Cybersecurity: Building bridges to Europe

Cybersecurity has become a daily concern for all types of organisations. Cyberattacks are constantly increasing and target any kind of device, network and system that has vulnerabilities. At the same time, the global demand for specialists in this field considerably exceeds the size of the talent pool available.

“This is in particular an issue for small and medium-sized businesses, which are facing the double challenge of a lack of staff with the right skills and limited resources to invest in expensive tailor-made cybersecurity solutions. The only way out of this ‘catch 22’ situation is technology,” says David Foy, Head of International Business Development – Digital Economy at Luxinnovation, Luxembourg’s national innovation agency. “More automated services are needed, which would free humans to focus on the most qualified aspects where they are really needed.”

“Despite recent challenges, Israel’s tech industry is not just surviving; investment flows and VC activities have remained robust, proving the sector’s unflagging innovation excellence,” says Ilana Sherrington Hoffman, Global Partnerships at Israel’s Startup Nation Central. “The country continues to attract investors looking for bold and determined solutions to shared global challenges with high potential opportunities. With attractive valuations and significant growth potential, the Israeli tech ecosystem is showing characteristic resilience.”

Cyber is at the heart of this dynamic evolution. “Israel’s high-tech scene is dominated by the cyber industry. Known as a startup nation, Israel is actually a cyber nation,” comments Daniel Martin, Executive Director at CYBER7, Israels national cyber security innovation community and point out the particularly innovative aspects of this community. “Cyber companies are able to think outside the box, identify market needs, and act quickly and efficiently, which drives their growth and success.”

He also sees the need for using technology to overcome current challenges. “My prediction is that AI technologies will be integrated into more and more products in the near future,” he says. “Several systems and capabilities are also being consolidated under one platform.”

Luxembourg: A focus on open, international collaboration

Providing companies with hands-on tools that help them increase their level of cybersecurity is a government priority, and software developed by Luxembourg’s public sector CERTs – Computer Emergency Response Teams – is made available to the national and international community via open source.

“Two aspects of Luxembourg that really stand out are our open-source approach and other commitment to international cooperation,” Mr Foy points out after speaking at the panel “Advancing cybersecurity through global collaboration in cyber” at CyberTech Tel Aviv. “I met people from across the world who are using solutions originating from Luxembourg in their daily work. Supporting each other across borders is also part of our DNA.”

Secure solutions for finance

Among other things, CyberTech Tel Aviv featured technology developed to ensure security in fintech. “Luxembourg is one of the Eurozone’s leading financial centres and the second largest investment fund centre in the world, so this is obviously a relevant field for us,” Mr Foy underlines. “The country is clearly interesting for ‘finsec’ companies wanting to explore the scaling up of their activities on the European market as we have a tight ecosystem with accessible decision makers of major financial institutions.”

He also points out that selling cybersecurity services from a strategic location in the EU is a major advantage when targeting European customers. “We are talking about protecting highly sensitive core data that needs to remain hosted within the EU. Running cybersecurity software-as-a-service solutions out of Luxembourg can therefore be very interesting,” he concludes.