Nico Pergande, a student on the Cyber Security degree programme at Furtwangen University, and SySS founder Sebastian Schreiber talk during the company visit
HFU students behind the scenes at SySS GmbH
A simulated cyber attack, a “flooded” valley and valuable insider insights – on 9 June, 27 students from the Faculty of Computer Science and Applications took part in an exciting excursion to SySS GmbH in Tübingen.
Together with professors Internal link opens in the same window:Dr Olaf Neiße and Internal link opens in the same window:Dr Richard Zahoransky, students from the “Internal link opens in the same window:IT-Sicherheit und Cyber Security” (ITS) and “Internal link opens in the same window:Allgemeine Informatik” (AIN) degree programmes went straight to the front line of cyber defence. SySS GmbH is the market leader in penetration testing and gave students an impressive insight into what really matters in practice.
When the dam goes online – a model case with consequences
How dangerous are vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure? A SySS employee demonstrated this live using a model:
- The scenario: a dam is accessible on the internet without protection, secured only by a weak password and with no multi-factor authentication.
- The result: by exploiting these gaps, the sluice gates were opened virtually and an entire valley was “flooded”.
The experiment reconstructed a real hacker attack on Norway’s Risevatnet dam from 2025 and made the enormous responsibility of security experts very tangible.
Hands-on experience and networking
Sebastian Schreiber, founder and managing director of SySS GmbH, used further live hacks to underline how up-to-date degree programmes at HFU are. For many years, IT security and cyber security have been key pillars of teaching and research at our university.
The best was saved for last: after the fascinating talks, participants took the opportunity to chat with SySS professionals over cold drinks and a barbecue, and to make valuable contacts for starting their careers.