation of an IT infrastructure architecture in coordination with all companies.
• 2018 - 2019: Stream Lead in the Cyber Security program of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
• Responsible for designing and implementing 9 projects in IT security infrastructure and user access management, as well as managing project managers and experts.
• Project area: Network Segmentation and Access Control.
• Project area: Security Architecture.
• Project area: Privileged, Identity & Access Management.
• Project area: Simplify User Authentication (MFA).
• Project area: Mobile & Endpoint Security.
• Project area: OT Security.
• Project area: E-enabled Aircraft.
• 2018: Security architecture consulting for customer Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
• Project management for the development, evaluation and management of the company-wide information security architecture.
• Development of a security strategy and roadmap to align the security architecture with the Zero Trust model.
• Evaluation of security solutions, services and tools available on the market.
• Definition of requirements for RfPs and evaluation of offers.
• Development, maintenance and monitoring of security architecture artifacts.
• Conducting security assessments of existing and new IT systems and security services.
• 2018: ISMS consulting for customer GLS IT Services GmbH.
• Consulting on introducing and initially operating an ISMS based on ISO27001.
• Auditing the IT environments of the GLS country companies.
• Analysis and assessment of IT security risks and derivation of required measures.
• Development of proposed solutions in coordination with the relevant stakeholders.
• Project management and transition of the ISMS to later operations.
• 2016 - 2018: Security Pre-Sales Consultant for customer Cisco Systems GmbH.
• Nationwide strategic and conceptual consulting for major enterprise customers and financial and insurance customers on Cisco and Meraki security products and services such as Firepower, WSA, ESA, Stealthwatch and ISE.
• 2017 - 2018: Design and implementation of an ISMS for customer Verivox GmbH.
• Conducting various BIAs and GAP analyses.
• Preparation of security policies based on ISO 2700x.
• Assumption of the interim role of Information Security Officer.
• 2017: Preparation of a contingency concept for VPV Lebensversicherungs-AG.
• Review and update of the IT contingency manual.
• 2016: Consulting and project management for the design of cloud and hosting services for customer Vodafone Group Services GmbH.
• Analysis and optimization of the sell-build-run process.
• Preparation of detailed-level designs for cloud products.

• Linux server migrations: Planning and implementation of the migration with SLES Linux Deployment of VMs in VMware 8.0
• Guiding colleagues in configuring Linux VMs in vSphere Auto Deploy
• Application operations: Ensuring the smooth operation of applications on the migrated servers
• Operations manuals: Revising existing operations manuals, adding to them and creating new ones when required
• Reviewing service offerings: Adjusting and optimizing the service offering of external service providers
• Logistics SW, RedHat Linux, Ansible, Confluence / Jira

• Preparation of a complete IT security concept (ISiKo)
• Implementation of BSI / NATO / national security requirements
• Risk analysis, documentation, audit preparation
• Consulting and management of development teams in Cybersecurity Recovery and Resilience
• Genua firewalls, VPN, VS-NfD migration from Checkpoint and PaloAlto firewalls
• Administration of log sources: firewall traffic, ALG (SIP calls), ATP, DLP
• System administration – servers, AD, clients (according to BSI)
• Stakeholder communication (C-level / government agencies)

• Analysis and audit of the current situation on-site and at customer locations
• Planning of IT infrastructures and advice on new hardware purchases as well as migration planning
• Planning and management of the IT budget
• Configuration and support of IT hardware under Windows 7, 8.x, 10 and Mac OS
• Review and update of documentation with regard to GDPR
• Analysis and expansion of technical and organizational measures in accordance with GDPR and BDSG
• Training of employees
• Training in AI-Assistant Consulting and Cybersecurity with AI
• Recording the current state and planning the target state
• 2nd/3rd level support (C/S/N)
• Technical environment: Exchange Administration, Active Directory, MS Server 2016 R2, MS Server 2022, MS SQL Developer, MS SQL, Visual Studio 2013+, Tivoli Monitoring, Tivoli Remote, TeamViewer, weclapp CRM Solution, RA-Micro, IT Compliance, Citrix, UltraEdit, SCCM, Windows XP–11, Office 2010–M365, VPN Solutions, Lexware Solutions, OKI Management Solutions, LogMyTime, SAGE Systems

• Integration of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms into high level protocols.
• Security of implementations of Post-Quantum Cryptography algorithms.
• Transition to Post-Quantum public key infrastructures.
• Security evaluations of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) primitives.
• Drone Cybersecurity
• Satellite Cybersecurity
• AI Security

