SANS Cyber Leaders Brussels 2026

Tue, Sep 22, 2026
English

Radisson Collection Hotel, Grand Place Brussels

47 Rue du Fossé aux Loups, Brussels, Belgium

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Event Highlights
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SANS Cyber Leaders Summit | September 22, 2026 | Radisson Collection Hotel, Brussels

At SANS, our mission remains steady. We continue to deliver relevant cybersecurity knowledge and skills, empowering students to protect people and their assets. Register for SANS Cyber Leaders Summit and continue to build practical cyber security leadership skills you can implement immediately.

Where Cybersecurity Strategy Meets Executive Leadership

Join the most influential minds in cybersecurity leadership at SANS Cyber Leaders Summit—a one-day, in-person event held at the Radisson Collection Hotel in Brussels. Designed exclusively for CISOs and senior cybersecurity leaders, this Summit delivers the insight, strategy, and connections you need to lead in an era of constant change.

Built around and for members of the SANS Cyber Leaders Network, offering you the tools and intelligence to tackle your biggest challenges—from building high-performing cyber teams to navigating the latest threat landscape and emerging regulations.

Real-World Insights, Not Sales Pitches

This is a closed, peer-led environment where you’ll gain practical strategies for workforce development, cyber resilience, and executive engagement—all without vendor noise.

Space is limited, so secure your seat today.

Join us on September 22, 2026 at Radisson Collection Hotel, Brussels, and be part of the conversation shaping the future of cyber leadership across Europe.

Event Highlights

Cyber Crisis Exercise

Every summit includes a facilitated Cyber Crisis Exercise based recent incident failures. Working alongside senior leaders from other organisations, you will make the decisions a real breach demands under time pressure and with incomplete information. The session is led by Chris Wilkes, Global Lead for Cyber Exercises at SANS.

4 CPE Credits

Earn 4 CPE credits in a single day, that covers the crisis exercise, keynote sessions and live podcast recording. These credits can support the maintenance of your professional certifications. With peer-led sessions grounded in current threats and real experience, the goal is always to give you tools that you can take back to your organisation.

NetWars Tournaments

As part of your SANS training experience, you’ll receive complimentary access to a NetWars Tournament which is either available at the training event you are attending or will be made available through online access if you are attending a Live Online event. The NetWars Tournament is an interactive cyber range event designed to reinforce your learning through hands-on, gamified challenges.

Register

Summit Registration Only

€600 EUR

€600 EUR*Prices exclude applicable local taxes

In personIncludes

Free Lunch and Snacks
Interactive Talks and Sessions
Networking with Peers

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Schedule

Summit Dates

22 September, 2026

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Registration and networking

10:00AM - 11:00AM CEST

In-Person

Opening remarks & Cyber Crisis Exercise introduction

11:00AM - 11:05AM CEST

In-Person

Presented by

Ciaran Martin

Professor, Non-Executive Director, SANS Cyber Leaders Network at SANS

Chris Wilkes

Senior Leader at SANS Cyber Crisis Exercises

Cyber Crisis Exercise

SANS Cyber Crisis Exercises are immersive, scenario-based experiences that prepare organizations to navigate today’s complex cyber threat landscape. Designed for technical teams, business leaders, and executive stakeholders, these exercises replicate real-world cyber incidents in a controlled, facilitated environment with realistic injections. Each engagement includes a comprehensive performance report highlighting strengths and opportunities for improvement. By transforming strategy into practice, SANS Cyber Crisis Exercises validate response plans, strengthen cross-functional coordination, and elevate leadership decision-making. Ensure your organization is not reacting for the first time when a crisis strikes but executing a well-rehearsed response.

11:05AM - 01:05PM CEST

Facilitated by

Chris Wilkes

Senior Leader at SANS Cyber Crisis Exercises

Lunch

01:05PM - 02:05PM CEST

In-Person

Inside today's exploitation landscape: What the data reveals

Security teams are inundated with new vulnerabilities, threat advisories, and patching priorities every day, yet only a small percentage of CVEs become actively exploited in the wild. Drawing on insights from CrowdSec's global network of more than 500,000 connected systems, this session will examine how attackers are identifying, weaponizing, and exploiting vulnerabilities at scale. Attendees will gain a data-driven perspective on which vulnerabilities are attracting the most attention from threat actors, how quickly exploitation follows disclosure, and the key trends shaping today's threat landscape. The session will provide practical insights to help security leaders better prioritize remediation efforts, focus resources on the risks that matter most, and make more informed vulnerability management decisions.

Philippe Humeau, CEO – CrowdSec

02:05PM - 02:50PM CEST

In-Person

Beyond individual defence: Building collective cyber resilience

Cyber resilience cannot be achieved by organisations acting alone. It requires trusted cooperation between government, critical sectors, businesses, technology providers and citizens. Drawing on Belgium’s experience, Miguel De Bruycker will examine how a national cybersecurity authority can turn threat intelligence, incident reporting and public-private collaboration into practical protection at scale. He will share lessons from initiatives including targeted early warning, Safeonweb, the Belgian Anti-Phishing Shield and the CyberFundamentals Framework, illustrating how shared information can lead to faster preventive action and measurable impact. The session will explore the governance, trust and operational capabilities needed to build a resilient national cyber ecosystem and identify practical elements that security leaders can apply within their own organisations, sectors and supply chains.

