Mr Illyas Kooliyankal | Chief Information Security Officer
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Mr. Kooliyankal is an exuberant IT & Information Security professional with around 16 years of experience in the Information Technology and Security arena. At present, in the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), he leads the Information security and business continuity activities at Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), one of the most prestigious organizations in the region. Before joining ADX, he was serving Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (ETISALAT) for more than 10 years. Mr. Kooliyankal is an excellent Information Security and Business Continuity Professional with in depth knowledge on technology and business domains. Being one of the best and foremost experts in the region with deep level ISO 27001/27002 experience, he successfully implemented the framework in live and complicated environments. His practical expertise includes, IT Management, Information Security Management, Infrastructure design and built up, Business Continuity Management System, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) framework & COBIT and also a successful implementation of Information Leakage Solution with data classification schema in a highly sensitive information environment. A strategic thinker, who brings, out of the box and proactive initiatives towards protection of organization and its assets, Mr. Illyas has developed and implemented effective information security management system for telecom and financial sectors. He is an excellent negotiator and well respected professional with highly influential stakeholder management skills, which includes senior executives. With an overall vision and enthusiasm to contribute to the business and with a wide variety of industry experience, he believes in the principle of business centric development of information security management system, rather than it become an obstructive overhead. Mr. Illyas is an Engineering graduate with an up to date and advanced knowledge in his field, ratified by relevant IT, Information Security and Auditing Certifications like ITIL Service Manager and ITIL Expert (IT Service Management), CISSP, CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), CISA (Certified Information System Auditor), CBCI (Business Continuity), CRISC (Risk Management), CGEIT (IT Governance), and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor etc. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) Recently he has been elected as one of the few from UAE, to become the Member of Business Continuity Institute (MBCI) based on his expertise and experience in the field, in addition to the high score in the qualification exam. Mr. Kooliyankal won many awards for his excellent professional career, which includes the prestigious Crystal Award from Emirates Airlines-ISACA, KERA Outstanding Achiever and World Malayalee Excellency Award in Information Technology.