Europe’s strongest fortress. Defeated in a single day.
Don’t let history repeat itself in your digital defenses
Fort Eben-Emael was built in the 1930s as the crown jewel of Belgium’s defense. Strategically positioned near the Albert Canal, equipped with cutting-edge military technology, and fully compliant with the military standards of its time, it stood as a symbol of strength, control, and security. Yet… it fell in a single day.
Not because of a lack of technology. Not because of poor planning. But because the attack that brought it down didn’t fit the expected pattern. German airborne troops used silent gliders and a revolutionary kind of explosive, shaped charges, to land directly on top of the fort, disable its artillery, and neutralize what was thought to be an impenetrable stronghold before anyone knew what was happening.
Find out more at https://fort-eben-emael.be/en/home
Why do we bring up this story again? Well, because it’s a textbook example of what we still see in cybersecurity today: organizations that are strong in technology, processes, and compliance, but fail to account for the threat actors outside their walls.
Why technology and compliance aren’t enough
When we speak with C-level leaders about cybersecurity, the conversation often revolves around tooling, governance, and compliance. Understandably so, these are tangible, quantifiable, and traceable components.
But threats evolve faster than your internal policies. Threat actors are constantly innovating, testing new methods, and thinking creatively. Just like the German troops back then, they don’t go through the front gate, they find the unexpected path.
The truth is: you can have everything buttoned up inside and still be vulnerable to what’s happening outside.
Your cyber security strategy should start with your adversary
A robust cybersecurity posture is built on four key pillars: technology, process, people, and to be truly effective it needs to be adapted to the landscape (things you can’t change) and aware of the climate (evolutions you can’t necessarily predict). In cybersecurity this means a combination of threat actors, their motivation, their capabilities, and their relevance to you. Unfortunately threat intelligence – as a primary source for landscape and climate related information – is often underutilized, relegated to static risk maps or siloed tools. Simply integrating it into your Managed Detection & Response (MDR) or security stack isn’t enough. To be truly effective, threat landscape insights must be embedded into your broader cybersecurity strategy and resilience planning.
It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Only by actively monitoring the threat landscape can you make the right strategic decisions: where to invest, what to prioritize, and how to defend.
Strategic context matters: integrating threat intelligence only at the technical or operational level (e.g., in a SOC) limits its potential. Strategic embedding allows organizations to proactively align defenses with business risks and geopolitical realities.
Beyond tactical indicators: Threat intelligence is often used for indicators of compromise (IOCs), but its true value comes from understanding why adversaries act, their motives, tactics, and evolving techniques.
Investment prioritization: When threat insights are part of strategic planning, they help security leaders prioritize investments based on real, relevant threats, not just compliance checklists or industry trends.
Cyber security budgets are limited. Focus on where it matters most.
Let’s face it: security budgets are not infinite.
An effective MDR service should be based on what actual attackers are doing today. Broader your coverage doesn’t always mean better; it’s about precision and relevance.
To maximize your chances of intercepting a threat actor, your MDR capabilities need to align with the attack kill chain, the stages an attacker goes through from initial access to exfiltration. Intervening early in the chain (e.g., during reconnaissance, initial access, or privilege escalation) has the highest impact and lowest cost in terms of damage control.
For many organizations, embedding threat intel strategically may not be feasible. That’s why spotit integrates insights from the threat landscape so we can detect attacks where they are most likely to happen and stop them before real damage occurs.
From fortress to resilience
The fall of Fort Eben-Emael teaches us a hard truth: a strong defense is meaningless if you don’t see the attack coming.
At spotit, we help organizations not only build strong defenses but also stay agile. We monitor the global threat landscape for our customers, and we actively integrate emerging TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) into offensive security testing. This means we can simulate realistic attacks and challenge your defenses, based on how real-world threat actors operate today.
From insights to action
Staying ahead means learning from the breaches that have already happened. Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) is packed with real-world insights into how attackers operate and where organizations are most vulnerable. If you’re serious about strengthening your cybersecurity posture, this is essential reading.
Follow the DBIR and use its findings to guide your strategy, training, and incident response plans. Don’t wait to become a statistic, learn from the data, adapt, and stay resilient.