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Cybersecurity Innovation and Education: Insights from Tiberiu Baraboi

Cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field that demands continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration between academia, industry, and public institutions. As part of the MERIT EU project, Cristina Bulat from Digital Innovation Zone conducted a series of interviews with Tiberiu Baraboi, co-founder of Expertware, to explore the role of cybersecurity professionals, the importance of structured ecosystems, and strategies for fostering talent and innovation.

The Journey of Tiberiu Baraboi and Expertware

Tiberiu Baraboi’s journey in cybersecurity began in the early 1990s when he graduated in computer science in Romania following the fall of communism. He co-founded one of the country’s first commercial Internet service providers, facing early challenges that provided invaluable experience in IT. After selling his first company, he expanded his expertise in Belgium before co-founding Expertware in 2006. The company has since grown organically, now employing over 100 people across Romania, Belgium, and Tunisia, achieving steady annual growth of 15-20% while remaining a fully Romanian-owned enterprise. Looking back, Tiberiu highlights three aspects: (I) continuous learning, particularly not stopping at university courses, (II) using the study period to build innovative ideas and find those willing to invest in them, and (III) developing entrepreneurial skills.

The Role of Universities, EDIHs, and SMEs in Driving Innovation

Tiberiu highlights the importance of structured ecosystems in fostering cybersecurity innovation. Public agencies actively evaluate SME solutions in countries like France, Spain, and Germany, ensuring promising innovations receive proper assessment and support. Spain’s business parks, where universities and SMEs collaborate, provide a successful model for applied research that transforms academic ideas into commercial products. Similarly, Britain’s Technopolis model, where multiple cybersecurity-focused universities collaborate with SMEs and government bodies, leads to impactful technological advancements.

In contrast, Romania lacks a structured follow-up system for post-innovation events, leading to missed opportunities for collaboration and funding. Tiberiu stressed the need for stronger partnerships and mechanisms that facilitate long-term engagements and transform ideas into European grants or commercial ventures. One way forward is the creation of public-private consortia that leverage internal synergies to test and guarantee solutions to stakeholders.

Addressing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap

Cybersecurity faces a significant workforce shortage in Europe, with a gap of nearly 500,000 professionals, which is expected to grow despite AI-driven automation. Tiberiu emphasized that cybersecurity expertise is multifaceted, covering areas such as operating systems, networking, identity management, and IT architecture. While ENISA classifies 12 cybersecurity job roles, the industry has expanded them into at least 25 specialized fields: for instance, behind ENISA’s incident responder we find cybersecurity monitoring, cybersecurity incident responder level 1-2, cyber threat intelligence and advanced threat hunting.

He suggested that students should prioritize foundational IT education before specializing in Cybersecurity and add technical field experience to academic knowledge alone. At Expertware, students develop core IT competencies before transitioning into cybersecurity roles. However, early training can also be beneficial for specific areas like threat intelligence, where monitoring and interpreting cybersecurity threats can be approached early on.

For Romanian universities in particular, he advocates for stronger public-private collaborations (e.g., experienced professionals participating in academic courses or joint research projects between universities and SMEs) to enhance practical, hands-on training, which remains critical in cybersecurity education.

Lifelong Learning in Cybersecurity

Tiberiu likened cybersecurity to physical fitness: continuous effort is required to stay relevant. Cyber threats evolve daily, three times a day compared to other fields, necessitating constant upskilling. Passion for learning is crucial as top professionals continuously explore new attack methods (such as AI data poisoning), how cybersecurity can be compromised, and emerging technologies. No single person can master all aspects of cybersecurity, and deep expertise in niche areas is highly valuable. A new and growing field is AI cybersecurity, where attackers manipulate machine learning models and ransomware attacks for cryptocurrencies.

Despite AI advancements, cybersecurity jobs will remain crucial. AI can assist professionals by automating tasks, but human expertise is essential for analysis and adaptation. The increasing complexity of digital threats ensures that cybersecurity will continue to be a critical and rewarding career path.

Strategies for Expanding Cybersecurity Adoption

Universities and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) must act as catalysts for broader cybersecurity adoption. Tiberiu stressed the role of strong academic programs, inspiring educators, and global collaboration in improving Romania’s university rankings and educational standards.

One way to cultivate cybersecurity talent is through national cybersecurity competitions for high school students (e.g., the Romanian Cybersecurity Olympiad), which encourage early engagement with real-world research projects.

Public-private partnerships further drive innovation, as demonstrated by SIEMBIOT project – a European-funded initiative enhancing Security Operations Center (SOC) capabilities.In collaboration with the National Directorate of Security in Romania, the project supports the monitoring and enforcement of cybersecurity rules, empowering public authorities and SMEs to better identify, respond to, and mitigate cyber risks. SIEMBIOT provides cyber threat intelligence feeds and improves the security posture, particularly in line with compliance to the evolving regulation like the NIS 2 Directive. Additionally, the upcoming Asymmetry project will leverage AI and machine learning to improve anomaly detection, further strengthening defenses.

These collaborations highlight the potential of industry-academic cooperation in advancing cybersecurity.

Essential Skills for Cybersecurity Professionals

Students should leverage their university years to develop projects, conduct research, and build industry connections to accelerate their careers. Tiberiu outlined two main career paths in cybersecurity:

1. Academic & theoretical cybersecurity:
   • Focuses on compilers, code integrity, cryptographic encryption, and hashing algorithms.
   • It is suitable for research-oriented individuals with strong mathematical skills.
2. Operational cybersecurity (90% of Jobs):
   • Focuses on protecting IT assets, networks, identities, devices, and applications.
   • It requires hands-on experience, problem-solving, and adaptability.
   • It involves high-pressure situations, such as responding to ransomware attacks.

He emphasized that passion, commitment, determination and continuous learning are crucial for success. Real-world exposure, experimentation, and resilience are essential for navigating the fast-paced and demanding cybersecurity landscape.

Conclusion

Tiberiu Baraboi’s insights reinforce the importance of structured ecosystems, hands-on education, and lifelong learning in cybersecurity. Universities, SMEs, and digital hubs must collaborate to bridge the talent gap, enhance cybersecurity research, and ensure sustainable innovation. For aspiring professionals, the field offers dynamic challenges, rewarding problem-solving opportunities, and a constantly evolving landscape that demands dedication and continuous growth.

Interview Series Overview:

Explore these interviews to gain deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities present in today’s cybersecurity landscape.