Niels Aerts - Azure Architect

Q: Where is Niels based?

Niels is based in Leuven, Belgium .

Q: What languages does Niels speak?

Niels speaks the following languages: English (Advanced), Dutch (Advanced), German (Intermediate), Spanish (Intermediate), French (Intermediate) .

Q: How many years of experience does Niels have?

Niels has at least 6 years of experience. During this time, Niels has worked in at least 5 different roles and for 5 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 2 months . Note that Niels may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Niels's latest experience?

Niels's most recent position is Azure Architect at Arvesta .

Q: What companies has Niels worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Niels has worked for Arvesta , Euroclear , Prime Minister of Belgium (The Chancellery) , Appsys ICT Group , and EDF France .

Q: Which industries is Niels most experienced in?

Niels is most experienced in industries like Government and Public Administration , Banking and Finance , and Information Technology (IT) . Niels also has some experience in Utility Services and Agriculture .

Q: Which business areas is Niels most experienced in?

Niels is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Quality Assurance (QA) .

Q: Which industries has Niels worked in recently?

Niels has recently worked in industries like Government and Public Administration , Banking and Finance , and Information Technology (IT) .

Q: Which business areas has Niels worked in recently?

Niels has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Quality Assurance (QA) .

Recommended expert

Leuven, Belgium

Experience

Jul 2025 - Present

8 months

Leuven, Belgium

Azure Architect

Arvesta

Implemented security controls across Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Migrated Elastic SIEM to Sentinel with Syslog→CEF pipelines and custom rules.
Integrated Palo Alto, Nasuni, Cymulate, and Veeam into Sentinel.
Performed vulnerability scans and remediation planning.
Supported AD security design and Azure PIM governance.
Managed endpoint protection and data security across the estate.
Executed backup and ransomware simulation tests.
Advised IT and development teams on security best practices.
Integrated SolarWinds logs into Sentinel for unified monitoring.
Connected FortiGate devices to Sentinel with proper CEF mappings.
Deployed Azure Defender for OT, including OT/IoT sensors and analytics.
Integrated Cloudflare security logs into Sentinel.
Configured SAP logging and monitoring within Sentinel.
Set up GCP sinkholes and IAM logging pipelines into Sentinel.
Built SOCRadar MISP integrations for automated threat intelligence enrichment.
Developed Logic Apps for automated incident response and orchestration.

Mar 2023 - Jul 2025

2 years 5 months

Brussels, Belgium

Security Specialist / Red Team

Euroclear

Crowdstrike
SIEM implementation
XDR
XSOAR workflow automation with Python
Python scripting
Dark web forensics
Ethical hacking
Firewall
Proxy
Splunk
Rapid7
SNOW
Identity Access Management (IAM)
Acunetix
NIS2.0
Incident response
Endpoint detection
SOCRadar
Azure Cloud
Azure architecture
Defender for OT implementation from scratch
Sentinel implementation from scratch
On-duty call
SAML
SSO
Cloud security
CI/CD
Nessus Tenable

Jan 2021 - Dec 2023

3 years

Brussels, Belgium

Blue Team

Prime Minister of Belgium (The Chancellery)

Microsoft Sentinel maintenance, management, and implementation
AISaac
Microsoft Endpoint Management
QRadar monitoring
CrowdStrike device management
Cloudflare DDoS Protection management
Nessus
GDPR
Python
QKL
PowerShell scripting
F5 firewall
Web application firewall (WAF)
Security automation and playbook creation
White hat hacker tools (Fiddler, Paros, Burp, Sqlmap, Nikto, Nmap, Wireshark) and source code analyzers
Conducted onsite penetration tests
Analyzed malware behavior, network infection patterns, and security incidents
Analyzed cyber incidents worldwide
Azure AD integrations and management
Reviewed code for vulnerabilities in Java, C#, JavaScript/jQuery
DDoS mitigation (24/7)
Access Policy Manager (APM)
Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
SSL Orchestrator
Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
DNS
Web and API security protections
Bot defense
Cloud security

Jan 2021 - Dec 2021

1 year

Brussels, Belgium

Penetration Testing Lead

Appsys ICT Group

SentinelOne implementation
Microsoft Defender management
VOIP security
Firewall policy creation
Physical firewall implementation
VLAN creation
Network security
Malware analysis
Managed Azure machines for security testing
Penetration testing
ISO-27001/GDPR compliance
Onsite security with clients of Appsys ICT Group

Jun 2020 - Apr 2021

11 months

Paris, France

Security Automation Engineer

EDF France

Developed a CI/CD-integrated test automation system for validating infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible).
Wrote automated QA tests for Zscaler security configurations, phishing filters, and mail routing in MS Exchange.
Created validation procedures for MISP integration and threat intelligence ingestion.
Built automation routines for IPS signature testing across firewalled segments.
Implemented email security testing covering DKIM/DMARC validation failures, malformed MIME handling, and spoofed sender detection.
Built automation logic within XSOAR playbooks to validate test case completion and auto-generate QA reports.

Industries Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time. Longer bars indicate deeper hands-on experience, while shorter ones reflect targeted or project-based work.

Experienced in Government and Administration (3 years), Banking and Finance (2.5 years), Information Technology (1 year), Utilities (1 year), and Agriculture (0.5 years).

