IU Cybersecurity Clinic helps rural organizations strengthen digital security

Across rural Indiana, nonprofits and local governments face a growing challenge—safeguarding their digital systems and sensitive data from increasingly complex cybersecurity threats.

“A system is only as secure as its weakest link,” said Isak Nti Asare, director of the IU Cybersecurity Clinic and co-director for the Cybersecurity and Global Policy Program at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. “A lot of what we think about as critical infrastructure includes small businesses, nonprofits, and local governments, and many of them have some type of cyber responsibility but within a low-resource context.”

To help address those challenges, the clinic partnered with rural organizations through a fall 2025 Sustaining Hoosier Communities course project focused on strengthening digital resilience in the Indiana Uplands region.

Established in 2019, the clinic gives students from across the university the opportunity to work directly with community organizations throughout Indiana and the Midwest that need additional support protecting their digital systems. By assessing cybersecurity risks and offering practical guidance, students help strengthen local infrastructure while building the hands-on skills they will carry into the workforce.

Students were divided into small teams and partnered with local organizations for the semester. Each team worked closely with organizational leaders to conduct cybersecurity risk assessments and develop recommendations to strengthen policies, procedures, and planning for potential cyber incidents.

The course was led by Asare, whose work with the clinic focuses on extending IU’s cybersecurity resources beyond campus.

“Our interest was always, how do we get outside of the Sample Gates so that the strength of cyber expertise and research and practice that's happening here on campus is getting extended into the community,” Asare said.

For community partners, the collaboration was an opportunity to strengthen their digital security while working with IU students studying to become tomorrow’s cybersecurity experts.

Applying classroom training beyond campus

While community partners gained practical guidance and tailored cybersecurity recommendations, students applied their training in a real-world setting that will impact Hoosier lives.

Josh Bruns, an IU cybersecurity graduate student who worked closely with the WCCF, said the experience opened his eyes to how important communication is when working with organizations outside the cybersecurity field.

“One of the biggest things was communicating with nontechnical people,” he said. “Not just giving them cookie-cutter solutions or things I’ve been taught, but trying more to listen to what they’re saying and adapt the solutions, the policies, and risks identified to their business needs.”

Emily Kinser, a graduate student in IU’s cybersecurity risk management program, said working directly with an organization helped connect classroom learning with practical problem-solving.

“I really like the hands-on stuff,” Kinser said. “Because when you're just doing the class discussions, it’s very much just theory. You don't actually get to do anything with it. But when you're working with a client, you get to discuss things. You get to figure out what they actually need and how you could change stuff and apply it to them.”

For Asare, the project reflects both IU’s role in serving communities and the importance of preparing students to apply their skills beyond the classroom.

“You can’t be a cybersecurity person and not have a sort of disposition towards service, because there’s such a huge need in the community,” Asare said. “We want our students to leave here not just having strong skills in cybersecurity, but a disposition towards service.”