Séverine Waterbley is President of the FPS Economy and a Cyber Security Coalition board member. Her many contacts give her a solid perspective of the evolution in cyber security awareness in our economy: “It is clear that our companies are much more aware of the risks than 10 years ago. But with more than 100 incidents reported every day, we must continue to convince self-employed people and SMEs to better prepare.”
Recovery plan: 13 projects, €12 million
The FPS Economy has therefore launched the website mijnzaakcyberveilig.be / mapmecybersecurisee.be, with an online QuickScan for SMEs that helps them identify the first steps they can take in cyber security. For personalised advice to further improve their cyber security, they can turn to the CyberScan. “More than 600 self-employed people and SMEs with fewer than 50 employees have already carried out the CyberScan,” says Waterbley.
“In addition, as part of the post-COVID recovery plan, we have invested 12 million euros in 13 projects that contribute to increasing the cyber security maturity of our SMEs.” The selected projects include a training programme from the NSZ/SNI and Safeshops.be on webshop cyber security, a programme for Brussels-based SMEs from CyberWayFinder, and a basic cyber security training for contractors developed by the federation FABA/FEGC.
Standardised approach for SMEs
European directives, such as the NIS2, CRA and CSA, are imposing a growing number of rules, with the aim of increasing our economy’s cyber security. “We need to give the private sector the necessary time to implement it all. It’s critical that they develop strategies and cyber security action plans now. Sometimes it seems a bit far-fetched for SMEs, but if they act as a supplier to a larger organisation that is subject to certification and audit under NIS2, they will be confronted with these rules too.”
Introducing a standardised approach will therefore also prove useful and necessary for smaller companies. Waterbley: “For public institutions and large companies, ISO-27001 has become the standard. However, this approach can be difficult to achieve for smaller organisations. To address this, they can call on a service provider to help them, or set up the necessary measures themselves via the CyberFundamentals Toolbox from Safeonweb@work.”
She shares this message annually at numerous congresses and conferences that specifically target the self-employed and SMEs. "This group has little time, so you have to address them specifically, and show them that they must not only invest in protection, but also in a recovery plan in case they are affected.”
She concludes, “In the coming years, we will focus our awareness campaign more on specific sectors, such as construction, energy and pharmaceuticals. The Cyber Security Coalition can play an important role in this, with its broad network and the practical expertise at its disposal."