Class of 2021
From the 22nd until the 27th of August, 2021, the International Cyber Security Summer School took place online. After the Summer School of 2020 was cancelled due to Covid, the organization was able to organize a virtual edition. 60 motivated students and young professionals successfully completed the programme. They followed multidisciplinary lectures from public, private, and knowledge institutions and participated in challenges provided by i.a. Leiden University, Accenture, Palo Alto, Cisco Networking Academy, Europol European Cybercrime Centre, NATO CI Agency, and The Hague Security Delta. This allowed the students to gain a unique understanding of and insight into the field of cybersecurity from various angles.
A unique perspective on Cybersecurity
Given the digitisation of our society, cyber security is rising on the political agenda, as the consequences of attacks, incidents and security breaches are increasing. The International Cyber Security Summer School allows students and young professionals to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of cyber security concepts, as they will learn about the latest developments and the cutting-edge cyber security technologies that exist today, from organisations that deal with them daily. Participants have the opportunity to make unique connections with the participating organisations, speakers, and fellow students.
Challenges and lectures
Throughout the week, students were brought into contact with cybersecurity and experts in the field through a series of lectures and challenges. Leiden University taught students about responsible behaviour in cyberspace; NATO’s CI Agency dove deeper into the complexities of Artificial Intelligence; Palo Alto provided interesting insight into firewalls; Accenture gave students a taste of what it’s like to be a consultant in the security domain; Europol’s EC3 Agency briefed students on the ins and outs of Cybercrime and cryptocurrency; SignPost Six dove into the more technical side of cyber risks; and Deloitte explained not only what common application vulnerabilities are, but also showed how to exploit them. This is just a handful of examples of themes addressed throughout the week, further lectures and challenges were provided by Radically Open Security, Cisco, Battery Ventures, Peter Zinn, and Joris den Bruinen. These lectures and challenges combined provided a varied, engaging, and interesting programme.
An adapted Summer School
Although some adaptations had to be made by both the organizers and the students as the event could not take place in person, many students were very satisfied with the organization and the Summer School was just as educative as it had been in other years. In 2022, we hope and aim to host the Summer School in person again.
Factsheet
Missed ICSSS 2021? Check out the facts and figures sheet below for more info:
