Kean Cybersecurity Project Identifies Threats Facing Nonprofit Organizations
Kean students are gaining valuable real-world experience in the NPCIR program
Kean University students are gaining hands-on experience fighting cybercrime through an innovative project tracking cyberattacks against non-profit organizations, a sector often overlooked in cybersecurity reporting.
The Non-Profit Cyber Incident Repository (NPCIR), led by Stanley Mierzwa, Ph.D., director and lecturer at Kean’s Center for Cybersecurity, has compiled hundreds of publicly reported cybersecurity incidents involving nonprofits and non-governmental organizations around the world. Now in its third iteration, the dataset includes more than 400 attacks dating back to 2011 and is updated twice each academic year.
“There are cyberattacks every minute of every day,” Mierzwa said. “Public organizations are more likely to have the means to track these incidents, but non-profits often do not. Our goal is to fill that gap and make this information accessible and most importantly, give students the chance to lead that effort.”
Over the past three years, dozens of Kean student interns under Mierzwa in the NPCIR program, most of whom are information technology, computer science and criminal justice majors, have contributed to the project. Each semester, a new group joins the NPCIR team to conduct open-source intelligence reviews and monitor emerging digital threats targeting nonprofits.
“Those in information security or cybersecurity, as well as non-profit leaders, need to be aware of the field and actively know how to look at threat intelligence information,” Mierzwa said. “These students are learning to selectively focus on attacks against this sector and gain situational awareness of what is transpiring. There’s so much value to this experience for them.”
For Joel Leiva, a junior computer science major, the internship was transformative and helped him sharpen his professional focus.
“This has been a great experience,” Leiva said. “The internship gave me the resources to investigate companies that get hacked and observe different attack factors and how they responded to them. I’ve taken so much away from it.”
“This project gives our students a clear view of how cybersecurity challenges unfold beyond the classroom,” said Jin Wang, Ph.D., dean of Kean’s College of Business and Public Management. “Engaging with real incidents helps them develop the judgment and analytical skills that are essential in this field.”
Beyond student development, the project is making an impact in the broader cybersecurity community. More than 60 organizations have requested access to the NPCIR dataset, which is available at no cost. The initiative reflects Kean’s mission to support public impact and expand experiential learning opportunities that prepare students for meaningful careers.
The work also builds on Kean’s growing reputation in cybersecurity education. The Center for Cybersecurity has earned designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education from the National Security Agency, a recognition that helped lay the foundation for the repository’s creation.
Through the NPCIR, Kean students are advancing their academic and professional goals while contributing to a resource that benefits communities.