Key European Cybersecurity Events — January to March 2026
The first quarter of 2026 marked an intense period of engagement for our teams across Europe. Our people participated as speakers, presenters, and technical contributors in four major cybersecurity events — spanning Greece, Italy, and Romania — all tied to EU-funded projects in which we are active consortium partners. Here is a summary of what took place and how we contributed.
1. CYBERGUARD — 1st General Assembly Meeting
29 January 2026 | Thessaloniki, Greece | International Hellenic University (IHU)
The CYBERGUARD Consortium launched its First General Assembly Meeting at Thessaloniki City Hall, hosted by the International Hellenic University (IHU). The event brought together over 40 participants and marked the first major project milestone since implementation began on 1 December 2024.
CYBERGUARD aims to strengthen Security Operations Centres (SOCs) through AI-driven technologies and an efficient Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) sharing framework, improving the resilience of SOCs against complex and evolving attack vectors. The meeting covered project objectives and guidelines, management progress, AI-driven cybersecurity system design, CTI and offensive strategies, threat detection achievements, and technical partner demonstrations. Partners also reviewed Pilot Use Cases in terms of usability, performance, and operational relevance.
Dr. Mihai PĂUN (I-ENERGYLINK), consortium coordinator, opened the meeting. Mrs. Malgorzata Agata KOWALSKA (ECCC Project Officer) joined remotely to address the consortium. The project is funded under the Digital Europe Programme and brings together 13 partners from Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and Romania.
Our contribution
DVLOPER was represented by Tudor Chihaia, Mihai Chihaia, and Răzvan Georgescu. The team delivered a live demonstration of the CYBERGUARD Dashboard to consortium partners, showcasing its current state and capabilities. They also conducted a technical demonstration of Suricata intrusion detection rules, explaining their structure and operational logic within the CYBERGUARD architecture.
2. INTERSOC — 2nd General Assembly Meeting
10 February 2026 | Terni, Italy | Hosted by ASM TERNI
The INTERSOC (INTERconnected Security Operation Centres) project held its 2nd General Assembly in Terni, Italy. The project focuses on disruption preparedness and resilience of digital infrastructures through advanced threat forecasting, cyber-incident detection and response, and the development of a user-centric intelligent threat defence platform.
The agenda included work package progress updates, Final Review Planning, a visit to the ASM TERNI pilot site, and a dedicated workshop — "Overall INTERSOC Architecture, Main Solutions and Demos" — covering the technology stack, integration interfaces, dashboard, and SOC-targeted system architecture. A workshop on Pilot Testing and Evaluation also took place.
INTERSOC is coordinated by EXIMPROD ENGINEERING (RO), funded by the ECCC under the Cybersecurity and Trust Programme (Grant No. 101145853), and gathers 13 partners from Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Romania.
Our contribution
DVLOPER was represented by Louis Sardarescu and Adrian Batanu. Louis presented the latest Dashboard updates to the consortium, walking partners through the current development status and upcoming features. Adrian participated in the technical working discussions around the SOC Connector, contributing alongside the other technical partners in the consortium to define integration approaches and next steps.
3. SECUR-EU — 2nd General Assembly Meeting
12 February 2026 | Terni, Italy | Hosted by ASM TERNI
Two days later, also in Terni, the SECUR-EU Consortium held its 2nd General Assembly. The project — "Enhancing Security of European SMEs in Response to Cybersecurity Threats" — focuses on open-source security solutions for SMEs, white-hack testing via the HackOlympics initiative, and improving cybersecurity preparedness across the SME market.
The agenda covered work package progress, Final Review Planning, an architecture and demos workshop, and an open debate on SME training activities and stakeholder involvement — addressing capacity-building strategies and how to maximise the project's reach and sustainability. A Pilot Testing and Evaluation session was also held.
SECUR-EU is coordinated by EXIMPROD ENGINEERING (RO), funded under the ECCC Cybersecurity and Trust Programme (Grant No. 101128029), and gathers 14 consortium partners and 2 supporting organisations from across Europe.
Our contribution
DVLOPER was represented by Carol Bazga and Adrian Batanu, both actively engaged in the pilot use case discussions. Carol also delivered a dedicated presentation on the status of DVLOPER's pilot — the Distributed IDS System Deployed on the Edge for IoT Cyber Attack Detection — covering current implementation progress, technical findings, and next steps within the SECUR-EU validation framework.
4. CRA EUROPE 2026 — Cyber Resilience in Action
4 March 2026 | Romanian Parliament, Bucharest | CYBERFORT Consortium, coordinated by I-ENERGYLINK
The flagship event of the quarter was the CRA EUROPE 2026 conference, held at the Romanian Parliament in the Hall Nicolae IORGA. The event was organised by the CYBERFORT Consortium and coordinated by I-ENERGYLINK, with the support of the Romanian National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC). It drew over 200 participants and 35 speakers and moderators from across Europe.
The event focused on the practical implementation of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and its implications for SMEs, public authorities, and critical sectors. Three thematic sessions addressed CRA compliance frameworks, the role of standardisation, European policy perspectives, CYBERFORT project outcomes, pilot use case showcases, and the path from compliance to capability. Key representatives from ENISA, DNSC, ELECTRICA, ASRO, Deloitte, and the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania (ADR) were among the contributors.
Dr. Mihai PĂUN (I-ENERGYLINK, CYBERFORT Coordinator) opened the conference, framing the event as a transition point: "CRA EUROPE 2026 is moving from Policy to Practice, from Compliance to Capability, and from Ambition to measurable Cyber Resilience."
Our contribution
Mihai Chihaia, CIO of DVLOPER, participated as a speaker in Session 2 — "Cybersecurity Projects, CRA Compliance & European Policy Perspectives" — as the Manufacturer/Vendor voice on the panel. His intervention addressed three interconnected themes:
- The standards gap as the primary compliance blocker — with Type C product-specific standards still pending publication and SBOM format not yet mandated, manufacturers face the risk of building compliance processes that require rework once final standards are issued.
- The underestimated complexity of SBOM — arguing that an SBOM is not a document but a living, automated process embedded in CI/CD pipelines, particularly challenging for products built on deep open-source dependency stacks (such as DVLOPER's MultiCloud platform, which integrates 30+ OSS tools).
- SME resource asymmetry as the harmonisation gap — large enterprises can absorb compliance costs, while SMEs building digital products cannot staff dedicated compliance teams. EU-funded projects like CYBERFORT and CYBERGUARD are essential complements to regulation.
In a solo intervention later in the session, Mihai also addressed how CRA compliance can become a competitive advantage — positioning it as a market access strategy rather than a cost centre, drawing on DVLOPER's experience serving US-based enterprise clients through Broadcom's partner network.
What Q1 2026 Meant for Us
Across four events in three countries, our teams contributed technically, strategically, and publicly to some of the most important conversations in European cybersecurity today. From SOC architecture and intrusion detection to CRA compliance and SME readiness, Q1 2026 has reinforced our position as an active and relevant voice in the ecosystem. We look forward to continuing this engagement in the months ahead.