Enhancing Cybersecurity Training: Effective Learning Strategies, Clear Communication, and Demand-Driven Programs
Best practices Effective Learning Strategies, Clear Communication, and Demand-Driven Programs in Cybersecurity Users: Training providers (public) | Training providers (private) | SMEs | Theme: Reskilling and upskilling | Action: Professional training | Beneficiaries: Industry | SMEs | Labour force (employed) | Labour force (unemployed) CYRUSCYRUS Project Enrico Frumento, CEFRIELAlessia Golfetti, Deep Blue In the constantly evolving realm of cybersecurity, the human aspect is crucial yet frequently underestimated. Cybersecurity involves protecting IT systems from threats posed by cybercriminals. These criminals might aim to manipulate systems, steal or export data, or disrupt or alter services. However, what occurs when individuals, rather than IT systems, become the focus of these attacks? Moving from targeting systems to targeting people necessitates a different methodology and a shift in tactics. The CYRUS European project developed personalised cybersecurity training programmes specifically for the manufacturing and transport sectors. The project identified key findings regarding the distinct skill shortfalls and training necessities within these industries. These sectors’ peculiar challenges are not merely technical. There is a strong request of personalised training to enable employees at every level, from the factory floor to the executive suite, to recognise and counter cybersecurity threats effectively. The other need is the decoding of complexity of cybersecurity, which often is more focused on basic skills and personal cyber hygiene. The challenge? Today, we witness an increasing demand for advanced skills and a chronic lack of dedicated time from learners. Due to these challenges, cybersecurity experts and instructors have explored alternative teaching methodologies in cybersecurity training. Cybersecurity is one of the most challenging areas due to the rapidly changing Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) used in cybercrime. Defensive technologies are keeping up with the same speed of change. This challenge is where CYRUS comes in – experimenting with pedagogical methodologies to enhance and make cybersecurity training more efficient. On one hand EU is heavily investing in creating training opportunities, but with a quite often sub-optimal approach. The result is a crowded panorama of training offerings, sometimes overlapping and of hetereogeneous quality. One of the challenges of CYRUS was to create a training catalogue which is clear, multilingual, prepared with modern pedagogical approach and ground based on which are the real pains of the working forces and companies. Our solution Select the proper learning paradigm among pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy, especially cybersecurity learning: Instructional methodologies are categorised into four macro areas: Non-Interactive Learning, Interactive Learning, Shared Learning, and Evaluation and Monitoring, each tailored to address the unique needs of adult learners. Non-interactive learning methodologies, rooted in traditional pedagogy, emphasise direct instruction and structured content delivery. Interactive Learning methodologies, informed by andragogical principles, prioritise active engagement and collaboration among learners. Shared Learning methodologies, inspired by heutagogical principles, underscore the importance of community, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. Evaluation and Monitoring methodologies are crucial in assessing learning outcomes and guiding ongoing improvement efforts. Do massive use of instructional design: The instructional design approach for the CYRUS Project reflects a dynamic and adaptive framework rooted in the principles of pedagogy, Andragogy, and heutagogy. Clarity of language: use the ISO 24495-1:2023 on plain language Ad-hoc training: Root your training catalogue on ground truth, which means the actual pains and lack of companies and people. For example, in the CYRUS project, one of the most requested courses was on personal and corporate cyber hygiene, which reflects the fear of most people of wrongdoing and perils in the cyber realm. We started to affect behavioural shifts in cybersecurity from there. Outcomes CYRUS free Courses catalogue: The CYRUS project is ongoing, and the course catalogue will be delivered in April. Chunk courses, choose the best learning paradigm, and keep content simple (i.e., the KISS approach) but effective: The pilot programs, performed between October 2024 and February 2025, helped us identify some interesting challenges and refine the training content. One of the most significant findings is the necessity to present the material in small, interactive chunks (e.g., chunking was preferred over nudging). This approach aligns with current trends in online training in other educational sectors, but less on cybersecurity, where long and complex courses are still the norm. Basic skills are the most requested: There is a greater demand for basic skills that are immediately applicable to everyday