Michel Van Den Berghe takes stock of Campus Cyber’s first two years

The French cybersecurity hub reached profitability in 2023.

In an interview with L’Usine digitale (French tech media) on April 18, 2024, Campus Cyber Director Michel Van Den Berghe reviewed the first two years of the “French cybersecurity hub”. With 60% private and 40% public ownership, Campus Cyber became profitable in 2023, after operating at a loss in 2022. It generated 22 million euros in 2023, with around 900,000 euros in earnings.

In its desire to bring together cybersecurity players and end users, Campus Cyber opened two regional branches in 2023, in Hauts-de-France and Aquitaine. Three others should follow in the coming months, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie and Grand Est.

“Little by Little, we are growing a real network in the country, to offer training outside of Paris. A number of regionally based companies will also want to work with other regional players. This is the case for subcontractors, with the NSI2 regulation,” thus explains Michel Van Den Berghe.

In regard to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Campus Cyber boss plans on focusing on all “infrastructure that will be useful to the Games: SNCF (national railway company), RATP (Paris public transport company), manufacturers… who will be under pressure. I think that if attackers want to sow chaos, this is where they’ll try.”

Michel Van Den Berghe also points to evolving cyber threats, particularly as far as ransomware goes. The successful attacks against large accounts are thus on the decline, but Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) is booming.

Due to “turnkey” solutions now available on the market, attackers without technical knowhow can hit “smaller and easier” targets. And at the same time, State-sponsored threats remain as pervasive, and probably more formidable than ever.

Moreover, Michel Van Den Berghe mentions Campus Cyber actions to improve the attractiveness of the cybersecurity sector, in particular through awareness campaigns. The organization also intends to support the training of new professors and gender inclusion in the sector.