Dutch Universities to Comply with New Cybersecurity Law

The new law aims to make critical sectors, including higher education, more resilient to hacking attempts. Institutions must identify and monitor security risks, as well as document their measures. This is a continuous process, according to Jacques Beursgens, director of ICTS. He notes that potential attackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it impossible to rely on a single solution. This is not a new concern, as the university in Maastricht experienced a large-scale ransomware attack in 2019.

The new law is causing headaches in the laboratories of the faculties of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, psychology and neurowetenschap, and Science and Engineering. An Stevens, head of the Innovative Device Engineering & Equipment Services department, notes that updating computers in offices is relatively easy, but in labs, it’s more complicated due to the use of old PCs connected to expensive measurement equipment. Replacing the equipment is not straightforward, as it may only work with older software or could disrupt ongoing research.