To effectively fight against the ever-increasing number of cyberattacks, around sixty public and private cybersecurity players have decided to work together in one place: the "Cyber Campus", located in La Défense.
A site dedicated to research, training, prevention and action against cybercriminals.
France is organizing to fight against cyber attacks.
At the request of Emmanuel Macron, a "Cyber Campus" will open its doors in November, in La Défense.
A unique place in our territory to bring together all the players in IT security.
Presented in October, it was detailed Thursday by the various forces involved in its management, namely companies and state bodies allied in a public-private partnership.
The goal is clear: join forces to gain strength and compete with ever more inventive cybercriminals.
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A collective project to boost cybersecurity "à la française"
This project was initiated in 2019 by Emmanuel Macron.
The President of the Republic had entrusted a letter of assignment to Michel Van Den Berghe, boss of Orange Cyberdéfense, so that he could develop a campus which would aim to become the nerve center of French cybersecurity.
"We can see it clearly at the moment, the threat is very high, there are cyber attacks every day. We need to make collective intelligence", pleads the one who will be, in addition to his functions at Orange, president of the "Cyber Campus".
We are this morning more than 1000 connected to talk about @CampusCyberFr, one of the pillars of the national cyber strategy.
#cybersecurite: France on the offensive!
RDV this fall for the opening.
@cometmeetings
cc @ VanDenBergheOCD @ ANSSI_FRpic.twitter.com / FF1oQEKl60
- Cédric O (@cedric_o) March 18, 2021
"I am a little devastated. We live in a world in which criminals attack hospitals, in the midst of a global pandemic," said Guillaume Poupard, director general of Anssi, the National Information Systems Security Agency, involved from the conception of the project.
"In terms of cybersecurity, Israel and Russia stand out. But what they do is not adapted to French specificities. Here, there is no barrier between public and private, between small and large players", he adds.
It is to accentuate this particularism that the "Cyber Campus" will see the light of day.
A brand new building in La Défense
With this in mind, a new building has emerged at the end of the Esplanade de La Défense, with a budget of 150 million euros.
25,000 m2 of offices designed to be shared, with spaces dedicated to each company or agency that is part of the project, and collective spaces to interact.
About sixty partners are already involved in the "Cyber Campus".
There are large groups (Orange, Atos, Capgemini, Thales), SMEs, start-ups, Anssi therefore, ministries and specialized gendarmerie services.
© Cyber Campus
Each entity will send teams to the site but the building will not be a place of passage.
"We expect to have 2,000 people who come to work on the site daily", specifies Michel Van Den Berghe.
And things are going quickly: 1,900 positions are already filled.
A second site should therefore see the light of day in Yvelines in the medium term.
"All together, we will develop joint projects to raise the level of French cybersecurity, for the benefit of the nation," assures the president of the "Cyber Campus".
Cybersecurity is as easy as
Asterix
(or almost)
A wishful thinking which nevertheless involves making work hand in hand with actors who were not necessarily used to collaborating until now, in particular companies which sometimes compete for contracts.
"It's a bit like in
Asterix
. The Gauls of the village spend their time arguing but when the Romans attack, they unite, they drink a shot of magic potion and they repel the invader," image Michel Van Den Berghe.
"I believe in it! And if, as in comics, pirates could flee just by seeing the Gauls, that would be extraordinary," he adds, laughing.
"The Campus is the solution for transforming cybersecurity. We all get along very well in this environment but we lacked a place to carry out joint projects without one of the players taking precedence. the others ", underlines Guillaume Poupard, the boss of Anssi.
"We are delighted to help develop this project. Especially since the building is a superb setting. It is very exciting. Now, we must anticipate the projects to be launched now to start with a bang in November."
Train and recruit "digital firefighters"
One of the first areas of work will thus be "the protection of very small businesses", argues Michel Van Den Berghe.
"We will find the best way to support artisans, traders, freelancers. All those who do not have an IT department and find themselves helpless the day a hacker blocks their computers."
Another important aspect of the research to be carried out at the Campus: the massive deployment of teleworking.
"Today, the pirates exploit all the loopholes. And at home, one is less protected than in his company", underlines the boss of Orange Cyberdéfense.
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What cyberthreats are teleworkers exposed to?
The other interest of the Campus is training.
Courses will be set up on the site to create vocations and compensate for the lack of arms from which the sector suffers.
"It is estimated that there is a lack of 4,000 cybersecurity experts in France. It is not the training offer that is lacking, there is a lack of vocations", regrets Michel Van Den Berghe.
To encourage young people to get involved in this promising sector, the president of the "Cyber Campus" has a plan.
"To make cybersecurity more attractive, you have to feminize it and give it meaning. Children dream of being firefighters. Well, somewhere we have to be seen as the digital firefighters."