Speakers
Description
Abstract:
Higher education institutions increasingly face sophisticated cyber threats while operating with limited visibility into their external attack surfaces and constrained security capabilities. To address this systemic challenge, the Ecuadorian NREN, CEDIA, Designed and implemented DALIA (Spanish name), an integrated security initiative whose name stands for Advanced Detection and Localization of Threat Indicators. DALIA combines automated External Attack Surface Management (EASM), Threat Intelligence, Brand Protection, and a progressive adoption framework for a managed Security Operations Center (SOC) tailored to universities with diverse maturity levels.
Within its first 18 months, DALIA delivered measurable, ecosystem-wide impact:
• 194,826 compromised accounts detected and coordinated for remediation across participating institutions.
• A 20-point reduction in external risk exposure, improving the average score of 80 institutions from 58/100 to 78/100.
• 31 universities deploying managed SOC capabilities, enabling real-time visibility, correlation, and coordinated response led by CEDIA.
DALIA demonstrates how an NREN can accelerate national cyber resilience through a cooperative, cost-efficient, and fully replicable model aligned with international standards (ISO/IEC 27001, EGSI, ISO/IEC 27701, and data protection frameworks). This presentation will detail DALIA’s architecture, automation pipelines, operational methodology, lessons learned, and a roadmap for adoption in other regions. Attendees will gain a practical blueprint for scaling cybersecurity capabilities across distributed academic ecosystems, which are highly relevant for NRENs seeking to elevate their security posture with sustainable resource investment.
Keywords:
NREN Security, EASM, Threat Intelligence, SOC-as-a-Service, Higher Education Cybersecurity, CSIRT Collaboration, Brand Protection, Cyber Resilience, Automation, Academic Networks.