Thales Opens New Cybersecurity Training Centre in Belgium

12.06.2017 Security
Thales Opens New Cybersecurity Training Centre in Belgium

Thales Opens New Cybersecurity Training Centre in Belgium

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Thales inaugurated a new Cyberlab in Tubize, in the south of Brussels region, in the presence of Jean-Claude Marcourt, Vice President of the Walloon Government, Minister of Economy, Industry, Innovation and New Technologies.

Unique in Belgium, this center allows the networks and information systems of businesses and public bodies to be realistically replicated in order to prepare them for cyber-attacks. Its use is also intended to educate students and enhance the training of cybersecurity specialists. In 2017, Thales plans to recruit approximately 400 employees worldwide in the cybersecurity field. In Belgium, 50 recruitments are planned in the next four years to support the rapid development of the activity.

In the heart of the ecosystem of institutions located in Belgium, the Tubize Cyberlab is part of the total offer of information system security of Thales. It meets the growing need of businesses, operators of essential services and public institutions faced with the rise in cyber threats.

As the recent worldwide cyber attack WannaCry, which affected in particular the operational function of essential services like hospitals or rail transport, illustrates, administrations and businesses must prepare and train themselves to ensure the security of their information systems and protect their data. With this new Cyberlab, Thales can reproduce the information networks of an organization, thanks to a dedicated platform, to test its resistance to the latest forms of cyber-attacks.

The platform offers three applications:

  • Validation of the level of security of the information system architectures and data of Thales’ clients
  • Training of cybersecurity specialists in an environment representative of real systems
  • Support for Belgian businesses in developing products incorporating cybersecurity in their design (“secure by design”) and submitting them to the most demanding tests of cybersecurity.

This platform will also contribute to the research and development activities of Thales in cybersecurity in Belgium.

Moreover, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of approximately 2,000 cybersecurity experts in Belgium by 2020. This is why Thales has also decided to boost its support for the “Master in Cybersecurity” by opening its Tubize Cyberlab.

The first of its kind in Belgium, this program will be able to make use of the platform to put students in realistic attack conditions and so enhance their ability to handle them. This program is created on the initiative of six institutions: the Royal Military Academy, the Free University of Brussels, the Université Catholique de Louvain, the University of Namur, the Haute Ecole de Bruxelles and the Haute Ecole Libre de Bruxelles

To develop this Cyberlab, Thales called on the Diateam company, a supplier of resources of this type for over fifteen years.

Jean-Claude Marcourt, Vice President of the Government, Minister of Economy, New Technologies and Higher Education, stressed the crucial importance of having an integrated policy in cybersecurity: “Today we must provide the means to guarantee the security of sensitive data as well as that of property and people.”

“After having launched a unique master in cybersecurity in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, we are pleased to see the European leader in cybersecurity and the global leader in data protection expanding in Wallonia. In addition to training specialists and supporting businesses, the platform will contribute to research and development activities in cybersecurity, factors that can contribute to developing our digital ecosystem,” he added.

In 2017, Thales plans to recruit approximately 400 employees worldwide in the field of cybersecurity. This fast-growing market (+10% annually on average) provides an ongoing need for new specialists.

 



 
 

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