At the beginning of 2025, the CCB joined the EU-funded SECURE project, an initiative helping Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) across Europe enhance their cybersecurity resilience. With a total budget of nearly €22 million, including €16 million in cascade funding, the project “SECURE – Strengthening EU SMEs Cyber Resilience” supports SMEs in preparing for the upcoming requirements of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
The project, launched under the Digital Europe Programme as part of the EU call “Deployment Actions in the area of Cybersecurity”, aims to boost the cybersecurity capabilities of European SMEs in line with the CRA.
The Cyber Resilience Act, approved on 12 March 2024 by the European Parliament and entered into force on 12 November 2024, will be fully applicable as of 11 December 2027. The Act aims to safeguard consumers and businesses that buy or use products and software with a digital component by setting out clear security requirements for all products circulating on the EU market. The scope is broad, covering everything from webcams and smart watches to video games, software and IoT devices.
Cross-border cooperation
SECURE brings together national coordination centres and digital innovation hubs from several EU Member States, including Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Spain and Belgium’s NCC-BE. The project is a strong example of cross-border cooperation between public and private partners, combining national expertise to deliver tangible, Europe-wide impact. As part of this consortium, the CCB reaffirms Belgium’s commitment to building a safer and more resilient digital environment for all.
Cyber resilience and competitiveness
Cybersecurity is a key factor in business competitiveness. Supporting small and medium businesses is crucial to strengthening the European Union's digital economy and protecting companies against the growing number of cyber threats. SECURE addresses these challenges by providing guidance, practical tools, knowledge and funding that enable SMEs to implement concrete cybersecurity measures and embed a “security-by-design culture” within their operations and products. The project will:
- create a platform to distribute cascading funds (Financial Support for Third Parties, FSTP) to European SMEs. Cascading funding is a mechanism adopted by the European Commission that aims to facilitate the distribution of European funds to innovative businesses, mainly SMEs and startups, through the so-called open calls;
- design and implement awareness-raising, training and education activities on cybersecurity;
- develop tools to facilitate CRA implementation;
- conduct tests and vulnerability assessments of products with digital elements to verify compliance with CRA requirements;
- organise events and initiatives to promote synergies between European SMEs.
As a consortium partner, the CCB is ensuring that Belgian SMEs benefit fully from this European effort by playing an active role in strengthening their cybersecurity readiness. Leading the work on capacity enhancement, the CCB focuses on upskilling and fostering interaction among SMEs. Working closely with the other partners, the CCB is developing guidelines to support CRA compliance, delivering training and workshops to upskill SMEs and helping to create a methodological compliance self-assessment approach.
Open call launch
The first open call for cascade funding is expected to launch in early 2026, offering direct financial support to SMEs for cybersecurity improvements. Exact dates and eligibility details will be published soon via the CCB and SECURE channels.
For more information on the project, visit the Secure4sme website and follow SECURE on LinkedIn. Belgian SMEs can stay informed through upcoming CCB news and events.
Project partners
Agenzia per la cybersicurezza nazionale (ACN), Italy • Naukowa i Akademicka Siec Komputerowa (NASK), Poland • Instituto Nacional de Ciberseguridad (INCIBE), Spain • Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB), Belgium • Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity (LHC), Luxembourg • Cyber 4.0 - Centro di Competenza Nazionale per la Cybersecurity, Italy • National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCC-RO), Romania • Plattform Industrie 4.0 Österreich, Austria • IDEA-Re Ideas & Research Hub, Italy • PROFACTOR GmbH, Austria • Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Austria • Virtual Vehicle, Austria • Technische Universität Wien, Austria
