Piotr Harasimowicz created CDeX to train cyber security specialists in a real-world environment: an IT training range where instead of dodging bullets, participants have to fend off attacks by hackers.
“Hippie times are over in Europe, unfortunately, and we need to reinforce ourselves,” says the Polish chief executive, adding that “people who are responsible for cyber defence should be trained as cyber soldiers”.
A €1.8mn grant from the EU budget helped launch CDeX. If Brussels has its way, far more money from the next iteration of the bloc’s budget will be going to entrepreneurs like Harasimowicz, rather than to its traditional recipients: farmers, local mayors and regional governors in member states.