Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the necessary cyber security capacity and expertise to independently implement and maintain effective security policies. This poses an increasing risk to business processes and data. Moreover, new European regulations, such as the NIS 2 directive, require SMEs to take action in the field of cyber security.

To address this challenge, Howest aims to establish a spin-off that will support SMEs in implementing and maintaining their cyber security policies. As part of this initiative, we are developing and optimizing a scalable and decentralized version of a Security Operations Center (SOC), leveraging AI models. Additionally, a business plan will be developed for the creation of this spin-off.

This research is supported by the AUGent Industrial Research Fund (IOF).