work. For instance, the most requested course was on personal and corporate cyber hygiene to protect themselves, their families and loved ones, and the corporation. Key takeaways Explore and Apply New Learning Paradigms: Effective cybersecurity training requires selecting the right approach or combination of approaches—pedagogy, andragogy, or heutagogy—based on the audience. Given that many learners are professionals balancing work and training, programs must be flexible, engaging, and tailored. Additionally, training programs for trainers are essential to ensure effective knowledge transfer. Cybersecurity Training must go beyond technical skills, behavioural shifts are key: Cybersecurity training is a risk reduction method that enhances an organization’s overall security posture. Training should foster a cultural shift where security is seen as a way to improve both personal and professional well-being. Instead of reinforcing a “”toxic culture of error,”” training should make online security natural and stress-free. The Role of Instructional Design: A strong instructional design framework, like the one used in CYRUS, helps create structured, impactful, and adaptive cybersecurity training programs. Clarity in Communication: Using ISO 24495-1:2023 plain language principles ensures that complex cybersecurity concepts are easily understandable, making training more accessible. Demand-Driven Training for Relevance: Cybersecurity training should be rooted in real-world concerns. In the CYRUS project, cyber hygiene training was in high demand, highlighting the importance of addressing learners’ fears and practical needs. This approach increases adoption and drives meaningful behavioral change. Learn more here
Incorporating automated tools and analysis in master’s programme design
Best practices Incorporating automated tools and analysis in master’s programme design Users: Training Providers (Public) | Theme: Skills Data | Action: Framework/Methodology | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Public) MERIT digitalmerit.eu Simona Ramanauskaite, Full professor and senior researcher, Vilnius GediminasTechnical University MERIT is developing master’s degrees and short-term with the participation of NGOs, non-profits, research organisations, companies and SMEs. These are delivered by technical universities across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain. Courses in domains such as AI, cybersecurity and IoT become quickly outdated and projects like MERIT need resilient methods for easily building new content. Establishing an intangible infrastructure which allows for this is key to the project’s sustainability. The challenge? MERIT had to strike a balance between specialisation and flexibility to ensure it meets both national market demands and student preferences. It should be adaptable to evolving industry needs while maintaining a structured curriculum that provides essential digital competencies. Designing courses based on arbitrary data and anecdotal knowledge would pose risks to the programme’s attractiveness and market match. Additionally, performing manual analysis of available data and indications for each new course would have been time consuming and inefficient. Questions that MERIT needed to answer include: How to monitor the market needs and existing innovations? How to assure the need for updates of existing courses? How to identify common topics for 5 study programmes with more than 15 courses? How to monitor students’ progress and identify potential issues in their development pathway? Our solution MERIT developed automated tools for systematic analysis and monitoring to enhance data-driven decision-making in education and workforce development. It minimised the resources required for data analysis by employing summarisation tools that aggregate and interpret large datasets, providing a clearer understanding of key insights. A competency-oriented tool was developed to monitor skill acquisition, track competency development, and predict future training needs. Outcomes 3x Faster mapping than before due to the automatic mapping tool and simplified syllabus 90% Tool accuracy for automated course similarity estimation 50+ Courses mapped simplifying the mapping between different study programmes Key takeaways Data scraping from multiple sources is essential: Leveraging data to collect real-time information on industry trends, skill demands, and educational programmes is an effective method to keep up to date with changing market demands and ongoing innovation. AI and NLP as tools to identify similarities, cluster data, and map trends across various educational programmes: allows for monitoring of necessary tweaks for existing courses. Implementing learning environment log data to identify potential study experience challenges is essential. This will allow you to access their root causes will enable proactive interventions. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society. Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records. Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes: Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.
