Cybersecurity Polygon Program

Cybersecurity Polygon Program education project

Scientists: Tim Betzer, Kilian Glas, Filip Rezabek, Nina Schwanke, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Carle
Duration: 01.01.2025 – 01.01.2027
Funding: Google.org

About Google Foundation

Google.org [1] is the philanthropic arm of Google, established in 2005. It focuses on funding and supporting organizations, particularly those working in underserved communities, and addressing societal challenges using technology and data

About the Cybersecurity Seminars

The Cybersecurity Seminars [2] program is an initiative funded by Google.org to facilitate cybersecurity training in higher education institutions in countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa [3]. It is intended to help students learn more about cybersecurity and introduce them to potential career paths in the field. The program's main objective is to support universities in educating a diverse workforce needed to help the most vulnerable organizations in their regions to prevent potential cyber-attacks.

About the Cybersecurity Polygon Program

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) was selected as a grantee of the Cybersecurity Seminars program and has initiated the TUM Cybersecurity Polygon Program [4]. The program will allow more than 200 students from diverse backgrounds to deepen their cybersecurity knowledge. It is designed to enhance theoretical knowledge and demonstrate how cybersecurity skills acquired in the classroom can be effectively applied in real-world scenarios to protect local organizations from cyberattacks.

Additionally, the program will extend its support to over 250 local small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and non-profit organizations that are typically vulnerable to cyber threats. The target organizations comprise non-profit organizations and public institutions such as schools. Such organizations are specifically vulnerable to cyber threats since they can often not afford dedicated cyber security departments. Furthermore, the program supports companies from the TUM Partners of Excellence and deep-tech SMEs within the TUM ecosystem, particularly those involved with the TUM Venture Labs incubator and the innovation and business creation center, UnternehmerTUM. All of those organizations will significantly benefit from the program’s offerings, to support them in achieving ambitious cybersecurity and cyber resilience goals in the age of AI.

The Cybersecurity Polygon Program is an initiative led by the Chair of Network Architectures and Services headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Carle. Further program participants include

  • The Chair of Security in Information Technology led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Siegl
  • The Professorship of Cryptography held by Prof. Dr. Lorenz Panny.

Additional Information