Government and Administration

Banking and Finance

Information Technology

Utilities

Agriculture

Business Areas Experience

The graph below provides a cumulative view of the freelancer's experience across multiple business areas, calculated from completed and active engagements. It highlights the areas where the freelancer has most frequently contributed to planning, execution, and delivery of business outcomes.

Experienced in Information Technology (5.5 years) and Quality Assurance (1 year).

Information Technology

Quality Assurance

Summary

I am an experienced cybersecurity consultant with a strong background in ISO 27001 compliance, risk management, and audit coordination. I’ve worked in high-impact, international environments such as Euroclear and the Belgian Federal Government, where I led internal audits, supported ISO/NIS2 implementation, and delivered secure automation processes using tools like XSOAR and Sentinel.

My technical foundation in cloud security, CI/CD, and vulnerability management, combined with my structured and proactive approach, makes me a strong fit for DHL’s information security compliance environment.

Skills

Mitre&attack Experienced
Pentera Experienced
Crowdstrike Expert
Splunk Skilful
Elasticsearch Experienced
Burp Suite Expert
Acunetix Skilful
Nmap Expert
Openvas Experienced
Rapid7 Metasploit Skilful
Qualys Skilful
Pentesting Expert
Kali Linux Expert
Ssl Experienced
Proxy Zscaler Experienced
F5 Experienced
Cloudflare Experienced
Quantum Computing Skilful
Smart Contracts Expert
Solidity Expert
Rust Expert
Python Experienced
Kql Experienced
Powershell Experienced
Javascript Experienced
Typescript Skilful
Sql Database Expert
Selinux Experienced
Docker Experienced
Apache Experienced
Vmware Experienced
Fedora Expert
Centos Expert
Qubes Skilful
Tails Experienced
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Experienced
Ubuntu Experienced
Debian Experienced
Microsoft Active Directory Expert
Ms Iis Server 7 Experienced
Ms Sql Server 2012 Skilful
Ms Sql Server 2008 Skilful
Ms Exchange 2016 Experienced
Ms Exchange 2013 Skilful
Ms Exchange 2010 Skilful
Windows Server 2022 Experienced
Windows Server 2019 Experienced
Windows Server 2016 Experienced
Windows Server 2012 Expert
Windows Server 2008 Experienced
Windows 11 Expert
Windows 10 Expert
Windows 8 Expert
Windows 7 Expert
Ci/cd Experienced
Api Security Experienced
Secure Code Expert
Owasp Expert
Socradar Expert
Ai/ml Experienced
Openai Experienced
Go Experienced
Yaml Experienced
Blockchain Experienced
Nessus Experienced
Web3 Wallet Security Expert
Iso-27001 Experienced
Nis2.0 Experienced
Dglv Experienced
Gdpr Experienced
F5 Firewall Expert
Web Application Firewall Expert
Ddos Expert
Azure Ci/cd Experienced
Azure Cloud Experienced

Languages

English

Advanced

Dutch

Advanced

German

Intermediate

Spanish

Intermediate

French

Intermediate

Education

Oct 2018 - Jun 2021

Bachelor · Network & Systems · Hasselt, Belgium

Certifications & licenses

AWS Solution Architect

Ai-102

Az-204

Az104

Cisco Endpoint Security

Ethical Hacker Techniques

Penetration Testing Engineer

AWS Advanced Architect

AWS Identity And Access Mangement

Az-304

Cisco Python Engineer

Expert Voip Security 3cx

Google Cybersecurity Expert

Sc-100

Sc-200

Sc-900

Web App Security Testing

Cisco CCNA

Cisco Cybersecurity Threat Management

Fortinet NSE 1

Fortinet NSE 2

Fortinet NSE 3

Certified Ethical Hacker

Profile

Created

November 2025

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Niels based?

Niels is based in Leuven, Belgium.

What languages does Niels speak?

Niels speaks the following languages: English (Advanced), Dutch (Advanced), German (Intermediate), Spanish (Intermediate), French (Intermediate).

How many years of experience does Niels have?

Niels has at least 6 years of experience. During this time, Niels has worked in at least 5 different roles and for 5 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 2 months. Note that Niels may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Niels be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Niels would be well-suited for roles such as: Azure Architect, Security Specialist / Red Team, Blue Team.

What is Niels's latest experience?

Niels's most recent position is Azure Architect at Arvesta.

What companies has Niels worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Niels has worked for Arvesta, Euroclear, Prime Minister of Belgium (The Chancellery), Appsys ICT Group, and EDF France.

Which industries is Niels most experienced in?

Niels is most experienced in industries like Government and Public Administration, Banking and Finance, and Information Technology (IT). Niels also has some experience in Utility Services and Agriculture.

Which business areas is Niels most experienced in?

Niels is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Quality Assurance (QA).

Which industries has Niels worked in recently?

Niels has recently worked in industries like Government and Public Administration, Banking and Finance, and Information Technology (IT).

Which business areas has Niels worked in recently?

Niels has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Quality Assurance (QA).

What is Niels's education?

Niels holds a Bachelor in Network & Systems.

Does Niels have any certificates?

Niels has 23 certificates. Among them, these include: AWS Solution Architect, Ai-102, and Az-204.

What is the availability of Niels?

Niels is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.

What is the rate of Niels?

Niels's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.