Cyber Resilience
Network for
the Canton of Zurich
Advancing Research

At CYRENZH, we conduct interdisciplinary research projects involving researchers from the University of Zurich, ZHAW and ETH Zurich in particular. Both technical aspects of cybersecurity (e.g. cryptography, computer science, information systems) and non-technical aspects (e.g. psychology, sociology, politics) are to be considered. We work together with companies and the public sector in the canton of Zurich.

Promoting Education

The University of Zurich (UZH) and Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) are developing interdisciplinary courses in the field of cybersecurity. This includes lectures at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels, summer schools, a PhD network, and further education offerings such as CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) as well as courses for the public.

Engaging Volunteers

Our vision is to establish an independent and non-combatant organization that collaborates in coordinated efforts with government teams of cybersecurity experts.

  • Cybersecurity Requires More Than “Just” Technology

    On October 21, CYRENZH members Melanie Knieps and Ariane Trammel had the privilege of giving a Digital Masterclass on cybersecurity for the Zurich Cantonal Council. In their presentation, they emphasized […]

  • Launch of the Cybersecurity Clinic

    We are pleased to announce the launch of the CYRENZH Cybersecurity Clinic! In this clinic, students from ZHAW School of Engineering, ZHAW School of Management and Law and University of Zurich […]

  • 3rd Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Lunch Talk

    Our third “Unlocking Insights: Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Lunch Talks Series” event took place virtually, continuing to build on the success of previous sessions by bringing together experts from academia and industry. […]

  • Human Factors in Cybersecurity – Insights from Research

    On September 11th, CYRENZH organized an event on “Human Factors in Cybersecurity” at the University of Zurich. The event brought together 40 participants from both industry and academia, fostering insightful discussions […]

  • CAS Cyber Risk Awareness

    Organizations are increasingly threatened by cyber risks that can have serious economic and human consequences. Understanding the human factor is becoming increasingly important in protecting against cyber-attacks. A “wrong click” […]

  • OSINT Course starts in Fall 2024

    Open Source Intelligence, OSINT, offers a unique approach to teaching risk awareness and digital literacy, surpassing many traditional education methods. It’s a powerful digital skill that allows you to gather […]

  • Zurich SME Innovation Day

    On July 4th, 2024, CYRENZH’s Melanie Knieps and Marc Rennhard, together with Marcel Hirt from the Cantonal Centre for Cybersecurity (CCSC), organized and led a workshop titled “Cybersecurity Compact for […]

  • Interdisciplinary Cyber Lunch: Reflecting the Insights

    Our second “Unlocking Insights: Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Lunch Talks Series” event took place virtually, continuing our commitment to fostering collaborative discussions between researchers and practitioners. This session, led by Lorin Schöni, […]

  • Building a Resilient Team: The Key to Crisis Management

    On May 22nd, CYRENZH members Melanie Knieps and Thierry Schaltegger shared psychological insights on factors influencing decision-making during crises with the cybersecurity experts at the Swiss Cyber Circle. Of particular interest […]

  • Review: Perspektiven mit Industrie 4.0

    On May 29, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) hosted the 7th “Perspektiven mit Industrie 4.0” conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Cyber Security”. The presentations were varied […]

  • OSINT for Students: 2nd Run

    “I really love this kind of ‘detective’ work!” This is the feedback of on of our students taking our OSINT course. It’s exciting to see them dive into data security […]

  • Cyber Security in the Age of Industry 4.0

    On 29 May 2024, the ZHAW will host a conference on Cyber Security in the Age of Industry 4.0: Learning from Experience. The event offers presentations, networking and aperitifs.

  • SSCC online Workshop «Cyber Resilience»

    In June 2024, the SWISS Support Center for Cybersecurity (SSCC) is co-organizing a high-profile online workshop on “Cyber Resilience”. It will also feature Melanie Knieps from CYRENZH .

  • Interdisciplinary Cyber Lunch: Reflecting the Insights

    Our inaugural “Unlocking Insights: Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Lunch Talks Series” event was a testament to the power of collaboration, with a dozen attendees from both research and practical backgrounds coming together […]

  • We Hacked the Hacker

    Think cybersecurity is dull? Think again! Members and partners from CYREN ZH, including ETH Zürich, University of Zurich, and ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, played the Escape Room at Switch. We hacked the hacker!!! Not […]

  • Preventing cyber incidents in organizations: What can we learn from 100 years of safety research?

