Speech by Minister of Justice and Security at the InCyber Forum Europe

Speech | 01-04-2025

Good afternoon everyone,

Thank you for having me here in Lille... a city filled with great people and places.

One of these great places is the entrance to the Lille Zoo.

Here, you’ll find a monument in honour of the 20,000 messenger pigeons who served and died during the First World War.

One of them, a pigeon called ‘Le Vailliant’, even posthumously received the Legion of Honour for outstanding bravery during the battle of Verdun.

There’s more…

Today, the French army still has a battalion of messenger pigeons.

As a former marine officer, I’ve known for a long time that France has one of the strongest, most advanced armies in the world.

But the fact that you have around 200 pigeons sitting ready… just in case something truly disruptive happens… tells me you are well prepared.

That brings me to today.

When it comes to cyber security, I think we could all use some of this French attitude.

Because we should prepare for something truly disruptive.

The last years have given us enough reasons to become more vigilant.

Geopolitical tensions increasingly lead to cyber-attacks.

States like Russia and China are becoming more active in this field, while cyber criminals also continue to target digital systems.

These attacks may be aimed at states and governments… but they also threaten NGO’s and businesses, especially in critical sectors such as transport, finance and energy.

According to the American insurance business Embroker the average cost of a ransomware attack is now almost 2 million dollars.

That’s an average.

Sometimes it’s much higher.

For a small company, such an attack could mean bankruptcy.

But not all incidents are attacks.

Last year, for example, around 8.5 million Windows devices stopped working after an update from security software company Crowdstrike.

This disrupted hospitals, airlines and many other organisations and businesses.

It was not an attack, it was a mistake.

But still a reason for concern.

When it comes to our cyber security, we are under multiple threats.

Our critical infrastructure like roads, tunnels and bridges all depend on digital systems.

Technological developments such as quantum computers could make our current digital security obsolete.

And many countries, companies and organisations are trying to hire the few available cyber specialists in the world.

One solution would be to pull the plug and go analogue.

That would be a huge mistake.

Our societies have come a very long way from that

IBM-executive in the 1940’s who estimated that the world would never need more than 5 computers.

Today, there are microchips in almost everything, from pacemakers and cars to my running shoes.

And all this technology has changed our lives for the better.

Digitalisation in healthcare saves lives by helping to detect diseases fast and accurately.

Translation apps make it possible to travel to a country like Japan and communicate with everyone, without speaking a word of Japanese.

Videoconferencing has revolutionised business travel.

The list goes on and on.

Instead of going back, we should go forward.

We need to preserve the trust and openness that enables us to do business and stay connected… but in a secure, sustainable way.

How?

The answer is threefold.

To start we need awareness.

In the Netherlands, for example, we want cyber security and the seriousness of today’s threat to be on everyone’s mind.

And we want everyone to contribute to keeping the Netherlands digitally secure.

Knowing we’re all at risk is the first step.

Knowing what to do when an incident happens comes next.

So the second thing we need to become resilient against cyberattacks is a plan.

Everyone – government, businesses and the public – should be asking: what do we do to make sure our society continues to function when a cyberattack causes a power breakdown?

When there is no internet.

When the lights go out.

To minimise the impact of a disruption, good preparation is key.

In the Netherlands we ask businesses to make sure they know who to call in case of an attack.

Whether that is a cyber security company, the police or the National Cyber Security Centre.

We also ask people to have enough water, candles and cash at home to make it through 72 hours.

And I urge everyone to think hard and make their own plan.

That brings me to the final thing we need to become more resilient:

we need action.

Action to fight cyber criminals and withstand attacks.

For this, we need strength.

And since you’re much stronger when you join forces, we should work together.

France, for example, helpfully shared information about how they kept the Summer Olympics secure last year.

Their best practices now help the Netherlands take action to host a safe and secure NATO summit next June.

I also expect a lot from our cooperation in Europe.

The EU is investing heavily to scale and strengthen its defence system, which includes cyber security.

What’s more, the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act will become effective within the next two years.

These new rules protect consumers by ensuring that products that are made and sold in the EU meet our cyber security standards.

In the meantime, EU-countries are implementing the European NIS2-directive.

With these guidelines, we are asking governmental organisations and businesses to take appropriate action to become resilient to cyberattacks and to let us know when incidents happen so we can help and learn.

Pinning down the ever-changing field of cyber security in rules and regulations has been challenging, but I think we have made great progress.

We also need to guide talented young people in secondary and higher education.

This is why I’m glad France and the Netherlands are kicking off the Young Talents Cybersecurity 2025 program during this conference.

This offers young people the opportunity to work with cyber security experts and perhaps pursue a career in this field.

By doing all these things and more, we make sure people continue to trust digital products and services.

So we can move forward.

And continue to change our lives for the better.

In conclusion, I hope you will all use this Forum to meet new people, make connections and prepare for something truly disruptive…

And when you go home, I hope you will do your best to urge people to become more aware, make a plan and take action… Perhaps even with the help of pigeons.

Thank you.