European Commissions Cybersecurity Atlas

The European Commission's Cybersecurity Atlas is a project designed to map and provide contact information for cybersecurity experts, organisations, universities and government entities across Europe. Built on a Drupal‑based platform, the Atlas collects usernames, email addresses, institutional affiliations, full names, physical addresses and geolocation coordinates to create a searchable directory that supports collaboration and information sharing among European cybersecurity stakeholders. Much of the data is intended to be publicly accessible by design, allowing users to identify and connect with relevant actors in the field.

The initiative covers a broad geographical scope, encompassing participants from multiple European countries, as indicated by the description of the compromised dataset containing details of experts and organisations from across the continent. The 2021 incident, in which a threat actor obtained a backend database dump, demonstrated the Atlas’s reach by exposing a substantial volume of contact data that reflected the project’s extensive mapping effort. While specific quantitative metrics such as the number of registered users or the volume of entries are not disclosed in the available sources, the breach underscores the Atlas’s role as a centralized repository for European cybersecurity community information.

Distinguishing attributes of the Cybersecurity Atlas include its status as a specialised mapping tool maintained directly by the European Commission, setting it apart from generic directories through its focus on cybersecurity expertise and its integration with EU policy objectives. The project’s reliance on a Drupal infrastructure highlights a technical choice aimed at facilitating scalable, secure web‑based services for a pan‑European audience. Its alignment with the Commission’s broader cybersecurity agenda gives it a regulatory and strategic dimension, as it supports the EU’s efforts to strengthen cooperation and resilience among national and sectoral cybersecurity actors.

Structurally, the Cybersecurity Atlas is not an independent legal entity but a project owned and administered by the European Commission, with its headquarters located in Belgium, reflecting the institutional base of the Commission in Brussels. No separate parent or subsidiary relationships are specified in the provided information, and the Atlas operates as part of the Commission’s internal activities aimed at enhancing cybersecurity collaboration across Europe.