    If a cyber incident is successful in an organization, an external attacker is often involved. However, many causes lie within the organization, e.g. insufficiently secure processes, systems or insecure behaviour. There are […]

  • Parldigi-Masterclass

    The number of cyberattacks has risen sharply in recent years and poses major challenges for government institutions, companies, and the general public. The topic of cyber security is therefore becoming […]

  • Cybersecurity Clinic

    Cybersecurity experts are lacking in number and diversity of skills. The “Cybersecurity Clinic” concept, first conceptualized by the Cybersecurity Consortium at Berkeley and financially supported by Google, tries to tackle […]

  • Ethical Hacking – GObugfree 2023

    Ethical hackers play a crucial role in preventing the theft and misuse of data by malicious attackers who often exploit vulnerabilities within an organization. These vulnerabilities can either be pre-existing […]

  • OSINT for Students

    🔎OSINT for students🌐 Today marked the official conclusion of our recently developed #OSINT course, which was fully booked. The ability to extract information from publicly available sources for specific purposes […]

  • Cryptography in the Wild

    Cryptography in the Wild As part of the CYRENZH and DSI Cybersecurity Community event series, we had the pleasure to learn from Prof. Kenny Paterson (ETH Zurich, D-INFK) about “Cryptography in the Wild”. […]

  • To Play Or Not To Play

    Play is an essential human experience or, as Schiller put it, Because, to put it bluntly, man only plays when he is fully human, and he is only fully human […]

  • Leveraging Games for Education – Perspectives from Cybersecurity and Sustainability

    Last week, I had the privilege to speak at the #SecurityAwarenessDay, where I had the opportunity to learn from outstanding speakers and interact with enthusiastic attendees. One key insight that emerged […]

  • Towards Cyber-Resilient Critical Infrastructures and Societies

    Towards cyber-resilient critical infrastructures and societies: The cases of the european union, norway and Switzerland As part of the CYRENZH and DSI Cybersecurity Community event series, we had the pleasure to welcome Prof. […]

  • DSI Insights: A “cyber militia” for the canton of Zurich

    “Every day we receive countless emails, most of which are fortunately unsuccessful, in which criminals try to get our passwords, credit card details or other sensitive data, or to blackmail […]

  • Mosaic “Digitalisation” – Digital Society Initiative and CYREN

    Melanie Knieps, Principal Investigator at CYRENZH, explains in a Security Awareness Insider podcast what the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) and the Digitalisation Initiative of the Universities of Zurich (DIZH) are […]

  • Cyber-Defence Campus: Working Together To Strengthen Switzerland’s Cybersecurity

    As part of the CYRENZH and DSI Cybersecurity Community event series, we had the pleasure to welcome Bernhard Tellenbach. Bernhard is the head of the cyber security team of armasuisse Science and Technology’s […]

  • PhD Network’s First Meeting

    The CYRENZH Ph.D. Network in Cybersecurity aims to connect excellent students with a master’s degree, supervisors, and funding opportunities and to facilitate interdisciplinary research.  The launch meeting of the network […]

  • Welcome to Our New Website

    We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new website! Dive into our blog posts on our activities, check out our latest publications or register for our newsletter and […]

  • Introducing our P.h.D. Network

    We are happy to announce the CYRENZH  Ph.D. Network in Cybersecurity. Our goal to connect excellent students with a master’s degree, supervisors, and funding opportunities and facilitate interdisciplinary research. The […]

  • How to get to an organization that nurtures resilience

    CYRENZH and DSI Cybersecurity Community launched their event series with Karen Renaud’s (University of Strathclyde) keynote on human-centered cybersecurity. In her keynote, Karen provided a comprehensive account of her extensive research […]

  • Launching our event series

    CYRENZH and DSI Cybersecurity Community are officially launching their event series! Karen Renaud will be joining us in May to share her insights into human-centered cybersecurity. Karen is a Reader at […]

  • Thierry Schaltegger on “the human factor”

    Our PhD student Thierry Schaltegger talked about “the human factor” on podcast #25 of the think tank Unchain Your Mind: Human factor: How do we deal with cyber risks? Thierry […]

  • Kick Off CYREN ZH

    On November 30th, the Cyber Resilience Network For The Canton Of Zurich (CYRENZH ) was officially launched. The mission of CYRENZH , which is one of the successful applicants of the structural […]

Get in Touch

We want to connect with you! Whether you are a citizen, a student, a teacher, a researcher, a government, corporate or NGO-representative – contact us with any idea or suggestion you have!

Join our growing network!