Many of us will agree that cybersecurity is progressively becoming also a cognitive issue, so this year GÉANT is breaking the mould with a new bold approach: cyber mindfulness. Recently launched, the latest GÉANT cybersecurity campaign invites the R&E community to go beyond awareness and cultivate a more intentional, resilient, and reflective security mindset.
This campaign represents a shift in how we think about people, risk, and response in a digitally saturated world.
Why cyber mindfulness?
Today’s threats target not just systems, but minds. AI-powered phishing, deepfake manipulation, and psychological pressure campaigns are designed to exploit human attention, emotion, and decision fatigue. Cyber mindfulness addresses precisely this.
The concept means paying deliberate attention to digital behaviours, cultivating awareness of mental shortcuts and emotional triggers, and building the reflective capacity to pause before acting. In short: thinking clearly under pressure, online.
GÉANT’s 2025 campaign is built around this transformative idea, integrating the human element into every layer of cybersecurity culture.
Campaign highlights
The 2025 cybersecurity campaign focuses on building personal and organisational resilience through:
- Expert webinars
- Cyber mindfulness tips and tricks
- Recognising AI-driven scams
- Video animations
- Stories from the community
Building cyber resilience
The launch of the 2025 Cybersecurity Campaign marks a new chapter in the evolution of R&E security. By placing the human mind at the centre of digital defence, we ask ourselves a fundamental question:
What if the next security incident starts with a moment of inattention?
Intrigued? Do you want to find out more? Visit the campaign page
The road ahead
The cyber mindfulness campaign sets the tone for a broader set of initiatives and events rolling out through 2025 and 2026. Here’s what’s coming next.
Security Bootcamps – Strengthening strategic preparedness
In parallel with awareness-raising efforts, GÉANT continues to invest in building the strategic and operational capabilities of security professionals across the NREN community. The GÉANT Security Bootcamp provides a practical, exercise-based environment focused on key areas such as security policy development, risk management, privacy requirements, and strategic planning. While not technical in nature, the bootcamp offers hands-on learning in a management context, helping participants enhance their ability to make informed decisions and coordinate effective security responses. For the first time, the upcoming bootcamp will also include crisis a management exercise, further expanding its scope. The next edition will take place in November 2025 for the NRENs of South East Europe.
Find out more about the security bootcamps.
CLAW 2025 – Testing crisis resilience
Returning later this year, CLAW is the GÉANT community’s unique workshop dedicated to helping NRENs and institutions prepare for high-impact cyber incidents.
CLAW 2025 will bring together incident response teams, management, and communication professionals in training sessions and a crisis management exercise to build cross-functional crisis readiness. With cyber mindfulness now in focus, the 2025 edition will also explore how decision-making under stress can be improved through better self-awareness and communication under pressure.
The event, victim of its own success, is already fully booked with a growing waiting list. It will take place on 2-3 December in Barcelona.
Find out more about CLAW 2025.
TALON 2026 – Europe’s first cross-border crisis simulation for NRENs
In March 2026, GÉANT will participate in the inaugural edition of TALON, a full-scale, live, cross-border crisis simulation designed specifically for the NREN community.
10 NRENs will take part in this ground-breaking exercise, which aims to test:
- Real-time activation of internal crisis response procedures
- Coordination between NOC, CSIRT, and service teams (e.g. eduroam, federated identity services)
- Cross-border communication and collaboration during a simulated digital crisis
- External media and stakeholder response management.
Each NREN will appoint an Exercise Leader who will tailor the scenario to their operational environment. The simulation includes technical, and communications injects, real-time decision-making, and even a media simulation layer to replicate public pressure.
TALON is a significant milestone for European cyber preparedness. It operationalises the insights gained in CLAW and applies them in a high-pressure, multinational context.
Do you want to know more? Visit: https://security.geant.org/talon-2026/
Security Days 2026 – From awareness to culture
The next edition of GÉANT Security Days will carry forward the themes introduced in 2025, but with a sharper focus on embedding security culture at scale.
Following the success of Security Days in 2024 and 2025 in Prague, which centred around trust, ethical AI, and strategic collaboration, the 2026 programme will feature:
- Training sessions for NRENs
- Keynotes, presentations and lightning talks from the community
- Hands-on workshops blending tech and psychology
Security Days is an essential forum for NRENs, CSIRTs, and R&E institutions to exchange knowledge, share challenges, and drive innovation in the security space.
Call for Proposals: 1 December 2025 – 16 January 2026
Registration: Early January (Date TBC)
Conference: 7-9 April 2026
Through all these initiatives and a focus on cyber mindfulness, GÉANT is supporting the community in building a security culture that is thoughtful, resilient, and prepared to respond to evolving threats.
Read the full online magazine here
