Cyber Defence Essentials

Cyber defence is the active protection of digital systems, data, and networks against evolving threats. As attacks grow more sophisticated and frequent, organisations must move beyond reactive measures to implement comprehensive defensive strategies. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a structured approach to cyber defence, emphasising three critical dimensions: Protect, Detect, and Respond. Protect covers preventive safeguards - securing infrastructure and implementing access controls. Detect focuses on identifying vulnerabilities and recognising threat indicators to spot attacks early. Respond ensures rapid, effective incident management when breaches occur. This program equips students with practical knowledge to understand these defence phases and to build a good base foundation in cybersecurity defence. External stakeholders for this exercise include both users and providers of cybersecurity equipment as well as policy makers including e.g. The Irish National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Cyber Ireland , the EI funded Cyber industry cluster. Moreover, we are combining activities from the Horizon Europe cybersecurity project Resilmesh into this summer school so the EU is also an external stakeholder.

Master foundational cybersecurity practices in this intensive five-day summer program. Combining classroom instruction with hands-on experience, participants gain practical expertise in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) - the industry standard for securing critical infrastructure and sensitive data. Three days of expert-led classes cover key CSF principles, governance, risk management, and threat identification. Two days on a live cyber range using the Horizon Europe funded Resilmesh Security Operating Centre (SOC) will enable participants to apply techniques in realistic environments, responding to simulated attacks and implementing defensive strategies. Ideal for students seeking a solid knowledge of building stronger security postures. Leave with practical skills, framework understanding, and real-world experience

Guided by the well established security standards for cyber defence, the NIST Cyber Security Framework 2.0 (CSF), the aim of the program is to give the learner the ability to:

Obtain a holistic understanding of cyber defence as a process
Gain an in depth understanding of the key cyber defence concepts and terminology 
Explore in depth the three key “hands on” phases of the CSF (Protection, Defence, Response)
Explore how a Security Operations Centre work
Gain hands on experience in the operation of a SOC for cyber defence