Michel Van Den Berghe, Chairman of Orange Cyberdefense France and Group COO: “We’re going to strengthen our position as the European leader in cybersecurity”.

How can we sum up 2020 for Orange Cyberdefense and our customers?

I have always been impressed by the agility and responsiveness of our team. They have once again proven their skills and professionalism during this exceptional year, where we managed to switch most of our activities to remote-working without delay. A significant upheaval that took place without any impact for our customers, even though attacks have multiplied and the deployment of home-based working has created a more favorable context for hackers in companies.

We have learned to work differently, to quickly adapt to our customers’ constraints while continually growing our business. I am therefore very proud of our team’s commitment, and I would like to thank them. Beyond the health crisis and the seriousness of its repercussions, this year has been rich in lessons: these difficulties have unified us. They have certainly developed our ability to listen to customers even more.  

To end this 2020 summary on a positive note – because we must remain enthusiastic and passionate despite this ongoing crisis – I want to paraphrase Albert Camus: “In the midst of winter we found there was, within us, an invincible summer.“

What are Orange Cyberdefense’s priorities in 2021?

First of all, I want our employees to be happy to be a part of our business project: at home, in the office or at our customers’ premises. It’s a matter of ensuring that our teams are fulfilled and find a great deal of satisfaction in their work. Orange Cyberdefense needs to remain an appealing employer brand to attract and retain the best.  

We will continue to invest in growing the company. We will strengthen our position as the European leader in cybersecurity in a digital economy undergoing significant upheaval. 

We will also continue to innovate with our technological choices and our methods to anticipate and counter new cyber-attacks. Our investments will focus in particular on our detection capabilities and collaboration with innovative start-ups.  

We will further support the research efforts from our community of experts spread across Orange Cyberdefense sites worldwide to leverage different technological approaches. This diversity of analysis is our strength and guarantees effectiveness in the face of attackers from all countries, with profiles and skills as diverse as they are varied.

What can we wish you for 2021 (personally and for Orange Cyberdefense)?

The most important thing for me is to be happy to go to work every morning. I start this new year proud and impressed by the journey we have taken. Thanks to each and everyone’s talent and our ability to work together (even remotely this year), we have managed to build a company that has become the European leader in just a few years, in a sector where competition is very strong, and customer trust is still difficult to win.  

Therefore, I wish to continue with this dynamism, capitalizing on our strengths, and ensuring that the Orange Cyberdefense teams share my enthusiasm and find renewed pleasure every day working together. This beautiful energy allows us to overcome difficulties and contribute to each one’s fulfilment.  

I wish you all an excellent year.