Belgium rewards ‘ethical hackers’ who uncover government IT vulnerabilities

Brussels – For two weeks, 71 people – including 39 professionals and 32 students – have tested the security of various public IT infrastructures in Belgium, identifying and reporting vulnerabilities under the Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD) framework. And now they will be rewarded for their “ethical” hacking.

 In this edition of #HackTheGovernment, the targets were far-reaching: Belgian Defence, Federal and Local Police, the Centre for National Cyber Security, the Federal Medicines Agency, the Office for the Coordination of Holidays, and the Agency for the Better Functioning of Public Services. 

According to Miguel De Bruycker, Director General of the Belgian Cyber Security Centre (CCB), “Belgium’s ethical hackers demonstrate that responsible disclosure remains our best lever to build digital trust.”

Improve the quality of reporting

Following the success of the 2024 edition, which resulted in 84 unique vulnerability reports, including one zero-day vulnerability, the 2025 edition received an impressive 266 alerts, of which 74 have already been validated. 

The types of vulnerabilities are still being assessed. However, the 2024 edition highlighted primarily cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, an attack that tricks a website into running malicious code, usually JavaScript, in the user’s browser. “This year’s results are impressive in terms of content due to the quality of the reports, which demonstrates the growing maturity and value of the community of ethical hackers in Belgium,” the organisers report.

Build trust through collaboration

The #HackTheGovernment initiative represents more than a technical exercise: it’s a nationwide collaboration that reinforces public trust and transparency. Through this program, citizens, students, and cybersecurity professionals work side by side with public institutions to identify and remediate vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them, the organizers say.

In particular, the CCB would like to help students: the aim is to make them aware of the curriculum and offer them an opportunity to work closely with professionals for two weeks.