2024 Benelux OSPAs Winners Announced
The winners of the Benelux Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) were revealed during a virtual ceremony on Thursday 5th December 2024.
An exciting new development for this year is that the Benelux winners from all categories (except Lifetime Achievement) will be featured in the first Global OSPAs set to take place in 2025! Winners will automatically qualify for the global competition.
The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award will be inducted into the newly launched Security Hall of Fame. Learn more about this here.
2024 Benelux Award Winners:
Outstanding Security Team
Amazon Security & Loss Prevention Team
The Global Security Operations (GSO) team at Amazon is responsible for creating and maintaining a secure work environment for the company’s worldwide operations. Under Gilad’s leadership, GSO has developed an innovative, risk-based security strategy that prioritizes proactive prevention and leverages data analysis to identify and mitigate risks early. Through their “Cluster Model” approach, GSO provides tailored, scalable security services as a strategic business partner across Amazon’s divisions. In 2023, the EMEA team successfully concluded over 9,000 investigations, reducing supply chain losses by 18% despite a 10% increase in revenue and volume. GSO’s focus on continuous improvement, talent development, and industry collaboration has positioned them as a role model for the security sector.
Outstanding Security Training Initiative
TAPA EMEA Online Training Initiative
The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) is a unique forum that brings together global manufacturers, logistics service providers, freight carriers, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders with the common goal of reducing losses in international supply chains. Today, TAPA boasts the highest membership numbers ever in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Asia and continues to grow month by month. Our specially developed security standards, which are globally recognized and certifiable, promote transparency and define clear rules for handling sensitive and valuable goods. This also includes the continuous development of our standard trainings.
Outstanding New Security Product
AESRM, Annualised Event Security Risk Management – Amazon
The AESRM program centralizes Amazon’s security management to enable operational delivery during high-volume sales events. It identifies risks, establishes preparedness, and develops contingency plans to reduce disruption risks to associates, operations, assets, and brand. Driven by data and business targets, the program creates a comprehensive preparedness, management, and response capability. In 2023, AESRM’s EMEA expansion resulted in a 94% reduction in security spend and 301% increase in risk avoidance per dollar spent, demonstrating the value of this holistic, data-driven approach to security risk management for Amazon’s large-scale sales events.
Outstanding Security Partnership
NineID and the European Space Agency (ESA)
The partnership between NineID and the European Space Agency (ESA) began in 2020 through the ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) program. This collaboration has flourished into a strategic relationship, continuing beyond the initial incubation phase. Together, they have developed the Space-Enabled Site Incident Management (SESIM) platform, which combines NineID’s innovative identification and access control technologies with ESA’s space-enabled capabilities to enhance site security and incident management.
The platform creates a digital twin that displays all site attendees, using access, GNSS, and mobile phone data for precise location tracking. This provides previously unattainable overviews, advancing security and site management capabilities like proactive unauthorized access warnings, restricted zone alerts and real-time monitoring.
“Being awarded with three OSPAs in three consecutive years is surreal. This incredible recognition reflects the dedication of our team, the trust of our customers, and the unwavering support of our investors to push the boundaries of security innovation every single day. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.” Roy Jeunen – Co-Founder NineID
Outstanding Female Security Professional
Iva Tasheva – CYEN
Iva Tasheva is the co-founder and cybersecurity lead at CYEN, a micro consultancy in Brussels since 2018, helping organizations manage cybersecurity governance, risk, and compliance. She is an appointed Member of the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) Ad-Hoc Working Groups, adviser to Obelis, and Board Member of Women4Cyber Belgium and DPO Circle. Recognized for her expertise, she was shortlisted as Belgium Cybersecurity Personality of the Year 2022 and listed in ‘35 under 35’ by Santander/CODIB. A published author and regular speaker, Iva holds an MBA from KULeuven and a Master in Cybersecurity from the New Bulgarian University.
In dark times, stars are more visible. Congrats to all winners and shortlisted, we are all #BeNeLux #security #stars.
Winning the BeNeLux Outstanding Female Security Professional Award (The OSPAs) is a recognition I have not even dared to dream about. We do our best every day, but receiving such a distinguished Award is as a significant boost for the Cyen team’s confidence and spirit. We are grateful and ready to do more and better for all our partners in 2025!Thank you Cyen team and many other colleagues and partners who chipped in and rolled their sleeves with me! This won’t be possible without you!
Thank you, The Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) for giving us wings and visibility! See you at the Global Awards!
Lifetime Achievement
Gilad Solnik
Gilad’s exceptional 40-year career in the security industry has been defined by visionary leadership, transformative impact, and a steadfast commitment to raising performance standards. He has held prominent roles at organizations like DHL, ST-Ericsson, and Amazon, where he has spearheaded the reorganization of security teams, developed groundbreaking security solutions, and cultivated a culture of excellence. Gilad’s contributions extend beyond his own organizations – he has taken on leadership positions in industry associations, shaped security standards, and inspired the next generation of security professionals through his work as a thought leader and educator. Through his unwavering dedication to outstanding performance, Gilad has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of the security industry.
The event organisers would like to thank all those who have helped to make the Benelux OSPAs event such a success including: all the supporting associations and judges; sponsors: Edith Cowan University (trophies and certificates).
Press contact: Christine Brooks +44 (0)7785 569719
