LuCySe4RE framework: Enhancing Cybersecurity for the Research and Education community
2024-10-10, 16:50–17:20 (Europe/Luxembourg), 42 Cluster 3

The LuCySe4RE project aims to enhance cybersecurity services for the research and education community by referring to state-of-the-art open-source tools. The project provides a a Security Operations Centre (SOC)-like framework that helps improve security maturity within the organisations.


The increasing complexity and frequency of cyber threats necessitate robust cybersecurity measures, particularly within the research and education sector, which often lack behind. The LuCySe4RE project addresses this need by providing enhanced cybersecurity solutions, like a Security Operations Centre (SOC), tailored to the Luxembourgish R&E community. The objectives of this project are three-fold:
a. Protecting the most vulnerable: LuCySe4RE aims to introduce an advanced cybersecurity framework to improve network visibility, log analysis, and threat detection capabilities. The focus is on addressing issues such as insufficient network visibility, inconsistent logging, limited monitoring for data leakage, and generate cyber threat intelligence to protect others.
b. Raising awareness and educating on cybersecurity: Education and awareness are crucial for mitigating cyber threats and protecting oneself.
c. Assessing and improving cybersecurity preparedness: tailored security maturity assessments based on a security baseline model will be carried out. These assessments will provide an overview of the cybersecurity readiness of R&E organizations before and after the implementation of LuCySe4RE.
This work is work in progress and reflects the current state of progress including current results.
The LuCySe4RE project represents a comprehensive approach to enhancing cybersecurity within the Luxembourgish R&E sector. By deploying the LuCySe4RE SOC-like service, raising awareness, and conducting detailed security assessments, a more secure digital environment for R&E activities can be created. A positive outcome is also that it paves the way for new EU-directives such as the CER and NIS2. All solutions are open-source and allow to set up a SOC at low cost, which is a major advantage, as a lot of educational organisations may not afford highly priced SOC solutions. The successful implementation of LuCySe4RE will not only protect the Luxembourgish R&E community but also serve as a model for other R&E communities globally.

Cynthia Wagner is the CISO and Security Manager at the Restena Foundation, the national research and education network in Luxembourg. She holds a PhD in computer science. Previously, Cynthia was managing the Restena-Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Besides her daily work, she is currently an active member in different working groups at Geant (the collaboration of European National Research and education networks). On a national plan, she is active in various advisory boards and co-founder of Restena's cyberday.lu and the dataprivacyday.lu conference. The more, she is active in teaching. In her spare time, she loves to work in the garden and exploit new receipts in her kitchen (successfully and not).