Industry-oriented hackathon to drive SME involvement in master programme design
Best practices Industry-oriented hackathon to drive SME involvement in master programme design Users: Training providers (public), Industry, SMEs | Theme: Industry engagement | Action: Stakeholder collaboration | Beneficiaries: Learners (STEM background), Learners (non-STEM background, Labour force (employed), Labour force (unemployed) MERIT digitalmerit.eu Simona Ramanauskaite, Full professor and senior researcher, Vilnius GediminasTechnical University MERIT is developing master’s degrees and short-term courses in AI, cybersecurity and IoT, with the participation of NGOs, non-profits, research organisations, companies and SMEs. These are delivered by technical universities across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain. Having consistent, hands-on engagement from industry is fundamental to the project’s operational model and objectives. The challenge? A key challenge in the MERIT project was accurately identifying potential industry collaboration opportunities. As many study programmes were still in development by the time the project had to initiate outreach, persuading companies to commit in the initiative proved challenging. SMEs often faced limited human and time resources, making it difficult for them to participate in surveys, provide input for curriculum design, or test different concepts. Additionally, study programme flexibility was constrained by national accreditation requirements, limiting the ability to tailor courses to SMEs’ needs. Our solution The project created the annual MERIThON event, where SMEs proposed challenges, mentored participants, and explored innovative solutions relevant to their business needs. This initiative provided SMEs with a low-commitment way to engage with the programme while benefiting from fresh ideas. Established SME-University Partnerships: They developed collaborations between SMEs and study programmes, leading to joint activities such as guest lectures, employee recruitment, internships, and research projects. Outcomes: The presence and active participation of industry representatives strengthened the relationship between the industry and academia. Students were able to gain real-world insights and network with professionals by taking on tasks from their real world situations. The first MERIThON set the stage for a consistent link between like-minded individuals, who would like to work together to continue the innovation development of Artificial Intelligence Key takeaways Introductory Meetings with Leading Enterprises: Regularly organise meetings between SMEs and large enterprises to highlight the benefits of collaboration and encourage SME participation. Engaging SMEs through Personal Contacts & EDIHs: Strengthen engagement by reaching out to SMEs via personal networks and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs),developing trust and participation. Step-by-Step Programme Development: Implement an approach where the study programme is broken down into phases and targeted feedback is gathered at each stage to ensure SME needs are fulfilled. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society. Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records. Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes: Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.
Framework for competency-based evaluation of students in higher education
Best practices Framework for competency-based evaluation of students in higher education Users: Training Providers (Public) | Theme: Skills Data | Action: Education Programmes/Courses | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Private), Training Providers (Public) MERIT digitalmerit.eu Simona Ramanauskaite, Full professor and senior researcher, Vilnius GediminasTechnical University Designing content in higher education is often associated with a lack of agility. Universities create fixed curricula, following rigid schedules, which do not match market dynamics, but rather limit their adaptability to rapidly evolving digital skills requirements MERIT has the task of creating an educational ecosystem, spanning across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain to train digital specialists and improve the evaluation of different students or courses by matching study programmes to the skills produced. The challenge? MERIT was faced with a lack of standardised frameworks and common terminology for defining digital skill levels and competencies. This made it difficult to compare and analyse study programmes across different countries and institutions, hindering a reliable programme-skills mapping. Addressing these issues was essential to ensuring a structured and comparable approach to digital skills education. Our solution MERIT implemented a continuous and competency-oriented student and study programme analysis, which is not commonly applied in higher education. It established its own comprehensive framework for advanced digital skills and supporting competencies, which ensured a structured approach to skills evaluation and programme alignment. It implemented new training and assessment methodologies focused on competency development, covering both technical and soft skills relevant to industry needs. It developed tools for continuous analysis and monitoring of student progress and study programmes, based on a taxonomy of topics and their relationships. This facilitated the cross-country comparison and standardisation. Lastly, it created a structured mapping system that aligned educational programmes with key competency areas, ensuring that skill levels and topics are consistently classified across institutions. Outcomes 74 Topics and skillsforecastedfor research and academia 139 Technology Prioritiesidentifiedfor industry 12 University Prioritiesidentifiedin soft skills and knowledge areas Because of the data mapping, students can now be evaluated based on their competencies, and not based on courses that they have completed. Alumni are also encouraged to continue with life-long learning by receiving more structured directions on how to improve upon their competencies. Industry and alumni matching is available based on competencies / skills matching. Key takeaways Multi-Source Skills Analysis is Essential: The most effective evaluation method which combines multiple data sources, including SME needs, research trends, and summarised reports, to accurately assess hard and soft skills. Skills Mapping Should Align with Institutional Priorities: Competency frameworks should be adaptable to each partner university’s focus areas, ensuring alignment with local academic and industry requirements. Developing a Detailed Topic Hierarchy is Crucial: Establishing a well-structured and comprehensive skills taxonomy is key to ensuring comparability and adaptability in digital education programmes. Learn more here