CESIN

What CESIN does

CESIN (Club des Experts de la Sécurité de l'Information et du Numérique) is a French professional association governed by the loi de 1901, founded as a knowledge-sharing and peer-exchange platform for senior cybersecurity leaders. It serves more than 1,200 RSSI/CISO members drawn from companies of all sectors and public administrations, with the stated mission of collectively raising the cybersecurity maturity of member organisations. The association does not sell a unified software product; instead, it operates a portfolio of membership services including an annual congress (14th edition planned for December 2026), plenary sessions, thematic or sectoral working groups (LABs) that produce white papers, expert forums, a job exchange, weekly vulnerability and regulatory watch, connected workshops, and an annual barometer of French enterprise cybersecurity produced with OpinionWay.

The underlying "technology" is a content-and-events platform: a private member portal (Espace Membre) layered on a public website, complemented by an email newsletter and LinkedIn presence. Proprietary outputs include the annual cybersecurity barometer (11 editions through 2025-2026), recurring LAB white papers on topics such as Zero Trust, digital dependencies, vulnerability management, and the CISO/insurer relationship, and joint studies with Thales, Advens, I-TRACING, Board of Cyber, Cybervadis, Citalid, OpinionWay, IFOP/IDECSI, and others. Distribution is non-commercial and member-driven, with reach into European policy circles via the ECSO Board of Directors seat.

CESIN is a non-profit association funded through member dues and sponsor contributions from cybersecurity vendors. Sponsors visible on the website include Thales, Cloudflare, Check Point, SentinelOne, Sekoia, Advens, Gatewatcher, Harfanglab, I-TRACING, YesWeHack, Cybervadis, Kudelski Security, Almond Consulting, HeadMind, Memority, Purplemet, Tenacy, and VirtualBrowser. The organisation is headquartered in Paris (115 rue Saint-Dominique, 75007) with a management address in Grissy-Suisnes, and operates under SIRET 753 651 256 00020.

Name

CESIN

Legal name

Club des Experts de la Sécurité de l'Information et du Numérique

Website

https://cesin.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

CESIN is a French non-profit association of more than 1,200 senior cybersecurity leaders (CISOs/RSSI) from companies across all sectors, providing peer exchange, annual congresses, thematic working groups producing white papers, and a flagship annual cybersecurity barometer conducted with OpinionWay.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CESIN is a French non-profit professional association that brings together Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs/RSSI) from companies across all sectors and public administrations. It provides membership-based knowledge-sharing and peer exchange services through an annual congress, plenary sessions, thematic working groups (LABs) producing white papers, expert forums, a job board, weekly vulnerability and regulatory watch, and the annual Cybersecurity Barometer published with OpinionWay.

