Strengthening Belgium, sharing with the world
A digital society runs on trust. Without security, and the confidence that comes with it, organizations and people can never reach their full potential. That is why we do not see security as a goal in itself, but as the condition for everything else. Our purpose at Toreon is to enable every citizen and every organization to go all in on digital, without fear.
That purpose is bigger than the assignments we deliver, so our work does not stop there.
We are rooted in Belgium, and through our work we aspire to contribute to the prosperity of our country: by helping Belgian organizations and institutions own their cyber risk, by growing the talent the profession needs, and by making sure Belgian product builders make secure products. Part of our work reaches much further. Through open standards and communities such as OWASP, what our experts help build is free for anyone, anywhere.
We do not wait to be asked. We take initiatives ourselves, and we support them pro bono in the broadest sense of the word: with the time of our experts and founders, with our knowledge, our venue and our sponsorship.
Some of this helps us too, and we would rather say so openly. A larger talent pool makes it easier for us to grow, and CyberSafe brings us closer to Belgian makers who matter to our business. It helps us, and it helps everyone else more.
Below are the initiatives we lead, co-found or actively support today, and the Toreon people who drive them: first what we do at home, then what we contribute to everyone.
Rooted in Belgium: resilience as driver for prosperity at home
GUBERNA – Sounding Board Committee for Cybersecurity
Boards: cyber risk owned in every boardroom, not only where a law requires it
We are not there yet. The risk is still most underestimated in sectors that no regulation forces to act.
Cyber is a board matter, and most of all in sectors that no regulation forces to act. That is where GUBERNA, the Belgian institute for directors, aims its Sounding Board Committee for Cybersecurity: set up in 2023, built by directors, for directors, to make cyber awareness and resilience part of how every board works. For the sectors it covers, NIS2 has made board responsibility explicit; the committee’s work is meant just as much for the boards no law reaches.
One concrete result is Designing Cyber Governance (December 2025), which gives boards six ways to organize cyber oversight, plus six “plug-ins” such as director training, CISO access and tabletop exercises.
Toreon’s role: Our CEO has chaired the Sounding Board since its launch and co-authored the paper. Through that mandate he sits on the GUBERNA Directors Council.
Who leads at Toreon: Alex Driesen (CEO)
Links: https://www.guberna.be
Read the paper: https://www.toreon.com/designing-cyber-governance-board-structures-and-practices-for-effective-oversight/
CyberSafe – Makers & Creators
Makers: Belgian products secure by design, and “CyberSafe” a label buyers recognize
The label is still the ambition: the first CyberSafe cycle starts in November 2026.
CyberSafe – Makers & Creators is a curated peer community for Belgian product and “phygital” companies: makers of physical products with embedded software, connected devices and digital platforms. The community helps business leaders turn cybersecurity from a compliance topic into a commercial differentiator, so that “CyberSafe” becomes a quality label associated with Belgian products. The first cycle runs from November 2026 to April 2027, with online sessions and an in-person gathering.
Toreon’s role: Toreon initiated the community and is its founding and exclusive sponsor, with Computable as media partner. The community itself is run independently by Conversation Starter, so it stays a conversation between peers, not a sales campaign. Toreon experts contribute content and expertise where useful, but take a back seat in the conversations.
Who leads at Toreon: The idea came from co-founder Wouter Avondstondt, to give shape to an ambition of our CEO Alex Driesen: if “CyberSafe” becomes a quality label for Belgian products, every Belgian maker, and by extension the economy, gets a boost. Jan Vermeesch, Head of Marketing, drives the community build-out.
Link: https://cybersafe-makers.be and https://cybersafe-community.be
Agoria – CMIB (Cyber - Made in Belgium)
Agoria is Belgium’s federation for the technology industry. CMiB – Cyber Made in Belgium is the platform that unites Agoria member companies to advance cybersecurity in Belgium. Its mission is to empower Belgian cybersecurity providers and give them a collective voice, so they have more impact with governments, businesses and the public. It also works on best practices and innovation, and keeps track of the evolving threat landscape.
Toreon’s role: Our CEO chairs the CMiB steering committee within Agoria and helps set its course and strategy. Our Head of OPS is heavily involved in several working groups. Our specialist consultants contribute their expertise to several CMiB initiatives, from papers to presentations and conferences.
Who leads at Toreon: Alex Driesen (CEO)
Link: https://www.agoria.be
Training the professionals the market cannot find: Data Protection Institute
Our training company, the Data Protection Institute (DPI), a Toreon subsidiary, trains and certifies the professionals organizations need. DPI is a commercial training provider; what it adds to Belgium’s resilience is capacity: trained DPOs and CISOs in the organizations that need them. DPI has trained more than half of the DPOs in Belgium and is widely recognized for its practical CISO program.
Alongside its courses, DPI runs the Privacy & Cyber Café: free, informal, recurring meetups where practitioners share what actually worked on their last project.
Toreon’s role: Toreon experts co-create and teach DPI courses, so practical field experience reaches the classroom. The Secure System Acquisition and Development module of the CISO program was co-created and is taught by our co-founder. The CRA Lead Implementer course was co-created by one of our product security experts.
