Masterarbeit im Studiengang IT-Sicherheit von Niklas Herz: Document Analysis of EU Reports on the Development of Cybersecurity Technologies

Abstract: In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity threats have become imminent dangers affecting individuals, businesses and nations alike. Current developments in international politics, such as the war on Ukraine or the Israel-Hamas war, show how cyber attacks can be used in conjunction with military actions. Possessing robust cybersecurity capabilities is essential for maintaining national security and safeguarding against evolving cyber threats. As major cybersecurity actors, transnational alliances such as the European Union play a significant role in this field. While EU cybersecurity policies such as NIS-2 or the Cyber Resilience Act have gained considerable research attention, there is a deficiency in studies focusing on specific technology developments within the realm of cybersecurity. In order to address this, the aim of this thesis is to explore and analyze the current technology developments that are funded or developed by the European Union in the area of cybersecurity. To accomplish this, I employ a three-staged methodology. First, I analyze the current threat landscape the EU faces to determine what technologies are needed. This step includes a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis. Furthermore, I delve deeper into reports, documents and research papers that focus on cybersecurity technology developments and gain insights on the technical details. This yields an analysis of the specific advancements through a systematic review and qualitative content analysis. Finally, I correlate discovered threats and technologies and assess, whether these technologies tackle the threats that result from the analysis and to which extent they can mitigate them. This approach provides a detailed examination of the current state of technologies in the EU and allows me to put them into context within the cybersecurity threat landscape.

Betreuer*in: Anja-Liisa Gonsior, M.A.

Prüfer: Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Reuter