Ewald Beekman wins SURF Security & Privacy Award 2025

For fifteen years, he was the face and embodiment of the community. The award is a tribute to his contribution to the community, and thereby to the enhancement of cyber resilience in education and research as a whole.

Ewald is proud of winning the award: "It’s an honor to receive the award this year! I see myself as an extension of the SCIRT community, so in that sense, it’s also an award for the entire community which, through excellent collaboration, has taken information security to the next level and continues to do so.”

Significant impact

Ewald prefers to work behind the scenes, but his impact is anything but invisible. His contribution gives meaning to the phrase ‘stronger together’: only in this way can we, as a sector, meet the shared challenges in the field of cybersecurity. What makes him unique is his ability to contribute both strategically and practically. He co-authored policy documents, but also developed hands-on tools and scripts that directly support institutions in solving concrete security issues. This combination of vision and action makes him a key figure in the sector’s security landscape.

Invaluable

Within the community, Ewald is praised for his friendly, enthusiastic and open attitude, and for his willingness to share knowledge. For many, he is the perfect example of how to build a strong and close-knit community: connecting, approachable, and with an eye for the bigger picture.