Cybersecurity challenges emerge in European higher education

The SOCCER project has highlighted the critical need for strategic cybersecurity investments within European higher education institutions. By connecting nine institutions across five Central and Eastern European countries, the project demonstrated that digital protection is essential for maintaining research continuity, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring the credibility of universities as international partners.

Research conducted through the project, titled ‘Cyberuczelnia’, revealed a significant vulnerability in the academic sector: 73 percent of the surveyed institutions lack dedicated security teams such as SOC, CERT, or CSIRT. Experts, including Izabela Albrycht of the AGH University of Science and Technology Cybersecurity Center, emphasize that cybersecurity must be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a mere IT cost. Effective protection requires regional and European cooperation, moving beyond individual institutional efforts to include all organizational levels, from university leadership to research administration.