Miguel De Bruycker, Managing Director – CCB Belgium

02:50PM - 03:35PM CEST

In-Person

Whose AI are you using?

AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, but who actually controls the AI you rely on? A frontier model constitutes a completely new element in the IT stack that can be subject to many novel attack vectors: what strategies can you put in place to mitigate them? Some tech leaders state that the entire cybersecurity ecosystem has to be redesigned from the grounds up in order to respond to these challenges. Mario Beccia breaks down the five layers of AI cybersecurity, from training data to end-user application, and maps the strategic dependencies hidden in each. Drawing on his experience as Former NATO Deputy CIO, he connects AI frontier models architecture to defence and cybersecurity posture, providing a coherent picture. A sharp, strategic perspective on what it truly means to own (or not own) the AI challenges hiding in your systems

Mario Beccia, Former Deputy CIO – NATO

03:35PM - 04:05PM CEST

In-Person

Networking break

04:05PM - 04:35PM CEST

In-Person

Live edition Cyber Leaders Podcast - In conversation with

Dr Megan Edwards, Director of Cyber Readiness and Operations – NATO

04:35PM - 05:20PM CEST

In-Person

Presented by

Ciaran Martin

Professor, Non-Executive Director, SANS Cyber Leaders Network at SANS

How security leaders look at digital sovereignty in practice

Based on a number of spectacular cases in the past years, digital sovereignty has appeared on the agenda of many boards and executive meetings. Security leaders have experience with business continuity and security risk management and are also asked to balance innovation with the need for greater control over the supply chain in which the organisation navigates. In this session Marc Vael will shed light on what digital sovereignty means for cybersecurity today and tomorrow and how security leaders help build digital resilience in an increasingly complex and fast-moving environment.

Marc Vael, Chief Digital Trust Officer – Esko

05:20PM - 06:05PM CEST

In-Person

Networking break

06:05PM - 06:35PM CEST

In-Person

The next chapter of European cybersecurity: What security leaders should prepare for now

European cyber policy is entering a more strategic and assertive phase. The focus is shifting beyond compliance towards resilience by design, secure technology and supply chains, stronger collective response capabilities, and greater European cyber sovereignty. Despina will explore the forces shaping that next chapter. From geopolitical instability and systemic supply-chain risk to AI, emerging technologies and the growing interdependence between governments and industry. Where is policy heading? How are expectations of organisations and their leaders changing? Where are new operational pressures likely to emerge? Europe is raising the bar. The question is whether security leaders can stay ahead of it.

Despina Spanou, Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) - European Commission

06:35PM - 07:05PM CEST

In-Person

From defence to continuity: Redefining organisational fitness in the age of AI threats

Drawing on the Darwinian idea of “survival of the fittest,” organizational fitness today is no longer defined by preventing every attack. Instead, resilient enterprises shift from a narrow defense mindset to a broader continuity‑focused approach. Fitness is measured by the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions. This shift is accelerated by AI, which now amplifies every phase of the kill chain: expanding attacker speed, scale, and sophistication. The session examines how AI reshapes the overall risk landscape and provides leaders with a 20‑point action plan to strengthen cyber resilience and fight back effectively.

Dr Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, Former CIO & CISO - NATO

07:05PM - 07:50PM CEST

In-Person

Closing remarks

07:50PM - 08:00PM CEST

Moderated by

Ciaran Martin

Professor, Non-Executive Director, SANS Cyber Leaders Network at SANS

Networking drinks

08:00PM - 10:00PM CEST

In-Person

Brussels, Belgium

Radisson Collection Hotel

Set in the heart of Brussels, the Radisson Collection Hotel, Grand Place is a five-star property with a striking seven-story glass-covered atrium. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Grand Place, the Royal Galleries, and the city's major museums are all just minutes away, and just across from Theatre Vaudeville.

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SANS Cyber Leaders Brussels 2026

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SANS Cyber Leaders Summit | September 22, 2026 | Radisson Collection Hotel, Brussels

Where Cybersecurity Strategy Meets Executive Leadership

Real-World Insights, Not Sales Pitches

Event Highlights

Cyber Crisis Exercise

4 CPE Credits

NetWars Tournaments

Register

Summit Registration Only

Schedule

Summit Dates

Registration and networking

Opening remarks & Cyber Crisis Exercise introduction

Cyber Crisis Exercise

Lunch

Inside today's exploitation landscape: What the data reveals

Beyond individual defence: Building collective cyber resilience

Whose AI are you using?

Networking break

Live edition Cyber Leaders Podcast - In conversation with

How security leaders look at digital sovereignty in practice

Networking break

The next chapter of European cybersecurity: What security leaders should prepare for now

From defence to continuity: Redefining organisational fitness in the age of AI threats

Closing remarks

Networking drinks

Brussels, Belgium

Additional Information

Interested in Partnering With Us?

Registration and networking

Opening remarks & Cyber Crisis Exercise introduction

Cyber Crisis Exercise

Lunch

Inside today's exploitation landscape: What the data reveals

Beyond individual defence: Building collective cyber resilience

Whose AI are you using?

Networking break

Live edition Cyber Leaders Podcast - In conversation with

How security leaders look at digital sovereignty in practice

Networking break

The next chapter of European cybersecurity: What security leaders should prepare for now

From defence to continuity: Redefining organisational fitness in the age of AI threats

Closing remarks

Networking drinks