Product overview

CESIN is a professional association (Club des Experts de la Sécurité de l'Information et du Numérique) serving as a knowledge-sharing and networking platform for cybersecurity professionals. Rather than a unified product or platform architecture, CESIN offers a portfolio of membership services including an annual congress, plenary sessions, thematic working groups (LABs) producing white papers, forums, job exchange, and weekly vulnerability/regulatory watch services. The organization also publishes an annual cybersecurity barometer conducted with OpinionWay and hosts connected workshops and expert voice sessions with cybersecurity vendor partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Congress (Congrès) Annual congress bringing together cybersecurity professionals for a comprehensive overview of information security challenges. Open to all digital professionals.
• Plenary Sessions (Sessions Plénières) Members from all sectors can discuss viewpoints, share experiences, and exchange transparently during plenary sessions.
• Thematic Working Groups (LABs) Reserved for members, these thematic or sectoral working groups produce white papers and research publications.
• Forums and Expert Discussion Threads Exchange platforms enabling expert discussions, job postings, and peer-to-peer exchanges as natural extensions of regular debates.
• Cybersecurity Barometer (Baromètre) Annual barometer providing state-of-the-market analysis of French enterprise cybersecurity, conducted with OpinionWay.
• Connected Workshops (Ateliers Connectés) Partner-hosted workshops on cybersecurity topics featuring presentations and replays.
• Expert Voices (Parole d'Expert) Expert presentations and discussions on cybersecurity topics.
• Weekly Watch (Veille) Daily vulnerability and incident watch plus regulatory watch services for members.
• Job Exchange (Bourse d'emplois) Job board for cybersecurity professionals within the CESIN community.
• Summer University (Université d'été) Annual summer university event for CESIN members featuring presentations and networking.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ECSO (European Cyber Security Organisation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN joined the ECSO Board of Directors. Frank Van Caenegem represents CESIN and co-chairs the European CISO community within ECSO.
• Board of CybercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN partners with Board of Cyber on the annual 'Observatoire TPRM' (Third-Party Cyber Risk Observatory), producing studies on supply chain cyber risks. Multiple editions published (2024, 2025).
• Cyber4TomorrowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and Cyber4Tomorrow united in June 2025 to accelerate the integration of environmental issues into cybersecurity.
• HexatrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and Hexatrust unveiled the 'Cyber Panorama', an operational tool to guide organizations toward sovereign cybersecurity solutions.
• Forum INCYBERcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN collaborates with Forum INCYBER on multiple white papers including 'Zero Trust', 'Digital Dependencies' and joint activities at the Forum INCYBER event.
• ThalescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and Thales conducted a joint study 'L'IA et les RSSI' (AI and CISOs) in March 2025, providing governance recommendations based on regulatory environment analysis.
• CybervadisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN partnered with Cybervadis on a study mapping the cybersecurity maturity of French companies, and jointly organized the 'Panorama de la maturité en cybersécurité des entreprises françaises'.
• AdvenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and Advens publish annual studies including the 'Baromètre SOC' and the 'Cyberstress' study on stress among cybersecurity professionals (2nd edition in 2024).
• OpinionWaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN conducts its annual barometer of French enterprise cybersecurity with OpinionWay, producing the flagship annual report on the state of cybersecurity in French companies.
• IFOPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN partnered with IFOP and IDECSI on a study on data security at work, surveying employee attitudes toward data protection and AI concerns.
• I-TRACINGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and I-TRACING co-published a white paper on vulnerability management: 'Gestion des vulnérabilités : comment réduire votre exposition aux cyberattaques'.
• CitalidminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and Citalid co-published the 'Baromètre de la Relation RSSI x Assureurs' (2024), analyzing the relationship between CISOs and cyber insurers.
• IDECSIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN partnered with IDECSI and IFOP on a study of data security in the workplace, surveying French employees.
• GIMELECminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESIN and GIMELEC co-organize the 'Journée de la Cybersécurité industrielle OT/IoT' events, with a dedicated industrial cybersecurity workshop (#3) planned at Campus Cyber.
• CyberEco (Canada)minorOthersInternational partner listed among CESIN's partners, based in Canada.
• Campus Cyber Région Sud (ARES)minorOthersRegional partner located at Campus Cyber in the South of France, listed among CESIN's partners.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• ISACA: Global professional association for IT governance, risk, and cybersecurity. Operates similar working groups, research publications and certifications (CISM, CISA) targeted at senior security leaders — directly comparable audience and offering type to CESIN.
• ISSA (Information Systems Security Association): International not-for-profit association of cybersecurity professionals. Comparable structure to CESIN (membership chapters, peer exchange, research) but with global reach across many countries and local chapters.
• Cloud Security Alliance: Global not-for-profit organization for cloud security with research working groups, certifications and a large member community. Comparable community/peer-exchange model with international scope and paid credentialing.
• (ISC)²: Global, much larger professional association for cybersecurity professionals. Provides community/networking plus paid certification (CISSP) — overlapping with CESIN's CISO community-building mission but with international scope and credentialing revenue CESIN lacks.

Emerging players

• SANS Institute: Global cybersecurity training and research organization serving security practitioners through paid courses, certifications and research. Comparable audience of senior security professionals, but with a paid-training business model rather than volunteer association.

Direct peers

• ECSO (European Cyber Security Organisation): Public-private European association representing the cybersecurity ecosystem at EU level. CESIN joined the ECSO board in 2025 and co-chairs the European CISO community — making ECSO a direct peer and active partner in shaping European CISO engagement.
• AFCDP (Association Française des Correspondants à la Protection des Données): French professional association for DPOs / data protection professionals. Same organizational form (association loi 1901), French scope, and peer-exchange model as CESIN, but focused on the adjacent data-protection compliance community.
• CLUSIF (Club de la Sécurité de l'Information Français): Direct French peer organization for cybersecurity professionals. Both are French membership associations focused on collective cybersecurity maturity improvement through working groups, publications, and peer exchange — essentially the same model in the same market.
• Forum INCYBER: Major European cybersecurity event and ecosystem forum. Active co-publishing partner of CESIN (Zero Trust, Digital Dependencies white papers per source); comparable in audience (CISOs/security leaders) and event-driven content model, though primarily an event vs. a membership body.

Regional players

• CLUSIR: Regional French associations of SSI/CISO professionals. Operate the same model (peer exchange, working groups, white papers) as CESIN but at a sub-national/regional level — comparable offering, narrower geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cesin-club
• Xx.com/CESIN_France

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CESIN