Who leads at Toreon: Peter Berghmans (CEO and co-founder DPI), Sebastien Deleersnyder (co-founder Toreon & CTO), Maxim Baele, Steven Wierckx, Eric Desmedt, Dirk Nijs, Peter Van Loey, Thomas Dejagere and others co-author and teach training courses.
Opening the door to cybersecurity:
Traineeships, Toreon Academy, internships and guest lectures
There are not enough cybersecurity professionals, so we help create them, including from people who would otherwise never have found their way into cyber. Our traineeship and the Toreon Academy are open to newcomers whether or not they already have a security background. That is the point: the profession needs more people than the usual route delivers.
"Starting at 0 is never the issue. It doesn't matter if you have an extensive background within the field or not. Of course it helps."
Internships give students hands-on experience on real projects, such as investigating what the Cyber Resilience Act means for pentesting a hardware product. Over the years, hundreds of people have received free training or an internship, or benefited from the knowledge we share.
Our experts also give guest lectures at Belgian institutions, including Howest and Ghent University, to connect what students learn with the decisions they will face in their first job.
Toreon’s role: Toreon designs and runs these programs itself and invests the coaching time of its senior experts.
Who leads at Toreon: Kim Liekens (Head of HR), Steven Wierckx (Expert Consultant, internship mentor), with coaching by experts across all practices.
Young voices with a mandate: 30 under 30
Bringing new people in is only half of it; once they are here, they need a voice. Toreon’s “30 under 30” group gives our junior colleagues a direct line to the CEO and the mandate to improve how we work themselves, instead of waiting for someone senior to notice. The group meets regularly to share experiences and best practices, and proposes initiatives to senior management that move our culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing forward.
Toreon’s role: Toreon set up the group and sponsors it internally.
Who leads at Toreon: Xandrine Loots coordinates the internal initiatives and communication, together with Rafaël Naarding.
Cyber Security Coalition – focus groups
Practitioners: no Belgian security team has to solve a known problem on its own
The Cyber Security Coalition brings together Belgian industry, public authorities and academia to share experience without a sales pitch in the middle. Its mission is to build a strong cybersecurity ecosystem at national level, on a trust-based platform for information exchange and joint action. Its focus groups are where practitioners compare how they solve the same problems.
Toreon’s role: Toreon chairs the Application Security Focus Group and helps organize its annual Application Security Experience Sharing Day.
Who leads at Toreon: Sebastien Deleersnyder (co-founder & CTO) holds the permanent chair of the Application Security Focus Group; he was named Belgium’s Cyber Security Personality of the Year in 2022. Vincent Haerinck holds a permanent chair in the OT/ICS Security focus group. Wouter Avondstondt (Co-founder) has co-chaired the Hospitals focus group.
Open knowledge for everyone, everywhere
Good security practice, freely available to anyone, anywhere
Security knowledge should not depend on the size of your budget or the country you work in. That is why our experts help build open, vendor-neutral standards and free resources, and why they are used by practitioners around the world.
OWASP – Open Worldwide Application Security Project
OWASP is the non-profit foundation behind the open, vendor-neutral standards that the application security industry builds on, such as the OWASP Top 10, OWASP SAMM and OWASP ASVS. Anyone can use them, free of charge. Its local chapters bring practitioners together for free meetings, open to everyone.
Toreon’s role: Toreon’s co-founder, Seba Deleersnyder, co-leads OWASP SAMM, the software assurance maturity model, and served on the OWASP Foundation Board. He started the OWASP Belgium chapter in 2005, and in 2025 he was named an OWASP Distinguished Lifetime Member. Today Toreon is a structural sponsor of the Belgian chapter, one of our experts, Maxim Baele, is a chapter leader, and our consultants regularly speak at chapter meetings and conferences.
Who leads at Toreon: Sebastien Deleersnyder (co-founder & CTO), Maxim Baele (OWASP Belgium chapter leader), with talks by Georges Bolssens and Steven Wierckx
Threat Modeling Connect
Threat Modeling Connect is the global community for threat modeling practitioners. It runs ThreatModCon, a yearly global hackathon and local chapters, and publishes open resources so that any team can find design flaws before they become vulnerabilities.
Toreon’s role: Toreon is a founding member. We co-organize the BeNeLux chapter, and our experts serve as judges and mentors at the Global Threat Modeling Hackathon. Toreon also publishes free resources for anyone to use, such as the Threat Model Playbook and the Threat Modeling Tool Directory.
Who leads at Toreon: Sebastien Deleersnyder (co-founder & CTO), Steven Wierckx (hackathon judge), Georges Bolssens (hackathon mentor)
BruCON
BruCON is Belgium’s annual security and hacker conference, with an international audience. It is a community-driven event where research is shared openly and hands-on skill is tested rather than claimed.
Toreon’s role: Toreon’s team co-founded BruCON. Toreon is a long-standing Diamond sponsor and supports the conference’s Capture the Flag activities. Every year a large part of our team attends, speaks and helps out.
Who leads at Toreon: Sebastien Deleersnyder (co-founder & CTO), while many of our specialists have given talks or coached and mentored sessions over past editions.
Link: https://www.brucon.org
Working towards the same end state?
Are you organizing a community event, running an open project, or working on awareness or talent in cybersecurity, in Belgium or anywhere else? Or would you like to partner with us on something new? We are always interested in the conversation. Tell us what you are building and how we can help.