A Major Success for a Member Company of the Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic: Decent Cybersecurity Selected for the Prestigious NATO DIANA Challenge

Decent Cybersecurity finds itself among companies such as Hadean, Onebrief, Picogrid, Matrix Pro Sim, Watchtower Labs, Flai, Grist Mill Exchange, ETE Technology and Levato AS — a select group spanning the United States, the United Kingdom, the Nordic region and Central Europe.

About the Challenge

The challenge aims to enhance NATO's operational effectiveness through advanced modelling and simulation, targeting support and operational wargaming. The selected innovators will develop and demonstrate solutions based on artificial intelligence, machine learning and specialised software that will augment the Alliance's existing digital warfighting platforms — most notably the Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO), currently used by ACO. MSS NATO integrates data from multiple sources into a unified operational picture and provides the foundation for more dynamic, data-driven decision-making.

DIANA's so-called Dynamic Challenge format is designed for urgent operational needs rather than early-stage research. The entry bar is a maturity level of TRL 7 or higher, meaning technologies already demonstrated in an operational environment. The programme will culminate in a demonstration phase by December 2026, in which each solution will be assessed for its operational potential and further adoption pathways. Successful innovators will then be eligible for follow-on contracts through the DIANA Rapid Adoption Service without further competition.

Why It Matters

For Slovakia and the Central European region, this is a significant signal. It shows that a domestic deep-tech company can hold its own against established players from countries with incomparably larger defence budgets and become a direct supplier of capabilities to Alliance commands. It fits into NATO's long-term strategy, under which the Alliance's technological edge is built through the integration of Allied capabilities — not only where the largest resources are concentrated.

Decent Cybersecurity's participation in this group is also substantively justified. Modern military systems combine data from a wide range of sources — from military sensors to commercial data feeds. Every such input is also a potential target of attack. If an attacker manages to inject false or manipulated data into the system, the commander will make a wrong decision based on it — quickly and with confidence, as if it were verified information. That is precisely why the system must be able to verify the origin and authenticity of every data point in real time. This is enabled by post-quantum cryptography — a new generation of encryption that will resist even future quantum computers.

This is an important issue, because sensitive military data such as force posture, logistics and targeting information retain their value for decades after being generated. Attackers are therefore collecting them today with the aim of decrypting them later, once the technology allows it (the so-called "harvest-now, decrypt-later" strategy). The European Union requires the transition to quantum-resistant encryption for critical infrastructure by the end of 2030, and the United States prohibits the use of legacy encryption after 2035. Systems deployed today will still be in operation at the time of both these deadlines — and must be prepared for this change already now.

An Established Player in International Projects

Selection for NATO DIANA is not an isolated success for the company. Decent Cybersecurity is an officially registered supplier of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission through its branches in several European countries, leads the European COSMOS-SECURE project focused on quantum-safe voice communication in space, and has long established itself in the areas of space and satellite communications, defence, unmanned traffic management and soft target protection. The company operates through offices in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Statement of the Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic

The success was also welcomed by the President of the Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic, Tibor Straka:

"The inclusion of Decent Cybersecurity in the NATO DIANA challenge is an exceptionally significant success not only for the company itself, but for the entire Slovak ecosystem of critical infrastructure and cybersecurity. It confirms that the member companies of our association belong technologically to the European and transatlantic top tier and are capable of delivering solutions directly for the needs of the Alliance. It is precisely such projects that demonstrate the added value Slovakia can bring to building the resilience of critical infrastructure within both NATO and the European Union."

What Happens Next

The selected ten companies will spend the coming months integrating and iterating with NATO stakeholders in a cloud-based environment aligned to real use cases. The programme will culminate in a demonstration phase by December 2026, where the solutions will be assessed for their potential to support NATO operations and for further deployment. Specific details of the Decent Cybersecurity solution remain, under the terms of the programme, confidential between the company and NATO.



The success of Decent Cybersecurity is an encouraging signal that Slovakia has the potential to become a significant player in the field of cybersecurity and defence technologies at both the European and transatlantic level.