Concepción Cordón, Project Manager at Hispasec Sistemas; Rafael Estepa, Director of the BeOneSec Chair in Cybersecurity and Cyber Intelligence; Luis Miguel Garrido, Director for Andalusia, Extremadura and the Canary Islands at Fortinet; María José Escalona, Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Seville; Raúl Jiménez, Managing Director of the Digital Agency in Andalusia; and Sergio de los Santos, Head of the Innovation and Laboratory Division at Telefónica Tech.
On 28 April, the headquarters of Diario de Sevilla brought together six industry specialists to debate cybersecurity and digital trust. Rafael Estepa, Director of the BeOneSec Cybersecurity and Cyber Intelligence Chair, was among them — and put something on the table that is rarely said with such clarity: cyberattacks do not stop because there is a criminal business model that works. Cybercriminals buy stolen data and attack tools on Dark Web markets, collect payment in cryptocurrency, and operate from countries where cybercrime is barely prosecuted. The risk is low, but the reward is very high. And to stand any chance of stopping it, investing in talent is essential.
Cybersecurity talent is not growing at the same pace as threats
Demand for cybersecurity professionals has been outpacing supply for years. The vacancies exist, but the qualified profiles to fill them are not keeping up. This is not a temporary problem — it is a structural gap that affects companies, public administrations, and critical infrastructure operators alike.
That is why more and more curricula are being adapted with dedicated modules, full degrees, and master’s programmes in cybersecurity.
What changes when real-world knowledge reaches the classroom
The difference it makes when genuine industry knowledge reaches students before they graduate is concrete, not theoretical. That is precisely what the BeOneSec Chair does: bringing real cases, operational intelligence, and the perspective of people who work daily in critical environments directly into university education.
As Rafa Estepa put it during the discussion: “Sitting down with specialists at this level forces you to think about what really matters: how do we get students the knowledge that can only be gained by working in the sector? At BeOneSec we specialise in cyber intelligence services, and that knowledge cannot stay within the company. The Chair is the channel that allows us to transfer it to the University — to the Master’s in Cybersecurity, to research projects, to the students who will soon be the professionals the sector needs. Without that transfer, university education and the reality of the industry will remain two worlds that never meet.”
Why industry-university collaboration is the missing piece
Without direct transfer between industry and university, talent arrives in the market with a gap between what has been learnt and what the sector actually needs. That gap has a real cost: organisations hiring people who need years to reach the level the role demands from day one.
The BeOneSec Chair exists precisely to close that gap. Talent must reach the market with the depth the sector demands, and that does not happen without spaces where companies and universities work together on real problems.
That is why forums like this one, organised by Diario de Sevilla, matter — they force into the open what often stays in internal conversations: what is failing, where is the talent we need, and who bears responsibility for developing it.
At the BeOneSec Cybersecurity and Cyber Intelligence Chair, we believe that responsibility is shared — and that accepting it is the first step towards closing the gap.
