FOI and Erste Bank strengthen resilience to cyber threats through the EZRI project
The Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) and Erste Bank are joining forces in the EZRI project - Education, Protection and Response to Incidents. Erste Bank finances the EZRI project within the Erste Cyber Guardian project, which is co-financed by the Digital Europe program of the European Commission.
At a time when security incidents are becoming an everyday threat to digital systems, especially in highly regulated sectors such as the financial sector, cooperation between the educational and economic sectors in the field of cybersecurity is gaining special significance. It is in this context that the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) and Erste Bank are joining forces in the EZRI project – Education, Protection and Incident Response. Erste Bank is financing the EZRI project within the Erste Cyber Guardian project, which is co-financed by the European Commission's Digital Europe program.
The EZRI project represents one of the rare initiatives in Croatia that systematically connects the academic community with the concrete challenges of incident response practice in the financial sector. Through the project, FOI students will develop key skills in recognizing and analyzing cyber threats, with an emphasis on the detection, response and recovery processes, which are a standard part of the work of every Security Operations Center (SOC). The project leader at FOI is Assoc. prof. Igor Tomičić, PhD, and the project team consists of Assoc. prof. Petra Grd, PhD and Domagoj Tuličić, M.Inf.
The central part of the project is the integration of an advanced XDR (Extended Detection and Response) solution, along with the development of realistic scenarios based on threat models that target the financial sector every day. These simulation environments will allow students to practice decision-making, attack vector identification, log analysis and incident management in controlled conditions. The practical aspect will also be supported through evaluation modules, with the possibility of monitoring progress in real time.
The EZRI project is not just an educational initiative, but a concrete preparation of future personnel for work in incident response teams, which are increasingly in demand in both the public and private sectors and given the threats dynamics, it is crucial to base education on realistic scenarios and tools used by professional SOCs.'
Assoc. Prof. Igor Tomičić, PhD
Erste Bank, as a key partner and user of the project results, is already demonstrating a high level of operational security maturity through its own Erste Cyber Guardian SOC4EBC. However, as the bank points out, raising the level of security awareness and resilience of users, and indirectly of the community, is just as important as the internal defense infrastructure.
The sustainability of the project is manifested through the potential introduction of an incident management module into regular classes. In addition, infrastructure investments in XDR and laboratory environments will ensure the continued use of the platform in future educational cycles, thereby strengthening the capacity of FOI to conduct advanced security training.
The EZRI project is an example of strategic cooperation between the education and financial sectors in building resilience to the threats of the digital age. At a time when cybersecurity has ceased to be an option and has become a necessity, such initiatives provide concrete foundations for a safer future.
