SURF strengthens the cyber resilience of Dutch Research and Education facilities with DEFION & DTX

Challenge

SURF – the ICT co-operative for Dutch education and research institutions supports a large and diverse ecosystem of universities, universities of applied sciences, and vocational education institutions.

With cyber threats increasing in scale and sophistication, SURF required a uniform, future-proof Managed Detection & Response (MDR) service capable of protecting dozens of institutions while respecting strict requirements around security, privacy, and scalability. The solution needed to combine advanced detection capabilities with deep security expertise and rapid onboarding.

Solution

Following a competitive public tender, SURF selected DEFION Security and DTX as strategic partners for its MDR services. The joint solution combines:

• 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) capabilities
• Advanced SIEM and AI-driven detection technology
• Incident response specialists and MDR expertise from DEFION
• Continuous threat intelligence and research from DEFION Research Labs
• Automated onboarding and configuration monitoring for large, complex environments

This integrated approach enables faster detection, effective response, and continuous improvement of security maturity across participating institutions.

From 2026 onwards, more than 75 educational institutions are expected to receive direct MDR support, with the potential to grow to over 100 organisations. During an early pilot, the first institution was onboarded within days, securing environments serving 32,000 students and 3,200 employees.

The collaboration delivers a shared, sector-wide security strategy, significantly strengthening the cyber resilience of Dutch education and research.