A few weeks ago, at the Department of Computer Science and Digital Innovation of the University of Urbino, the multiplier event of the Erasmus+ project “Cyber in Practice – Cybersecurity in practice for non IT oriented HE courses” was held. The computer science students, along with their teacher Alessandro Aldini, participated in the event which took place in a hybrid mode, involving students connected remotely and a project partner speaker who joined online.

The Cyber IN Practice project aims to promote digital transition by developing cybersecurity skills among students, teachers, and academic staff, as well as identifying the main computer threats and risks in the university context. After a brief introduction by the teacher about the day’s program, Training2000 presented their organization, illustrating the mission and vision of the institution. Subsequently, online, teacher Angelo Consoli from SUSPI introduced himself to the participants, sharing the main activities of the Department of Innovative Technologies where he teaches.

Training2000 introduced the Cyber IN Practice project by presenting the objectives, international partnership, and results achieved. In particular, they highlighted the International Report on major computer threats and security gaps (R1), the creation of an online Training Platform and the development of 70 interactive training nuggets (R2), and guidelines for implementing “learning nuggets” for educators, trainers, and teachers (R3). During the presentation, the participants appreciated the project’s goals and the results achieved by the partners, emphasizing the quality and usefulness of the results created within the project.

The online intervention of the cybersecurity expert, who also represented the other project partner organization (SUSPI), took place. Professor Angelo Consoli shared an interesting presentation on the most recent cases of cyber-attacks, discussing new trends in cybercrime and new risk scenarios. Thanks to this intervention, the participants were able to discover new risk and danger perspectives, as well as explore future training and job opportunities in the cybersecurity and computer risk management sector.

In the final phase of the event, time was dedicated to a guided exploration of the training platform and sharing key points by the participants. Training 2000 presented the dedicated Moodle platform, allowing students to navigate through the various training materials created by the partners and discover some of the created nuggets.

During the discussion, the participants addressed fundamental topics such as data privacy protection and device security, also analyzing social engineering attacks and common computer threat scenarios. The debate emphasized the importance of adopting the right preventive measures to avoid cyber-attacks and the need to enhance cyber security skills among students and academic staff.

The meeting ended with a lively exchange of ideas and experiences on the topic of cybersecurity in the university environment and the possible cyber-attack scenarios that could occur, especially considering the increasingly widespread incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in higher education. This is no longer just a futuristic hypothesis, but an imminent reality to which universities must adapt and prepare adequately.

For more information, follow the project’s website and Facebook page!