TL;DR -Belgium's cyber defence depends on a mix of different people like analysts, developers, and engineers working together across government, business, and academia to keep the country's digital infrastructure safe.
Protecting Belgium
Speakers: Sandro Manzo, Lt Kol Timmie Bonneu, Tom Hermant
Date: December 16, 2025
The final Tech & Meet of this semesteer brought cyber defence concepts down to a national level, exploring how Belgium organizes and executes its cyber protection strategy. The session featured speakers from key Belgian organizations including the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB), the Belgian Cyber Force/CyberCommand, and EgovSelect.
The session made clear that national cyber defence requires diverse expertise. Cybersecurity roles aren’t limited to technical specialists; they include:
- Analysts who interpret data and identify threats
- Policy and legal specialists who navigate regulatory frameworks
- Developers who build secure systems
- Cloud and network engineers who architect resilient infrastructure
- Threat hunters who actively search for adversaries
- Trainers who build organizational awareness and capability
This diversity reflects the reality that protecting a nation’s cyberspace is a difficult challenge requiring different skill sets and perspectives.
Several specific initiatives were highlighted:
Belgium’s Anti-Phishing Shield (BAPS) operates at the DNS level and functions as an actual protective mechanism, not just awareness training. It redirects users away from known malicious websites and shares malicious domain lists with ISPs. This represents protection at scale, coordinated at a national level.
The National Cyber Emergency Plan exists to coordinate crisis response at a national level, involving collaboration between the NCCN (National Crisis Centre), the CCB, and multiple other organizations. While specific details aren’t public, its existence demonstrates that Belgium recognizes cyber incidents can require national-level coordination.
The session emphasized that cybersecurity is about coordination, resilience, and shared responsibility. It’s not just technology. It’s how public, private, and academic sectors work together to protect critical infrastructure.
For students, the session was particularly valuable because it presented clear career pathways. Attendees learned what different organizations are looking for, how recruitment works, and how various skill sets can contribute to national cyber security efforts.
For professionals, the session was a reminder that individual organizational security exists within a larger ecosystem. Understanding how national-level cyber protection operates provides context for why certain standards, frameworks, and practices exist at the organizational level.