At the beginning of September, we were glad to welcome the Walloon Minister of the Economy, Research, Innovation and Digital Technology, Willy Borsus. We were very proud to receive him in our offices, discuss about cybersecurity, and see how responsive and concerned he is about the issue of critical importance.

Several months ago, we published  annual cybersecurity barometer including several alarming findings. According to the results of our survey, 28% of VSE’s and SME’s in the French-speaking part of Belgium, i.e. more than a quarter of them, do not have any antivirus software installed. Even worse, 76% have no firewall and 81% have no anti-spyware. In addition to that, a third of these companies do not have a designated person to react effectively in case of cyber-agression, and for another third of those companies, the person in charge is the boss himself. An issue that does not go unnoticed in the eyes of the Walloon Minister of the Economy, Research, Innovation and Digital economy, Willy Borsus.

The year 2020 is a landmark year for the cybersecurity industry. Indeed, the global health crisis and its consequences in terms of work and Internet surfing habits have led to a significant increase in cyber-surveillance. The number of phishing attempts disguised behind so-called “official” messages about coronavirus-related measures has increased dramatically. The reports are unanimous: the number of cyberattacks is on the rise, and they are becoming increasingly more sophisticated.

It is in that spirit that we received Minister Borsus on September 9th at our offices in Waterloo. Concerned by this issue, we were able to meet with him to present the results of our annual cybersecurity barometer as well as our complete solution for small and medium companies:The Cyberbox. We won’t present it to you once again, but let’s simply remind you that thanks to the Cyberbox, which is installed between the modem and the computer, Skyforce has blocked more than 730 000 malicious requests for its customers, some of those being very sophisticated, all of that in just over a year!

The Minister’s visit made Skyforce proud, as it represents an acknowledgement that the cybersecurity industry is more important than ever before. But we already knew that! Today, counting more than 1100 customers to serve and nearly 50 employees, we continue to hire different profiles to complement our IT and sales teams.