Bart Preneel

Bart Preneel is a globally recognized cryptographer and professor at KU Leuven, where he leads COSIC, the research group behind groundbreaking discoveries in encryption, wireless security, and digital privacy.

Named ICT Personality of the Year 2025, Preneel’s influence stretches from EU policy to everyday devices. His team has famously demonstrated how easy it is to hack modern cars and keyless entry systems, forcing global manufacturers to rethink security in an age of hyper-connectivity.

As democracies quietly expand surveillance powers and private companies track our behavior at scale, the lines between safety, control, and exploitation are blurring fast. And with rising geopolitical tension, the infrastructure of trust is fracturing.

At and& connect, Professor Preneel will expose how fragile (hackable) our systems are and what the risks are for exposure of our personal data. And he’ll ask the question too few dare to confront: when everything is connected, who protects you?