Recently, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica have become highly polarizing figures in a data privacy scandal of global (and potentially historic) proportions. What does the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica controversy tell us about data privacy and cybersecurity in the age of Big Data?

Julia Prümmer, Tommy van Steen & Bibi van den Berg evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity training programs for end-users.

Article by Dennis Broeders in the Journal of Cyber Policy on the (im)possibilities of addressing election interference and the public core of the internet in the UN GGE and OEWG.

Rutger Leukfeldt, special chair of Governing Cybercrime, and colleagues investigate the link between Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) factors and self-protective online behavior.

This edited volume explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming international conflict in cyberspace.

Education for professionals. Leiden University offers a wide range of courses to boost your career, learn new skills, or broaden your knowledge.

Security and safety challenges rank among the most pressing issues of modern times. Challenges such as cyber-crime, terrorism, and environmental disasters impact the lives of millions across the globe. The course will introduce you to this broad theme in an increasingly complex world.

Risk has become one of the defining features of modern society. This course examines various types of safety and security risks, and how these are perceived and dealt with in a wide array of professional and academic fields, ranging from criminology, counter-terrorism and cyber security, to philosophy,…

From sleep problems to suicide attempts: the consequences of bullying can be very serious. The National Day against Bullying (in the Netherlands 19 April) is the opportunity for Leiden psychologist Mitch van Geel to share some recent insights from his research.

At Campus The Hague, the University works closely with diverse parties and institutions in the city.

Bij de Universiteit Leiden zet onze Onderzoeksgroep violence and violence prevention zich in voor het bevorderen van kennis en begrip op het gebied van geweld en geweldpreventie door middel van interdisciplinaire wetenschappen en innovatieve methodologieën. Onze faculteitsleden zijn toonaangevende…

The Hans Franken Lecture honors the legacy of Prof. Dr. Mr. Hans Franken, a founding figure of eLaw in 1985.

The Executive Board has decided to appoint Dr. Bibi van den Berg as Professor of Cybersecurity Governance within the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, starting on 1 September 2017.

This project investigates the capacities of EU institutions to coordinate the responses of member states to critical events.

Polarisation in our society is on the rise. What makes people increasingly radical? How do we protect ourselves from extremist, terrorist or criminal threats, be they physical or in the cyber world? And what role do intelligence services play in this?

Finding solutions for economically and socially relevant problems in digital data security. That is what Nele Mentens, Professor of Applied Cryptography & Data Security at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), wants to achieve. On 1 June she was appointed to contribute to the institute…

Why, then, do governments choose to disclose intelligence and what factors shape how they do so?

Within the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, research is organised in seven main research groups:

Graduates of the unique Security Studies programme at Leiden University are attractive candidates for a broad range of employers, in a field that is growing and offers excellent prospects for academically trained security strategists.

Read about our recent research projects below.

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your bachelor’s programme?

University building Campus Spui The Hague

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) in The Hague offers bachelor’s and master’s programmes, minors, and research in security studies, covering cybersecurity, terrorism, diplomacy and contemporary security challenges. Focus keywords: ISGA, bachelor, master, minors, research, security…

The scientific research of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs is organised around a number of centres and institutes in The Hague, city of peace, security and justice.

Rutger Leukfeldt has been appointed endowed Professor of Governing Cybercrime at the faculties of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) and Leiden Law School. Leukfeldt: 'It’s great that the two faculties are joining forces at a time when we’re faced with enormous challenges in the field of cybercrim…

The Dutch police force has been deliberately storing personal data relating to millions of Dutch people for many years now. In doing so, the institution has been knowingly breaking the law. Bart Schermer, Professor of Law and Digital Technology expressed his concerns on Follow the Money – a platform…

This article provides a list of the concepts and key elements that should be considered when creating effective communication messages.

Together with colleagues from the Stimson Center and in the framework of the Global Governance Innovation Network, Dr. Joris Larik has recently published the report

This book by Damien van Puyvelde provides the first comprehensive English-language account of France's modern foreign intelligence and explores its evolution, operations, and role in global security.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is a scientific institute that specialises in security issues.

This article presents a systematic review aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of cybersecurity training methods and assess their effectiveness.

Leiden University is an international, broad-based university. We distinguish five core domains for our research and teaching activities.

In 2025, GTGC co-organised with the City of The Hague and the Hague Humanity Hub a Just Peace Festival, a vibrant platform on the pressing global challenges of peace with justice. The festival involved a wide range of different activities, including dialogues, exhibitions, performances, film evenings,…

The debate in Europe about digital sovereignty, technological sovereignty, data sovereignty and strategic autonomy has been building over recent years at both the EU level and the level of individual Member States. The different concepts – and their diverse interpretations – cover the sovereignty concerns…

Pre-University Classes are intended for high school students who want to do more than is offered in the regular school curriculum. In the classes, students follow special lecture series and through that are introduced to the world of science.

This paper, like the seminar on which it is based, considers how the governance of transnational critical information infrastructure (CII) could be approached at the global level. It suggests that when one is thinking about the (potential) governance of CII, it is important to recognise that not all…

The research group on governance of crises studies phenomena, dynamics and actors related to crisis governance. The Leiden University Crisis Research Center (CRC) is part of this Research Group.

The Global Transformations and Governance Challenges Programme hosts a range of international academic gatherings, including the GTGC Conference, the GIG-ARTS Conference in 2024, and the first edition of the Just Peace Festival in 2025.

This article tries to examine if one can take the 'One Net' for granted, since the world becomes increasingly fragmented with social and geopolitical tensions. Furthermore, the author seeks to discover what is at stake if the global interoperable network is under a threat of fragmentation.

Systems are called real-time systems, if the correctness of the system does not only depend on the correctness of the system output but also on whether the output is delivered on time.

James Shires has contributed a chapter to the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon 2021), which gathers 20 articles from the law, technology and strategy domains.