R E S E A R C H C H A L L E N G E S A N D
S T R A T E G I C P R O J E C T S I N
C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y
T o m a s P i t n e r , H e a d o f L a s a r i s
C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y H U B – R A T I O N A L E
• Cybersecurity Hub, z. ú. (CS HUB) was founded in 2020 by three Czech
universities:
• Masaryk University
• Czech Technical University in Prague
• Brno University of Technology
• Goals:
• Development of cooperation and initiatives in the field of cybersecurity and
related technological areas,
• Development of joint initiatives in the field of certification services for
cybersecurity
• Supporting the digital transformation of companies, especially SMEs and
public administration organisations in the field of cybersecurity.
G e n e r a l G o a l s
• We increase the impact and competitiveness of
Czech research and education.
• We deepen the level of our cooperation with the
state, businesses and multinational organizations.
• We strengthen the resilience of the digital society
and its services at all levels.
S p e c i f i c G o a l s
• Forster international presence and increase absorption capacity
of Czech cybersecurity sector
• Coordinate involvement in leading activities in Europe
• National Contact Center for EU Center of Excellence in CS
(Bucharest)
• EuroQCI – National Point
• SHIELDS – HORIZON EUROPE – Widera – Teaming
C S H – B i g P i c t u r e
C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y
I N N O V A T I O N H U B
• DIGITAL EUROPE – European Digital Innovation Hubs
• Final proposal Feb 2022. Start: 2023
• Services for SMEs and public administration
• Elaborated in close collaboration of
• CSH – coordinator
• CzechInno – co-leading partner
• 3 Czech Universities
• Partners: Chamber of Commerce, IC4.0 & Network Monitoring
Clusters, Tech Center of Academy of Sciences
C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y I N N O V A T I O N H U B
N A T I O N A L C O M P E T E N C E
C E N T E R F O R C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y
• TECHNOLOGY AGENCY OF CZECHIA
• 3+3 years, cascade financing = sub-projects
• Final proposal Mar 2022. Start: 2023
• Innovation for Competition
• Value co-creation industry-academia, commercialization
• CSH – coordinator, 3 Czech Universities
• Partners: Unicorn, Axenta, TSB, IC4.0, NSM Cluster, CAMEA
C O L L A B O R A T I O N W I T H C R I T I C A L
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E O P E R A T O R S
• Projects of NC3, Ministry of Interior - Security Research,
Technology Agency, contractual research…
• Partners: CSH, Brno University of Technology, Czech TU, Uni
Pilsen
• Industry: ČEPS (Czech TSO), ČEZd (Czech DSO), ZPA Smart
Energy, Mycroft Mind
R & D C H A L L E N G E S
• Critical infrastructures – Energy sector - Challenges
• Cybersecurity
• New regulations – EU Network Codex for CS
• Shared CS services – eSOC
• New challenges brought by Quantum Computing, Quantum
Secure Communication, Post-quantum Security
• Standardization
• Certification & Compliance
E N E R G Y S E C T O R – C y b e r s e c u r i t y
• Energy transmission & distribution
• High risks, high or critical impact – blackout, physical damage
• Complex IT & OT & telco infrastructures
• Complex system & network architecture
• Partially separated physical infrastructure
• Physical protection
• External suppliers
E N E R G Y – A t t a c k V e c t o r s
• Phishing
• Exploitation of vulnerabilities
• Use of stolen credentials
• Brute-force
• RDP
• External media
E N E R G Y – S e c u r i t y & D e f e n s e
• Resilience plan
• Training
• Hardening
• OT mapping in operation
• Risk assessment
• Monitoring 24/7
S e c u r i t y
P r i n c i p l e s
• ZERO TRUST
• PERA – layered
architecture
• Digital Twins
• AI methods for behavior
analysis
E N E R G Y – A t t a c k V e c t o r s
• Phishing
• Exploitation of vulnerabilities
• Use of stolen credentials
• Brute-force
• RDP
• External media
E N E R G Y S E C T O R – C y b e r s e c u r i t y
• Serious attacks since 2015 – 1st Ukraine case
• Nation-sponsored attackers
• Sophisticated logistics
• Long time from reconnaissance
• Different (multiple) attack vectors
• Enlarged perimeter due to penetration of IoT
