Brussels Builds Global Cybersecurity Model Through Public-Private Education Partnership

Brussels has quietly become a laboratory for how a city can teach millions of people to spot a phishing email before they click. The numbers are striking: the national awareness platform Safeonweb.be, run by Belgium's Centre for Cybersecurity (CCB), is now known by 70-80% of the country's adult population and receives reports of roughly 10 million suspicious emails every year. Those figures, drawn from a 2023 European Commission knowledge-sharing event, suggest a level of public engagement that many larger tech hubs still struggle to reach.

The reason this matters now is that the threat landscape has shifted. Phishing and social-engineering attacks-the kind that trick people into handing over passwords or bank details-have become the entry point for ransomware campaigns and data breaches. The 12th European Cybersecurity Month, which kicks off in Brussels from 2-4 October 2024 with events across Europe throughout October, is focusing precisely on those manipulative tactics. The city is not just hosting the launch; it is setting the thematic agenda.

A culture of awareness built on coalitions

What makes Brussels' approach distinctive globally is the density of coordination between public institutions, private companies and non-profits. The Belgian Cyber Security Coalition's Awareness Focus Group met in Brussels in early 2025 to strengthen cybersecurity awareness culture among citizens and organisations. Its work includes initiatives for schools and crisis response training-practical programmes that turn abstract advice into classroom exercises and simulation drills.

DNS Belgium runs year-round awareness campaigns under the hashtag #SafeNotSorry, targeting youth with safe-password education on TikTok and Instagram, and older adults with guides on online shopping and scam detection. The demographic split matters: younger users learn to avoid password reuse; older users learn to spot a fake webshop. Both groups receive the message in the channels they already use.

Measuring the organisational response

The National Cyber Survey 2026, organised by KPMG with the Cyber Security Coalition and CCB support, is now assessing how Belgian organisations are responding to AI-driven attacks, ransomware and new regulatory requirements under NIS2 and DORA. The survey is a rare attempt to quantify not just how many attacks hit companies, but how those companies adapt their defences and compliance practices. The results will tell policymakers whether the awareness campaigns are translating into real institutional change.

The practical advice from the CCB remains straightforward: recognise phishing attempts, enable two-factor authentication, keep software updated, maintain offline backups, and keep educating yourself and your team. That counsel, repeated across Safeonweb.be and in coalition workshops, is the same for a multinational corporation or a neighbourhood association. In Brussels, the ecosystem is built to deliver it to both.