Sophia Antipolis, France, 10 October 2025
If you missed the annual ETSI Security Conference, held from 6 to 9 October in the beautiful surroundings of ETSI headquarters on the French Riviera, you can still benefit from the presentations on the website.
But you will have definitely missed the coffee breaks and networking cocktails opportunities to connect with over 250 participants from around the world, engage with researchers at their poster sessions, and visit the demonstration booths. The entire cybersecurity ecosystem came together at ETSI’s flagship event where experts from industry, government agencies, academia, global standards bodies, and open-source communities gathered.
The four-day conference featured a variety of formats, including keynote addresses, panel discussions, dedicated sessions, and side interviews with our media partner Cybersecurity magazine. These formats initiated numerous insightful interactions and questions from high-profile attendees.
The first morning provided an overview of the global cybersecurity landscape, highlighting emerging trends such as AI and regulatory initiatives-notably the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) issued by the European Commission. The afternoon focused on addressing the cyber skills gap, pointing out the importance of standards and education to ensure a secure future for all.
The second day explored the paradox between AI-driven cybersecurity risks and the lack of initial security safeguards, along with data protection and privacy. Another session addressed fraud reduction and the convergence of security measures to protect both networks and end users. This session highlighted the global influence of ETSI’s consumer IoT security standard, ETSI EN 303 645. Germany, the UK, Singapore, and Japan presented practical use cases of consumer labelling schemes, based on this standard, confirming its status as a globally accepted benchmark for baseline IoT security - a topic revisited on day three.
The third day assessed the evolution of communication technologies and the requirements for 6G as well as the challenge of secure-by-design software development from several national perspectives – an issue also addressed in the EU CRA. Another interesting session raised questions about digital sovereignty and societal impact: are we entering the age of the splinternet? The afternoon featured an intensive session on post-quantum cryptography, sharing key lessons learnt from real-world implementations.
The final day focused on geopolitics, cyber resilience and forward-looking standards that address strategic risks and the geopolitical impacts on critical infrastructure. Panellists and attendees emphasised the urgent need for collaborative efforts to respond to the Cyber Resilience Act and to develop the 19 associated ETSI standards. In the short term, harmonising global labelling schemes based on ETSI EN 303 645 is essential. In the long term—starting now—there is a crucial need to educate both younger generations and C-level executives on the strategic importance of standards for sovereignty, innovation, and competitiveness.
But this short summary cannot reflect the depth and significance of the conference or the richness of the global expertise and exchanges that took place, so come and join us next year for the 20th anniversary of ETSI’s flagship event, to be held from 19 to 23 October 2026. In the meantime, join us and be part of the community shaping the future of digital security!