What an incredible time the cybersecurity community had in Lille on April1-3 ! This 2025 edition of IN CYBER FORUM was probably the most intense in years, with a record-beating number of visitors and stands, a set of high quality debates, a flow of rich contacts and networking, and an international dimension in constant progress.
At the ECA, we are proud to have seen our European stand full from morning to night. We are happy to share this success with our esteemed and friendly partners : AIKIDO (Belgium), ENCLAIVE (Germany), EXEO (France), MITIGANT (Germany), RED ALERT LABS (France), VMRAY (Germany), XELERA (Germany).
With respect to the number of business contacts they took and to the reactions they expressed, we are convinced they also consider this edition as fruitful.
Among others, the role of the ECA is to build the ecosystem and set up bridges linking stakeholders of different European countries, and different activities. This was largely achieved during the 3 days, with a high level of traction and of intense and positive exchanges.
The ECA had two milestones of its own during the event :
- the first, our recent MAPPING of the European cybersecurity vendors, led to a nice meeting on the 1st day, followed by a rush on the paper document, where we had not enough copies to satisfy the demand !
- The second, after the breakfast which gathered a number of partners on our stand on April 2 – a warm tribute to the legal firm KLEIN WENNER which helped us support this breakfast, as well as to MATIN PARTNERS which sponsored the video captures – was the debate on the perspectives for European cybersecurity.
A very cheerful Thank you to our incredible speakers :
- David Bizeul, Chief Scientist of SEKOIA (FR)
- Daniel Hofmann, CEO of HORNET SECURITY (Germany, who was about to announce the acquisition of the French ALTOSPAM),
- Ignacio Sbampato, CRO of EXCALIBUR (SVK),
- Reinout Van der Meülen, Partner at TIN CAPITAL (NL).
- To summarize, the debate moderated by Dominique Tessier focused on the response to give as we see the European industry being active, covering all kinds of threats, but also too fragmented and made mainly of small vendors.
Customers have made clear that, while they like competition and freedom of choice, they also expect vendors to come with larger functional range, to avoid a cumbersome integration process by customers.
Vendors have to support the budgetary pressure from constant evolving R&D, which means they need to quickly scale their business footprint. Hence, the importance of consolidation, at European scale, which a number of vendors are now recognizing as the key objective of the coming months. With the international context, this objective sounds as urgent and top priority.
Exclusive Interview with Dominique Tessier
During the event, Dominique Tessier, head of the cybersecurity focus group at the ECA, had the honor of being interviewed live. This was a perfect moment for him to present our European cybersecurity vendor mapping and to highlight the broader mission of the European Champions Alliance. Dominique took the time to address the critical challenges facing the European cybersecurity industry.
