IBCSC Institut belge de
cybersécurité citoyenne
EN
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Independent institute · Belgium

Understand risks. Build capacity. Guide with care.

IBCSC works upstream of incidents to make digital threats understandable, share prevention methods and help people or organisations find the right contact. Its work connects citizen cybersecurity, education, responsible artificial intelligence and local resilience.

Explore the missions Report a situation
IBCSC is an independent non-profit. It does not replace the police, an official CERT, emergency services, or legal or medical advice.

A continuous mission, from monitoring to useful action.

The work follows a simple cycle. Every stage should produce verifiable information, an applicable measure or relevant guidance for the people concerned.

  1. 01 Observe

    Follow fraud methods, public vulnerabilities and technological developments relevant to the Belgian public.

  2. 02 Understand

    Check sources, separate facts from assumptions and explain how the risk works.

  3. 03 Prevent

    Turn analysis into advice, workshops, checks and materials suited to the audience’s level.

  4. 04 Guide

    Help organise the facts and identify the appropriate official, technical, social or legal service.

  5. 05 Cooperate

    Connect schools, non-profits, municipalities, researchers and professionals through documented actions.

Nine missions organised around three responsibilities.

Each mission has a clear public purpose. Activities are adapted to available resources, the legal framework and the Institute’s actual capabilities.

Protect people

Make everyday digital security practical.

Prevention begins with understandable, realistic decisions suited to age, habits and available means.

CIT

Citizen awareness

Explain essential measures without jargon: accounts, devices, data, online purchases, social networks and steps after an incident.

  • Practical guides
  • Workshops
  • Quick-reference sheets
FRD

Digital fraud prevention

Describe manipulation techniques, fake sites, impersonation, banking or investment fraud and the warning signs that help people pause before acting.

  • Alerts
  • Scenarios
  • Checklists
VUL

Minors and vulnerable people

Adapt resources for children, parents, educators, older people and those exposed to cyberbullying, grooming, sextortion or targeted scams.

  • Age-based materials
  • Guidance
  • Local prevention
Understand threats

Analyse what is public, relevant and proportionate.

The Institute looks for what prevention requires, documents its limits and refuses intrusion or speculative attribution.

OBS

Citizen threat observatory

Track campaigns, methods and vulnerabilities that may affect citizens, non-profits and small organisations in Belgium.

  • Open monitoring
  • Trends
  • Public alerts
OSI

Legal and ethical OSINT

Use only lawfully accessible information, for a legitimate purpose, with minimal collection, traceable sources and respect for privacy.

  • Documented sources
  • Method
  • Confidence level
AIX

Responsible AI and emerging risks

Explain generative models, deepfakes, prompt injection, data leaks and the trade-offs between cloud services and local models.

  • Demonstrations
  • Evaluations
  • Good practice
Strengthen society

Put knowledge and capability into circulation.

Analysis creates public value only when it becomes a resource, skill or cooperation that people can use in practice.

ORI

Reception and guidance

Receive a report carefully, help order the available information and indicate appropriate next steps without promising a resolution.

  • Timeline of facts
  • Evidence preservation
  • Relevant contacts
EDU

Publications, workshops and training

Produce guides, analysis and technical pathways for citizens, young people, schools, non-profits and professionals updating their practice.

  • Publications
  • Youth pathways
  • Upskilling
COO

Cooperation and local resilience

Build actions with municipalities, educational institutions, associations, researchers, responsible businesses and European networks.

  • Joint projects
  • Shared equipment
  • Local networks

One standard, different responses for different audiences.

Technical level, ability to act and exposure to risk differ for a citizen, a school and an organisation. The format therefore has to change.

Audience Frequent need IBCSC response
Citizens and families

Frequent needUnderstand a suspicious request, protect an account or know what to keep after an incident.

IBCSC responseAccessible guides, simple checks, prevention information and guidance to the appropriate channels.

Young people and schools

Frequent needDevelop critical thinking, personal safety and a first technical culture.

IBCSC responseAge-appropriate workshops, abuse prevention and DevOps, Linux, telecoms and responsible AI pathways.

Non-profits and small organisations

Frequent needSecure access, backups, member data, websites and AI use with limited resources.

IBCSC responseProportionate diagnostics, applicable priorities, solidarity-based IT support and documentation.

Professionals and SMEs

Frequent needUpdate skills, reduce operational errors and frame the use of new tools.

IBCSC responseFocused upskilling, laboratory exercises, procedures and technical cooperation.

Public and academic partners

Frequent needAccess local resources, citizen contacts and documented projects.

IBCSC responseAwareness actions, studies, learning materials and partnerships defined in writing.

What the work should produce.

IBCSC prioritises understandable and reusable deliverables. A useful result always states its source, its limits and the next possible action.

A dated alert

The risk, affected audience, observable signs and immediate measures are clearly separated.

An applicable guide

Short steps, a clear order of priority and links to relevant official resources.

An adapted workshop

Content calibrated to the group’s age, level, habits and actual constraints.

Structured guidance

Available facts are ordered before the person is directed to the appropriate service.

A verifiable improvement

A check, procedure, backup, configuration or skill that the organisation can verify.

Documented cooperation

Objectives, responsibilities, confidentiality, timing and limits are defined before action.

A useful role because its limits are clear.

The Institute works in education, prevention, analysis and guidance. This clarity protects people and avoids creating false expectations.

IBCSC can

  • Explain a threat or fraud mechanism
  • Help document the available facts
  • Suggest proportionate prevention measures
  • Analyse lawfully accessible open sources
  • Train, publish and organise supervised demonstrations
  • Guide people towards competent bodies and professionals

IBCSC cannot

  • Conduct a criminal investigation or exercise coercive powers
  • Access a computer system without authorisation
  • Guarantee the recovery of funds, data or an account
  • Provide a medical diagnosis or personalised legal advice
  • Replace emergency services, the police or an official CERT
  • Publish an accusation or personal data without a legal basis

Six principles frame every mission.

The method must remain consistent whether the work concerns a public publication, a school workshop or technical cooperation.

Legality
Compliance with Belgian and European law, GDPR and fundamental rights.
Proportionality
Collect and process only what the stated objective requires.
Verification
Separate facts, assumptions, limitations and levels of confidence.
Confidentiality
Limit access, protect exchanges and define a retention period.
Independence
Preserve the Institute’s autonomy in its content and recommendations.
Public value
Prioritise concrete, understandable and accessible action for the audiences concerned.

Turn a mission into concrete action.

Read the publications, explore the training pathways or describe a situation and the people concerned. IBCSC responds according to its capabilities, resources and the applicable framework.