H2020Doctoral network2015–2019

NeCS · European Network for Cyber-security

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2015-09-01 → 2019-08-31
EU contribution
€3,882,228
Participants
12
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

European Network for Cyber-security

The European Network for Cyber Security (NeCS) directly addresses the training and development of a European talent pool to help implement and support the European Cybersecurity strategy as highlighted in the EC’s Digital Agenda. As cyber-security is inherently multi-sectorial, the NeCS participants (beneficiaries and partners), by design, span both the academic sector and the non-academic one. The NeCS network comprehensively collects and links multi-disciplinary expertise in the cyber-security area, ranging from social science and legal expertise for ICT to security metrics and risk assessment and mitigation techniques, to cyber-security technology, systems and operations, considering also information sharing aspects and regulatory compliance of information processing procedures. Further to the above, NeCS offers to trainees personalised research and innovation training plans that uniquely combine cutting edge science with exposure to real-life systems, data and case-studies together with specialized training in complementary soft skills with a strong emphasis on research exploitation, entrepreneurial and communication competence. This further enhances the competences of the 15 ESRs, in a rapidly growing and highly demanding job market for cyber-security that spans across industry, research/academia, regulatory bodies, and beyond. In addition to the training capabilities developed within this network, NeCS will become a very significant asset for the European Research Area (ERA) enabling it to address the cyber-security challenges that are gaining continuous attention at all levels of European society. NeCS’s explicit objective is to train the next generation of researchers and practitioners who will be able to meet the demand for careers in Cyber-Security and further Europe’s research excellence in the area. To achieve this, trainee researchers will have to develop skills and expertise that build on a fusion of aspects from IT and network security technologies, risk management, information assurance, international law and political sciences and social sciences. Particular emphasis will be placed on bidirectional transfer of knowledge between academic and commercial organisations and on coupling foundational research with practical “hands-on” technology experience and advanced prototyping. According to the initial findings of the European platform on “Network and Information Security (NIS)” there are at least three key areas that should be covered for cyber-security. They are risk management, information sharing and eventually cyber-security operations management.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The European Network for Cybersecurity (NECS) was formed in response to the increased need of highly qualified experts able to cope with all the aspects of the European cybersecurity strategy that is currently under implementation.There is indeed an evident need and opportunity to grow a new generation of young researchers able to answer this demand for expertize, trained to the changing nature of the challenges to be faced. These challenges include evolvable threats and new technological means to exploit network and information security vulnerabilities of cyber systems that have eventually consequences in the physical world. Starting from these considerations, the European Commission proposed the “DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL concerning measures to ensure a high common level of network and information security across the Union” . This directive proposal, on the one hand, recognizes the relevance for the European economy of cybersecurity, on the other one, poses the regulatory basis for achieving a common level of cybersecurity preparedness among the main European public/private stakeholders. This 4-year project for a cybersecurity research and training network aims at contributing to answer this increased demand of human expertise in the field. The project; by fosters ing a multi-sectorial/disciplinary approach that is clearly necessary for tackling all cybersecurity aspects - as also recognized by the European Network and Information Security (NIS) platform recently established by the EU to contribute to the strategy that is firmly based on a public/private cooperation.Being cybersecurity inherently multi-sectorial, NECS has participants (beneficiaries and partners) both from the academic sector (7) and non-academic one (5). In the NECS research and training network, multi-disciplinary expertise has been collected and interlinked in order to have as a centre of gravity the cybersecurity security area.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · RomaCoordinatorItaly
  • ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES IBERIA SL · MADRIDSpain
  • ATOS SPAIN SA · MadridSpain
  • BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC · LONDONUnited Kingdom
  • HEWLETT PACKARD ITALIANA SRL · MILANOItaly
  • SME INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE CIBERSEGURIDAD DE ESPANA MP SA · LeonSpain
  • TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT · DarmstadtGermany
  • UNIPOL GRUPPO FINANZIARIO SPA · BolognaItaly
  • UNITED NATIONS INTERREGIONAL CRIME AND JUSTICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · TORINOItaly
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA · MALAGASpain
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO · TrentoItaly
  • UNIVERSITY OF KENT · Canterbury, KentUnited Kingdom

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union