Students simulate crisis leadership during cyberattacks How do you manage an escalating crisis where cyberattacks coincide with societal disruption, disinformation, and supply chain disturbances? This was the central question when master’s students in Cybersecurity at the School of Engineering in Jönköping took part in an extensive simulation-based exercise last week. “The aim of the exercise was to give students practical experience in participating in and leading this type of scenario – something they can take directly into their future careers within cybersecurity and critical infrastructure,” says Erik Bergström, Associate Professor in Computer Science and Programme Director of the master’s programme in Cybersecurity at the School of Engineering. During the exercise, students worked with a fictional energy company “Juelco,” created to resemble a Swedish company operating within solar, wind, and hydropower. “The simulation is inspired by a NATO exercise I participated in a few years ago. The focus on energy is partly because it represents highly critical infrastructure that we all depend on. I also have a personal interest in the energy sector,” says Erik Bergström, who led the exercise together with Sonny Johansson, Lecturer in Informatics at the School of Engineering. Inspired by a changing global landscape Erik explains that recent global developments have influenced the design of the simulation. “Global events such as the war in Ukraine is a good example, with threat actors operating in our region, as well as the disruptions following the COVID-19 crisis, when much of the world came to a standstill,” he says. The supporting material was designed to reflect the complexity of real-world organisations in critical sectors and served as a foundation for the decisions students had to make throughout the simulation. “I think the exercise was very good, and we were faced with many difficult and realistic situations. With each stage, the