Basque Cyber Security Centre - Centro Vasco de Ciberseguridad

BCSC will take the first step towards the creation of an ambitious European fund which aims at boosting investment in European cybersecurity companies, strengthening this strategic sector and reducing the current technological dependence of the European Union on other world economies.

The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), a non-profit organisation whose main objective is to support initiatives and projects aimed at the development, promotion, and enhancement of European cybersecurity, has recently created the CYBERSECURITY MADE IN EUROPE label, an industry-driven marketing tool aimed at supporting the role of European cybersecurity companies and increasing their visibility in the European and global markets.

The Basque Internationalisation Agency and the Basque Cybersecurity Centre, both belonging to SPRI Group, have made a presentation of the Basque cybersecurity ecosystem in Slovakia. The presentation was part of a virtual workshop held at the Basque office for the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Prague, with the support of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO), which has been cooperating with Basque agencies for several years now.

The Basque cybersecurity startup CounterCraft has raised 5 million dollars to finance the international expansion of its Cyber Deception Platform, ground-breaking cyber threat detection, intelligence and response technology. Part of the cybersecurity ecosystem promoted in the Basque Country by the Basque Cybersecurity Centre (BCSC), a member of the SPRI Group, CounterCraft has brought the first financing round to a close, with Adara Ventures, eCAPITAL and Red Eléctrica Group as leading investors as well as increased shares by previous investors Evolution Equity Partners, ORZA and Wayra, Telefónica's open innovation hub.

In the current situation, startups in the Basque cybersecurity ecosystem are innovating, speeding up and strengthening services in order to help build a stronger sector, facing a future full of possibilities.

In May 2019 the Basque Government opened a new edition of the industrial cybersecurity programme of grants with the aid of the BCSC and Grupo SPRI. The aim was to help raise the level of protection in companies based in the Basque Country, and thereby help this improved level of cybersecurity to give these companies a competitive edge. The first edition of the programme in 2018, the first of its kind in the whole of Spain, was so successful, and was in such demand, that the initial 600,000¤ earmarked for the project was eventually raised to 1 million Euros, in order to cater for the massive number of applicants.

Over twenty of the Basque Country's most important cybersecurity companies, leaders in the field, accepted the invitation to join the Expo section of this benchmark event in Euskadi for Industry 4.0 and industrial cybersecurity, the Basque Industry 4.0-The Meeting Point.

Nowadays, it-sa is the largest cybersecurity fair in Europe, and probably one of the most important world-wide. The event, celebrated since 2009 in the German city of Nuremberg, gathers over 700 exhibitors from 27 countries, and a great number of visitors - the 2018 edition drew over 14,000. All aspects of cybersecurity are covered, including cloud-storage technology, data processing and internet security. The fair caters principally for cybersecurity professionals from public administration, and developers and suppliers of cybersecurity goods and services. This year, the fair will be held from the 8th to the 10th of October in the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre.