Kristoffer Engström

Head of Section, IT Security Management, GSS IT

I was born and raised in Malmö in southern Sweden, I actually thought I’d never leave, but who controls fate? Me and my brother were raised by two golf playing parents (they actually met on a golf trainer course in the early seventies), but even though both me and my brother started playing golf at a young age, that activity was never as enticing as playing football and the pitch was where I spent most of my time growing up. As all young football playing kids I dreamt of playing professionally, and probably held on to that dream a bit too long, but I never had that grit (and probably not enough talent either) to take that step to the big scene. I did play until my early thirties though, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Now getting a bit older, I’m truly happy that I started playing golf at a young age, because that is now a real passion. We’re lucky to have such a good VBIL golf club that gives us excellent opportunities to enjoy the beautiful game.

I think that Oslo is a great place to live and have thought so ever since I moved across the border as a 26-year old, back in 2003. It gives you that unique combination of sea and forest at the doorstep that I doubt you would find in many other capital cities in the world. It also gives you the full seasonal changes with warm summers and full on winters. From where I live in Nydalen I can just jump on my bike and hit the trails in no time or run from the doorstep and spend most of that run in the forest.

Our family of four, Martine, myself and our two children Iver (5) and Vilja (2) are moving to Tanum in Bærum towards the end of the year, to a house that is being built at the time of writing. We’re looking forward to get settled, to get a bit more space and hopefully to get even closer to nature. As a family we enjoy outdoor life and as often as we can we spend time at Martine’s family’s cabin at Tyin, just at the brink of Jotunheimen. We absolutely love all seasons and what they have to give in that wild, dramatic nature.

It’s been a remarkable year to say the least, full home office setup for both of us in what feels like a too small apartment in Oslo. We both thought that families like ours, with both kids still in kindergarten, were the lucky ones in pandemic mix. No home schooling, no bored teenagers, not being single looking for your future partner, the kindergarten was kept open and we were able to keep a somewhat normal work-life from the home office. Then suddenly February 2021 hit us with another wave of infections and with that an on and off closed kindergarten with parts of it being quarantined, and when it was open it was only open from 8.30-15. The home office days

One of the joys about life is travelling. This picture is from NY.

suddenly got quite a lot shorter which meant working evenings to a larger degree. And as if that wasn’t challenging, our family of four have been through just over thirty COVID-19 tests in 2021, all negative though. I for one am looking very much forward to that light at the end of the tunnel becoming stronger and stronger.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND WORK EXPERIENCE

I have a Diploma in Computer Engineering, a path that has led me to where I am professionally today, but looking back at it, it is rather strange that I chose that path. I have little patience for, or interest in technology and I think my colleagues and managers throughout my DNV career have realized that a long time ago. So, my main focus throughout my 14 years in the company has been IT Service Management or process related work. Process design, process implementation, process improvement and so on. I have been a line manager since 2012 when I took over as the lead for the Global Service Desk (8989), a role I kept for three years. I’ve been the GSS IT Incident Manager, the IT Change Manager, Regional IT Manager for the Nordics and in 2016 I was asked to lead the project to get GSS IT ISO 27001 certified, which eventually led to a career twist, now focusing on information security rather than IT Service Management.

MY ROLE AS HEAD OF SECTION, IT SECURITY MANAGEMENT

My team’s tasks are clear in some areas, while they’re a bit blurry in others but our main responsibilities lie within governance, risk, and compliance. We want to enable protection of DNV information across all domains and ensure protection of DNV information on the VerIT platform. Day-to-day tasks consist of various security related analyses whether it is related to services, acquisitions, suppliers, applications, or customers.

There are two balances that we find challenging for the information security landscape. The first is the balance between being agile and being compliant. We obviously want to be a competitive company, developing new services and putting them out there fast, and we want to allow everyone to be able to do so. But by allowing shorter time to market, we also open for more experimentation and on the other side, more vulnerabilities (technical as well as legal or regulatory). The other balance is providing great service and having to say “No”. Even though my team operates within governance, risk, and compliance, we are still part of the GSS organization and want to provide great service to our DNV colleagues. Trying to regulate while also trying to offer a swift and precise service can be contradictory.

This year we’ve seen big changes organizationally wise for information security with the buildup of Group IT. I see this development as very refreshing and Group IT has become the sibling we never knew we had, or needed. There are great things in store for the future collaboration between GSS IT and Group IT.

SOME FINAL WORDS

I’ve always found it to be fulfilling to work for a company that wants to safeguard life, property, and the environment. It is certainly something that I do value and maybe increasingly so the last few years with the current state of climate change. I thoroughly enjoy being able to say that I work for a company that tries to live up to that higher purpose. It makes me genuinely proud!

I’m also very proud to be part of GSS IT and the deliveries that have come and are coming from us. I’m specifically impressed with how we in GSS IT have been able to contribute to DNV’s overall business performance by providing an increasingly digitalized VerIT platform during the pandemic. Kudos to all GSS IT employees!

There are many aspects of DNV “life” that I’ve come to enjoy, but two things stick out; the ability to work on a global scale with the complexity that it brings, and the pleasure of being able to collaborate with colleagues of many different cultures. Throughout my 14 years here I have weighed other external opportunities, but I have always come back to these two aspects as being very important to me. •

Together with my wife enjoying our summer vacation before the pandemic. I spend a lot of time outdoor. This is a self portrait in the hammok.