• Complex coverage – from OT over IT to voice communication
S T R A T E G I C P R O J E C T S
• HORIZON EUROPE – Widera – SHIELDS (from Q2-3 2023)
• NC3 II (from Q1 2023)
• Cybersecurity Innovation Hub (from Q1 2023)
• National Recovery Programme (from Q3 2022)
S H I E L D S
• HORIZON EUROPE – Widera – Teaming proposal in 2nd round
• Final proposal Sept 2022, Start: mid 2023
• Elaborated in close collaboration of
• CSH – coordinator
• 3 Czech Universities
• 3 Partners: Uni Vienna, Uni Regensburg, KU Leuven
S H I E L D S – T o p i c s & G o a l s
• O1 Excellence in research
• enhanced research capacities,
• test beds, labs, infrastructure
• O2 Excellence in research governance
• O3 Visibility & Credibility
• O4 Bring socio-economic benefits to society
• policy making bodies and expert groups
S H I E L D S - O r g C h a r t
Legend
Advanced Partners Czech Universities
Masaryk University
MU
Czech Technical University
CTU
Brno University of Technology
BUT
University Vienna
UV
University Regensburg
URE
Catholic University Leuven
KUL
Cybersecurity Hub
(CSH)
Research group 1
Research group 2
Research group N
Research group 1
Research group 2
Research group N
Research group 1
Research group 2
Research group N
Management
Project support (Grant
Office)
HR
Technology Transfer
Scientific board Governance boardStakeholder forum
General assembly
Working
group N
Industry
Public institutions
Trade organisations
Clusters
Professional public
(CZ, international)
Project partner
External pools of experts
SHIELD Body
Representatives
Coordination, cooperation, information
sharing
CDE
European Commission
Project officer
Working
group 2
Working
group 1
Dept N
CDE committee
Research group 1
Research group 2
Research group N
SHIELDS Steering
Committee
S H I E L D S – E x p e r t i s e
• Technical Uni Brno – biometrics, privacy-enhancing technologies,
hardware-accelerated cryptography, quantum and post-quantum
cryptography, security in industrial and smart-grid networks, design and
verification of hardware architectures, network performance monitoring
and network security
• Czech Tech Uni – National Centre of Competency for Cybernetics and
Artificial Intelligence, a platform of cybernetics and artificial intelligence for
Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, intelligent transport systems and cybersecurity.
• Masaryk Uni – critical information infrastructure protection, namely for the
power grid sector, certification and compliance in cybersecurity,
cybersecurity of industry 4.0 and IoT, blockchain applications, reliable
architectures, and cybersecurity education and training based on opensource
KYPO Cyber Range Platform
S H I E L D S – E x p e r t i s e
• KU Leuven – secure software engineering, mobile devices, identity
management and privacy, and cryptography / cryptographic protocols,
analytics and (adversarial) machine learning expertise, security incident
analysis (especially industrial). KUL is also the leader on security
intelligence.
• Uni Vienna – process compliance and security, security & privacy
techniques against vulnerabilities for modern IT infrastructures, protection
of users’ privacy through novel obfuscation coding or developing a
protection technique, which is not possible with current methods. The
most recent research looks on interdisciplinary research in blockchain
• Uni Regensburg – focuses on analysis, modelling, design, and reliable
and secure use of state-of-the-art information systems in different
application areas such as cyber threat intelligence, novel Industry 4.0
solutions (Secure Digital Twin Performance, up to eGovernment and e-
voting)
S H I E L D S – K Y P O f a c i l i t y
S H I E L D S – P e o p l e i n C Z
Czech University of Technology – Prague
University of Technology – Brno
Masaryk University – Brno
S H I E L D S – I n t e r e s t o n
C o l l a b o r a t i o n
Interest from industry, academia, and public organizations:
• Industrial Community – Cybersecurity, Smart Infrastructures,
Autonomous Mobility, Back-end systems, Privacy
• Academic institutions from DE, CZ
• Public institutions from DE, CZ
Expression of further collaboration by a
• Letter of Interest to:
Tomáš Pitner, Academic Director
pitner@muni.cz
Phone: +420-778884996