Norway’s government administration runs on digital trust: border controls, immigration systems, land and property records, courts, public buildings, education funding, and municipal services. That makes public-sector CISO work unusually “whole-of-society”—security decisions must hold up under scrutiny, regulation, and real-world operational pressure, while still enabling modernization programs that touch millions of people. The leaders below stand out for building security programs that are practical, measurable, and durable inside complex government environments.
Espen Ringdal — Chief Information Security Officer, Norwegian Customs
Espen Ringdal is a security leader built for high-integrity government systems. With a master’s degree in Information Security focused on Digital Forensics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Information Security from Gjøvik University College, he brings a strong investigative and analytical foundation into the Chief Information Security Officer role at Norwegian Customs. That combination matters in a border and trade context where detection, evidence quality, and incident handling are as important as preventive controls—and where security must support both enforcement and service delivery.
Steffen Diedrichsen — Chief Information Security Officer, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration
Steffen Diedrichsen combines security management with deep hands-on breadth across penetration testing, identity and access management, architecture, application security, and operations. His approach is strongly programmatic and culture-driven: building an Information Security Management System, establishing strategy and metrics, developing security champions, embedding security into the software development lifecycle, and scaling training and awareness across the organization. With experience spanning strategic, tactical, and operational work—and involvement in modernization initiatives and EU-level resilience efforts tied to shared Schengen systems—his profile signals a CISO who can turn security into an integrated operating model rather than a set of isolated controls.
Knut Sælid — Chief Information Security Officer, the Norwegian Mapping Authority
Knut Sælid brings a rare blend of enterprise architecture, IT leadership, and security strategy into a role that underpins national geospatial and property-related trust. As both Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy Director General for Information Technology, his scope aligns security with long-term technology direction—covering cloud security, application security, and cyber security while navigating the realities of government delivery. This dual perspective is especially valuable in agencies where foundational datasets and services must remain reliable, authoritative, and secure over decades.
Amandeep Kaur Sharma — Chief Information Security Officer, the Norwegian Government Security and Service Organization
Amandeep Kaur Sharma stands out for sustained, senior-level security leadership across multiple Norwegian government organizations with a consistent emphasis on Information Security Management Systems. Having served as Chief Information Security Officer at the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency and the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board before moving into her current role, she brings continuity and repeatability—qualities that matter in government where security programs must outlast reorganizations, platform changes, and shifting threat landscapes. Her background suggests a leader who specializes in building governance structures that scale across complex public-sector environments.
Richard Nylen — Chief Information Security Officer, Statsbygg
Richard Nylen brings a governance-and-assurance lens that fits a property and public infrastructure organization responsible for large portfolios and long-term risk. With extensive experience in internal audit, quality assurance, and risk evaluation across multiple industries, his Chief Information Security Officer role at Statsbygg is shaped by how control systems actually function in practice—especially when measured against objectives, regulations, and real-world risk. This is the kind of profile that strengthens accountability: making security understandable to leadership, creating ownership, and driving measurable improvements over time.
Åsmund Skomedal — Chief Information Security Officer, Oslo Municipality
Åsmund Skomedal is rooted in innovation, technical research and development, and the translation of security assurance into modern digital infrastructure. His experience across nationwide platforms—broadcast, payments, and identity—signals deep familiarity with trust systems where failures have wide public impact. With strengths in cryptographic protocols, security design, risk analysis, resilience, and security and privacy by design, he represents the “public digital trust” archetype: a CISO who can guide secure transformation while maintaining rigorous assurance.
Tommy Molnes — Chief Information Security Officer, the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund
Tommy Molnes brings a strong public-sector security trajectory shaped by national-level institutions, including the courts, police, and defense logistics. As Chief Information Security Officer at the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, his experience points to operational discipline—security engineering, incident readiness, and governance that can survive audits and real incidents. This profile fits an agency managing sensitive personal and financial information at scale, where continuity and integrity are central to public confidence.
Anthony Khoa Le — Chief Information Security Officer, Vestland County Municipality
Anthony Khoa Le represents a newer-generation public-sector CISO pathway built through security consulting, operations, and structured governance work such as internal audits and risk assessment. His background includes leading security work in both private-sector contexts and county-level government, with clear grounding in frameworks like ISO 27001 and a focus on communication and execution. In a municipality setting—where budgets are constrained and the attack surface is broad—this blend of practical delivery and governance maturity is a strong differentiator.
Geir Olav Dybwad — Chief Information Security Officer, the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board
Geir Olav Dybwad brings long-term focus on information security leadership across both government and highly regulated private-sector environments. In his current role as Chief Information Security Officer at the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board, he brings prior experience leading security in financial services and advisory work supporting large, complex organizations. His background emphasizes operational execution—policies, awareness programs, governance systems, audits, deviation handling, and risk reporting—paired with the ability to coordinate across units and stakeholders, which is essential in case-heavy public agencies under constant legal and societal scrutiny.
Governing Securely at National Scale
Government administration security is not just about protecting systems—it’s about sustaining trust in how society functions. The CISOs featured here stand out for making security measurable, embedding it into modernization programs, and balancing compliance, resilience, and usability in environments where the public impact is immediate and large-scale.