Cybercrisis under control: Leiden University takes part in national exercise
How should universities respond to a cybercrisis such as a DDoS attack or data breach? Leiden University participated in a national crisis exercise with partners from the LDE alliance.
The national OZON crisis exercise was held on 27 March 2025. In the run-up to the exercise, participants from the central and local crisis teams – including colleagues from Operations, the Security Office, the ISSC, Information Management, Facility Management, IT and Communications – received hints that something was happening.
Realistic learning experience
In addition to members of the central crisis team, staff from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Student and Educational Affairs and the Leiden Observatory also participated. During the exercise, the crisis gradually escalated: from online unrest to a DDoS attack, stolen data and even a real-life protest. Although the participants knew there was going to be an exercise, they did not know how the crisis would unfold. This made for a realistic learning experience.
Aftermovie
Simulating scenarios like this helps us improve our crisis response and resilience. As a crisis can affect the entire organisation, the hope is that more people will take part next time.
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Watch the video on the original website orThe biennial OZON crisis exercise is organised by the SURF ICT teaching and research organisation and aims to prepare educational institutions for a large-scale cybercrisis. Over 2000 people from 90 organisations took part in the exercise.