Leeds University seeking MSSP for £2m SOC contract amid rise in targeted higher education cyberattacks

Investment is response to ‘complex threat landscape’ facing UK higher education and comes after multiple cyberattacks on universities

Leeds University is seeking a sole MSSP to take on a £2m security operations contract as it looks to tackle a "complex threat landscape" facing higher education.

The University, which claims to be the third largest employer in the city of Leeds with more than 8,000 staff, is seeking a sole managed security services provider to run an outsourced security operations centre (SOC).

The MSSP must be able to provide 24/7 monitoring 365 days-a year.

The contract is slated to run across three years with the option to extend for a further two years and has an estimated total value of £2m.

Deadlines for applications is 29 June at 2pm.

The major investment from Leeds University comes after an increase in targeted ransomware attacks against the UK education sector.

Earlier this year, in March, the University of Northampton suffered a cyberattack which impacted its IT and telephone systems. The university claimed it was still being "severely impacted" nearly a week after the attack took place.

Three more universities were attacked in March including the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland and Queen's University in Belfast.

The NCSC published a report in March following the attacks and urged all organisations to follow its guidance on mitigating malware and ransomware.

Since then, the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Portsmouth were hit by attacks in April which brought down IT systems.