Tima Soni
CISO and Chief, Cybersecurity Division, United Nations International Computing Centre
Tima Soni joined UNICC in 2016 as Head, Information Security Services. In 2019, she was appointed as Chief, Cybersecurity Division that oversees the security programme for UNICC and that delivers cybersecurity services to UNICC's Partner Organizations. Tima oversees UNICC's cybersecurity team of experts in New York, Valencia, Rome and Geneva for UNICC's more than 40 subscribers to information security services. She has served as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for several UNICC Partner Organizations including UN Women, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and currently also serves as the CISO for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Tima has worked to develop and implement information security programmes by delivering various information security initiatives like information security governance, risk management, security operations and security awareness as per industry best practices. Tima strongly believes in collaboration and sharing of knowledge within the cybersecurity community and has spearheaded the development of many common cybersecurity solutions within the UN family. She has helped UNICC partner agencies in responding to complex cybersecurity incidents and developed cybersecurity roadmaps for many UNICC Partner Organizations. She oversees the delivery of several UNICC cybersecurity services that include the Common Secure threat intelligence network that UNICC runs within the UN system, the Common Secure Operations Centre, the common security testing services, the common cybersecurity incident response services as well as common UN PKI services.
Before joining UNICC, Tima worked for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) where she worked closely with the technical teams responsible for performing inspections in more than 190 member countries of OPCW to provide confidentiality and information security support. Before that, she worked for IBM to develop and deliver information security services to IBM customers.
Tima holds an MSc in Information Technology, MSc in Cyber Crime and Computer Forensic Investigations and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Tima holds industry information security certifications CISSP, CISA, CISM, GCFA, GWAPT, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and Implementer. Tima received the Nobel Peace Laureate Award in 2012 for her contribution to the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons during the Syria crisis.