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Executive Summary
The Cyberhive Matrix is a simple overview supporting end-users and investors when exploring European cybersecurity solutions. The Matrix is based on Cyberhive and open source data, focusing on maturity and European readiness of the solutions during the assessment. ECSO, owner and initiator of Cyberhive, is the independent entity that analyses and evaluates solutions.
The methodology is completely transparent and was constructed with the input of industry experts in a special Task Force (read more on this here). This industry-supported approach made trustworthiness, replicability, and usability central to the design process.
The Cyberhive Matrix is a half-year published report. The report consists of a matrix visual, and a report. The visual showcases the solutions and includes two axes with criteria and aims to provide clarity at a glance. The report dives deeper into the solutions with descriptions, vendor profiles and European compliance. A detailed document describing the criteria and scoring can be found at the end of this page as well as the Preview Version!
Integrity & independence disclaimer
The companies are rated according to the listed criteria by the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), the initiator and owner of The Cyberhive EUROPE. ECSO is a non-profit based in Brussels. ECSO is a membership association and contributes to Europe’s Digital Sovereignty & Strategic Autonomy and to strengthening its cyber resilience. ECSO members are entities headquartered in the EU, EEA, EFTA or associated Horizon 2020 countries. These are defined as ‘ECSO countries’, and hold the right to participate in working groups and apply for board positions allowing voting at the General Assembly and eligibility to the Board of Directors. Associated members are not located in the earlier defined ECSO country. The ECSO statutes can be found here.
ECSO members outside the EU, EEA or EFTA are not included in The Cyberhive Matrix, because these entities cannot enter Cyberhive (find the entry criteria here). The membership fee is fixed, and ECSO has no interest in favoring their members over other European players. The interest of ECSO is to promote and increase the visibility of all European organizations with solutions included in The Cyberhive Matrix.
Visual Quadrant of the Cyberhive Matrix
Why having two listing points of the same company in the visual?
The purple circle represents potential future data collection for companies that have not yet initiated customer reviews, whereas the black circle indicates the current listing status. For more information on how to get the "purple position", encourage your users to leave reviews of your solutions!
Descriptive text
Guideline & Policy
Methodology & Criteria
The criteria is a combination of all the input gathered from the 3 user groups (vendors, end-users, and investors). The criteria have a measurable unit, which is the way the criteria will be measured. Units can be measured through quantitative data (numeric), or qualitative data (descriptive). It also includes how the data will be gathered. This can be via Cyberhive data or open-source data.
The quantitative data is measurable and replicable. The qualitative data can be collected from text from open-source data or Cyberhive user reviews. The quantitative analyses will end up in the axes of the visual. Qualitative data can be used for descriptive text in the final document, ‘quality marks’, or seals or medals when a solution complies with a standard. These will not be used to ‘rank’ the solutions in the axes.
The criteria are measurable and replicable. The criteria serve as input for the analyses that are included in The Cyberhive Matrix with ‘User experience’ and ‘European readiness’ as axes. The criteria, units (how the criteria are measured) and their weights are indicated in the table below.
User Experience
| Criteria | Unit | Weight |
| User experience | ||
| Overall user satisfaction | Average overall rating 1-10 Cyberhive Score | 30% |
| Amount of recommendations (NPS) | 30% | |
| Ease of scalability | Average ease-of-scalability score [average 1-5 Cyberhive score] | 15% |
| Deployment support | Average ease-of-deployment score [average 1-5 Cyberhive score] | 15% |
| Included deployment docs [yes/no] | 5% | |
| Included supporting docs [yes/no] | 5% |
The User Satisfaction criterion is directly linked to the solution itself, showcasing the overall user experience, ease of deployment, and scalability. It reflects how well the solution integrates into different environments, its adaptability to evolving needs, and the level of user confidence in its performance.
European readiness which is indicated in the horizontal axis indicates how well the solution is adapted to Europe in terms of values (like transparency, and gender balance) and fit to the European market (language availability and operational sovereignty).
European Readiness
| Criteria | Unit | Weight |
| ESG | ||
| Social | ||
| Gender balance [% men % women] | 15% | |
| Governance Transparency | Availability of company transparency: | 35% |
| 1. Availability of webpage & LinkedIn [yes/no] | ||
| 2. Transparency of Board of Directors [yes/no] | ||
| 3. Transparency of ownership of the company [yes/no] | ||
| European end-user/client-tailored | ||
| Language availability | Language coverage of solution/support [% of languages covered in the EU] | 10% |
| English available | ||
| Promotion of EU (fit) solution | Phases of involvement through European association(s) or promotional means: | 10% |
| 1. No representation via associations or promotion | ||
| 2. Association or CSMIE label | ||
| 3. Association + CSMIE label + Cyberhive | ||
| Operational sovereignty | Data located in the EU. [yes/no/not applicable] | 20% |
| HQ established in an EU Member state [yes/no] | 10% |
The Task Force decided to incorporate the European Readiness dimension into our evaluation, recognizing the urgent need to enhance competitiveness, resilience, and investment across Europe. By doing so, we aim to foster a more robust cybersecurity ecosystem that not only meets global standards but also strengthens Europe's strategic autonomy. This initiative supports innovation, drives market confidence, and ensures that European organizations remain at the forefront of cybersecurity excellence in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
The Cyberhive Matrix Criteria Updates
- Version 0.5:
Renamed the criteria within ESG to: 'Social' and 'Governance Transparency'. Made 'Environmental' descriptive data
Removing 'Organisational Transparency' from Company criteria (already listed in Sovereignty at European Readiness)
Added weights to the criteria (based on results from the Task Force after workshop 4)
Version 1.0:
New visual including User experience and European readiness
In 'Trend Analysis' changed 'Market Share' to 'Market Investment Share' to avoid duplication
Removed GACR from Descriptive data at Financial Profile
Version 2.0:
Gender Balance: After the workshop Realigning the Matrix Criteria with the Cybersecurity Ecosystem, we will recognize both the Women4Cyber Entrepreneurship Awards and the Women Recognition Awards criteria in our qualitative data. This addition reflects our acknowledgment of celebrating women in the cybersecurity field, as well as companies that are actively working towards achieving gender equality while fostering an unbiased hiring process, pay equity, and other measures.
Operational Sovereignty Criteria: Removing it from the criteria and allocating the weight towards the data location and the governance transparency.
For the public release, Cyberhive gathers a formal consent prior to the publication.
New upcoming Versions of The Cyberhive Matrix will be designed with workshops.