• Operation and further development of a SASE infrastructure based on Netskope

I implemented a Zero-Trust architecture for robust, military-grade maritime container mini data centers based on VMware & Tanzu to support containerized GIS workloads for ground forces. The main focus was on securing communications, workload protection, and data access in contested electronic battle environments affected by jamming, interception, signal manipulation, and constantly changing operational conditions. I designed and architected use cases so that every element of workload, identity, and system could continue to operate independently and securely even in degraded or disrupted scenarios. In parallel, I defined the enterprise and solution security architecture with LeanIX, Bizzdesign, and HOPEX as enterprise architecture, repository, and governance platforms to maintain architecture inventory, relationships, traceability, target pictures, and security governance in complex environments. For the architectural designs, I used Sparx Enterprise Architect to describe formal architecture views, interfaces, trust boundaries, and system architecture in both IT and OT environments. IriusRisk was used for threat modeling of the solution to identify architecture-driven risks, derive security requirements, and detect countermeasures and design gaps directly from the solution models. Risk and compliance management was supported with Archer. Architecture decisions, control gaps, and operational risks were translated into controlled governance and auditable compliance measures. For documentation, collaboration, and visual design, I used Confluence to maintain Architecture Decision Records, Security Blueprints, and workflows. I used Lucidchart and draw.io to create design artifacts tailored to stakeholders. I also defined OT security concepts with support from electrical and mechanical engineers in the areas of oil, vehicle onboard systems, rail, power plants, pharma, gas turbines, and nuclear technology. I created the end-to-end OT security strategy, starting with global policy, developed into standards and procedures, and finally aligned with Bell-LaPadula, Purdue Model, SABSA, TOGAF ADM, CENELEC 50701, IEC 62443, and NIST standards. In addition, I worked with engineering team leads to identify critical KBP assets and place them under protective measures that segmented SCADA, PLC, and HMI assets. I drove collaboration between Security, IT, and OT teams to create standardized workflows and use cases for the OT security solution catalog, while integrating Defense-in-Depth and Zero-Trust principles into operational environments. A key part of my work was integrating multidisciplinary engineering, security, and operations stakeholders into a unified security blueprinting strategy and ensuring that architecture, threat modeling, governance, and documentation were technically strong and operationally practical.

• Establishing Identity & Directory Management as a new (split-off) team & product within the IAM cluster.
• Leading the “Identity & Directory Management” product (8 people) as Product Owner.
• Concept for ‘Digital Identities’, i.e. IDs with n users/accounts and strategy for a modernized product offering.
• Upgrading APIs, migrating to a containerized infrastructure, rolling out international markets & standardized solutions across the REWE enterprise group.
• Tech: OpenText™ (NetIQ) eDirectory & Identity Manager, LDAP, SAP HR/HCM, Docker/Kubernetes/Podman, REST APIs, Microsoft Active Directory & Entra ID, postgresDB, Keycloak, Ansible, Cyberark (PAM), Apache Kafka, Jira, Confluence, Miro.

• Developing and approving authorization concepts
• Onboarding high privileged users (HPU) via CyberArk
• Onboarding non-personal accounts (NPA)

• Extended a global large-scale project to improve the multi-tenant GCP data platform using FAST framework concepts, leveraging Terraform, Terraform Enterprise, and GitLab.
• Collaborated closely with security and governance teams to architect and implement secure and compliant GCP environments, focusing on VPC Service Controls, KMS, organizational structure, and guardrails to support the isolation of corporate entities.
• Enhanced the security posture of the enterprise GCP platform by implementing robust security measures, including GCP organization policies, deny policies, and VPC Service Controls to safeguard against potential exfiltration risks.
• Implemented controls based on CSA Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM v4) to secure the GCP cloud environment.
• Automated key components of the GitLab CI/CD pipeline by integrating OpenID Connect (OIDC) for workload identity federation, necessary for a large migration from GitHub.
• Implemented a YAML-based project factory to facilitate easy, secure, and governed provisioning of tenant projects, increasing speed, scalability, and usability while minimizing operational burden.
• Developed a dynamic approach for policy attachment to tenants using a YAML-based custom IAM template approach.
• Evaluated and implemented Google PAM (Privileged Access Manager) in a proof of concept for organization-wide just-in-time access.
• Set up CyberArk SCA and CEM tooling to ensure secure cloud access and provide visibility into the cloud environment.
• Handled GCP incidents, ensuring prompt resolution and operational stability.
• Authored and maintained extensive documentation within an Agile environment, utilizing Jira and Confluence for project tracking and knowledge management.
• Utilized HashiCorp Sentinel as a policy-as-code tool to shift-left cloud security by enforcing policies before infrastructure provisioning.
• Used Prisma Cloud to continuously monitor and secure GCP resources, ensuring compliance and risk mitigation across the organization.
• Developed a custom Org Policy Factory to standardize and automate custom governance across projects, ensuring enforcement of non-trivial organizational controls.
• Architected and built a cloud-agnostic credential lifecycle management platform with Python and GitLab to automate the secure handling of static credentials, improving governance, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Delivered an executive-level presentation on VPC Service Controls to C-level stakeholders, driving strategic awareness and alignment on cloud security posture.
• Led resolution of P1 incidents with high production impact, restoring services under critical time constraints.
• Architected and deployed a central monitoring and alerting solution using Cloud Monitoring and PromQL, providing real-time visibility into system health and proactive incident detection.
• Designed and developed a Python-based broker for self-service integration with an internal developer platform, streamlining onboarding and reducing manual effort.
• Implemented a templating approach for VPC Service Controls, enabling repeatable, secure, and consistent deployment patterns across tenants and environments.

