Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE
Cyber security learning lab "Secure cloud computing"
Application-oriented training in an innovative learning environment
"Almost 23% of cloud security incidents are a result of cloud misconfiguration, and 27% of businesses have encountered security breaches in their public cloud infrastructure." 1
Using and operating cloud services securely
Across all industries, there is a growing trend for companies to rely on cloud services or migrate their own solutions to the cloud in order to benefit from their flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency. According to Gartner, global spending on public cloud services is expected to grow by 20.7% to USD 591.8 billion by 2024. Since protecting sensitive information is crucial for companies, issues such as cybersecurity and data sovereignty are particularly important in this context.
In the cybersecurity learning lab “Secure Cloud Computing”, the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) in Kaiserslautern is pooling its expertise with Worms University of Applied Sciences in the field of “Secure Cloud Computing” to improve education and training and transfer research knowledge on cloud computing in a practical manner.
Our Courses
Our course offerings provide you with professional training that combines technical expertise, practical exercises, and the latest research. Our experts guide you from the basics of secure operation of complex infrastructures to specialized topics such as compliance, large language models, and ethical hacking.
Our Services
We support you in systematically reviewing and improving your solutions. Based on scientific methods and practical experience, we analyze your cloud environments, evaluate existing security measures, and develop recommendations that combine technical effectiveness with user-friendliness.
Performing penetration tests for your cloud solution
Our experienced security experts simulate targeted attacks on your cloud environments to identify potential vulnerabilities at an early stage. On request, we can perform the tests in isolated environments so that ongoing operations are not affected. This provides you with reliable insights into the resilience of your systems.
Assessment of the effectiveness, efficiency, and user-friendliness of your cloud security measures
Security must not only be technically effective, but also consistently usable by users. We therefore analyze not only the technical implementation, but also the user-friendliness of your security solutions. Based on these assessments, we develop practical recommendations that combine security, efficiency, and ease of use.
Our Infrastructure
At Fraunhofer IESE in Kaiserslautern and at Worms University of Applied Sciences, we offer modern rooms for up to 60 participants, which are ideal for training courses, workshops, and specialist lectures. In addition, specialized labs and test environments are available, which enable a special learning and working experience depending on the objectives:
Rapid Innovation Lab
Here, everything revolves around interaction, creativity, and flexibility. In an inspiring setting, up to four groups can work on ideas, concepts, and solutions in parallel—either together in exchange or independently of each other. The lab promotes agile working, creative thinking, and the rapid development of new approaches.
Security Lab
In this practice-oriented environment, the focus is on the concrete application and experience of state-of-the-art security technologies. Participants have the opportunity to try out methods such as vulnerability scans or penetration testing hands-on and thus immerse themselves deeply in the world of IT security.
Cloud test environment
We provide a dedicated cloud infrastructure for practical training and secure experiments. This environment is completely isolated from production systems and allows realistic scenarios to be simulated without compromising existing systems.
Especially in the area of penetration testing and vulnerability analysis, it is essential to work in a protected environment, as such tests may not be performed on live systems or simply in commercial clouds.
Our infrastructure offers the opportunity to test new applications, prototypes, or unfinished software versions at an early stage, to test security mechanisms, and to simulate different attack scenarios. This allows risks to be identified and remedied before a solution goes live.
Our Team
Our team combines expertise in cloud, IT, and AI security with comprehensive know-how in data protection, data sovereignty, and usable security principles.
Jens Kohler
Jens Kohler
Cloud Security Expert & Professor of Secure Software and System Development
Jens Kohler is a professor of secure software and system development and an expert in cloud security. He previously worked as a software architect in the banking sector, assisting leading major banks in setting up secure cloud infrastructures. With around 25 scientific publications on cloud computing and security, he combines practical experience with scientific excellence. His focus is on secure, distributed cloud architectures and their technical implementation.
Robin Brandstädter
Robin Brandstädter
Senior Security Engineer
Robin Brandstädter holds a degree in computer engineering, is a senior security engineer at Fraunhofer IESE (since 2017), and is a lecturer at Worms University of Applied Sciences (since 2025). Together with Jens Kohler, he heads our learning lab. Previously, he worked as a consultant and developer for user authorization systems in the insurance industry. His main areas of focus are awareness, authorizations, and system development.
Denis Feth
Denis Feth
Department Head »Security Engineering«
Denis Feth has been employed at Fraunhofer IESE since 2011. He holds a master's degree in computer science and heads the Security Engineering department. His main areas of focus are data sovereignty and usable security and privacy.
Jessica Chwalek
Jessica Chwalek
Senior Security Engineer
Jessica Chwalek has been working as a security engineer at Fraunhofer IESE since the end of 2021, where she works on projects related to data protection and data usage control. Her master's degree in computer science with a focus on intelligent systems and her project experience enable her to explain the secure and privacy-compliant use of large language models in the cloud in an understandable way.
Patrick Dzubba
Patrick Dzubba
Software Engineer
Patrick Dzubba has been a security engineer at Fraunhofer IESE since 2024 and holds a master's degree in IT security from TU Darmstadt. In the “Secure Cloud Computing” learning lab, he develops practice-oriented training courses and manages the cloud infrastructure with a focus on infrastructure as code and secure system architectures.
Philipp Neuschwander
Philipp Neuschwander
Senior Security Engineer
Philipp Neuschwander is a Senior Security Engineer at Fraunhofer IESE and a lecturer at Worms University of Applied Sciences. His focus is on the development and operation of container-based infrastructures as well as continuous integration and deployment. He contributes his extensive DevOps expertise to training courses and research projects.