One of the major cybersecurity trade fairs, the International Cybersecurity Forum (ICF), risks losing a high-profile exhibitor. As unveiled Challengesthe Ministry of the Armed Forces calls internally not to reserve a stand for the next edition of the show, the 15e, which will take place in Lille at the beginning of April. The military, however, used to take their ease in the North, with a stand presenting their cyber activities.
Thus, for the last edition, the Military Intelligence Directorate (DRM), the Cyber Defense Command (Comcyber), and the Joint Directorate of Infrastructure Networks and Defense Information Systems (Dirisi) had reserved their place. . A way for these different departments to communicate about their jobs, and above all to try to attract fresh recruits, a major recruitment challenge in a sector under pressure.
Is trust soluble in #digital ? Let’s discuss it in plenary plenary during the #FIC2023Thursday, April 6 at @LilleGrandPalai . https://t.co/45kdYoeEtl pic.twitter.com/Q1BVtR6PMd
— FIC 2023 (@FIC_eu) February 2, 2023
“High Inflation”
Except that for the head of military communication, Yann Gravethe, the operation has become too expensive. In a letter, excerpts of which were distributed by Challenges, he justifies the drying up of the show by “the very strong inflation observed in the field of events” and a growing number of shows of the same type. Some of which are also organized by the departments of the ministry, such as the Defense Innovation Forum, or with its support, such as the European cyber week. An absence at the FIC which would do the job, while this show was launched by the French gendarmes, soldiers who have been attached to the Ministry of the Interior since 2009.
“We have not had any official notification” on the non-booking of a stand, however tempers with ZDNet.fr Guillaume Tissier, the partner of Avisa Partners in charge of the show. Two months before the organization of the event, “it is not shocking that there are still partnerships which are discussed and stands which change places”, he adds.
Before finally noting that the organizers will have no difficulty in re-renting the space that would not be reserved by the armies. Similarly, we should still see soldiers in Lille, but as interveners. And the organizers are still counting on the trip of the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, traditionally in Lille one of the key speakers with the Minister of the Interior.
Reputational risk
But according to the economic weekly, there is however another more unofficial reason justifying the withdrawal of the stand of the Armies. The minister’s entourage would thus point to the “reputational risk of working with Avisa Partners”, the co-organizer of the show. The economic intelligence company had bought in 2020 the company CEIS, the historical partner of the gendarmes. Some of the services offered by Avisa Partners, a group which achieved a turnover of 72 million euros in 2022, are indeed controversial.
Its activities related to e-reputation and influence have, for example, been singled out by the press, such as these hundreds of “phony articles”, according to the online newspaper Fakir, intended to support the positions taken by donors. miscellaneous orders.
According to Mediapart, a note from two intelligence services also expressed concern at the start of 2020 about interference between the company’s activity and France’s interests in Africa. “These accusations of manipulation are baseless, we insist on the legal and legitimate nature of our actions”, retorts Guillaume Tissier. As for the FIC, he recalls, “it’s not Avisa: it’s an industry event of which we are only a cog”.