• Implementation of specified DevOps solutions to automate infrastructure (Terraform, Bicep, CloudFormation, Ansible) on-premises datacenter (Ovirt, Proxmox, Ceph Cluster, MinIO) and private cloud.
• Administration, configuration and implementation of CI/CD DevOps pipelines (GitLab, GitFlow) to support development process (Artifactory, Prometheus, Istio, service mesh, Helm Chart, OpenShift (Red Hat Enterprise) / Kubernetes cluster), Red Hat Satellite.
• Administration, setup, monitoring and patching of Linux infrastructure based on Red Hat Enterprise for Dev, Test and QA.
• Use of Scrum and Kanban methods.
• Administration, configuration and implementation of security standards for deploying on Dev, Test, QA and Prod stages of the new ePA applications.
• Development of new plugins and add-ons needed on current infrastructure.
• Database support.
• Data analytics support (Python, Spark, Pandas, Power BI, Splunk Enterprise).
• Implementation of best practices for DevSecOps and BizDevOps using GitOps (ArgoCD), Streamlit framework, Semaphore Ansible UI.
• Configuration and testing of iperf, uperf, sysbench using benchmark-operator for external source data and IoT/MDM devices, creating reports via ELK / OpenSearch.
• Building a new Databricks platform to collect and analyze big data from different sources and IoT devices into Hadoop framework (Python, Pandas, PySpark, Power BI, Apache Airflow).
• Building backend data aggregation and processing to automate configuration deployment between different OpenShift clusters and big data framework (Python, Pandas, PySpark, Apache Spark, PostgreSQL, Django 2, Ansible Automation, Jira JSM).
• Building a new ML pipeline platform using Kubeflow, TensorFlow, KServe.
• Data extraction, transformation and loading from different data sources including structured and unstructured data to analytic DWH / big data cluster using Python, Pandas, Polars, Power BI, Django backend and PostgreSQL.
• Setup of new DevOps Test and QA HashiCorp Vault cluster for PKI and IAM.
• Configuration and testing of automated patching based on CVSS score, SIEM-integrated CVEs.
• Use of Nexpose and InsightVM to scan vulnerability events in network, host, container and application.
• Design and implementation of secure and scalable AWS architectures including VPC, EC2, S3, RDS and Route53 and similar setups on Azure and GCP.
• Automated system provisioning and deployment using CloudFormation templates.
• Configuration of IAM roles, policies and permissions to ensure secure access control.
• Patch management, backup automation and disaster recovery setup on AWS infrastructure.
• Monitoring and optimization of system performance using AWS CloudWatch and AWS Trusted Advisor.
• Support of VMware services (vSphere, Aria, Horizon) and the virtual desktop environment.
• Development and maintenance of CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD and AWS CodePipeline with interface to Nutanix.
• Configuration of AWS CloudWatch to monitor application performance and system events.
• Planning and execution of migration of on-premises applications to AWS cloud platforms.
• Deployment of containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes in AWS environments.
• Deployment of internal software packages between availability zones using AWS CodeDeploy.
• Building and deploying ML models using Scikit-learn, XGBoost and Spark MLlib including hyperparameter tuning, model evaluation and production deployment.

• Transforming complex AI use cases into practical solutions
• Analyzing IT/telecom end-to-end business processes from requirements to order (RACI), modeling with IBO Prometheus
• Risk management
• Assessing digitalization potential, AI, and strategic supplier analysis against the IT target picture
• Optimizing offer and cost calculation bases in strategic and operational IT procurement
• Optimizing supplier strategy (DSGV and financial institutions)
• Exploring various approaches to cost optimization and simplifying supplier management
• Optimizing contracts and licensing management (e.g., SAP, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, BMC, etc.)
• Desk and field expediting with external partners
• Possible outsourcing and consolidation of services with fewer suppliers
• On-time handover of work packages within agreed time and budget