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CESNET has been conducting simulated phishing tests since 2017. These initial tests gradually evolved into the Phishingator service, which today enables organizations to create their own simulated campaigns and educate users in a secure environment. We spoke with Aleš Padrta about how the service came to be, what has changed over the past nine years, why it makes sense to supplement training with hands-on experience, and why any one of us can fall victim to phishing.

Ing. Jan Gruntorád, CSc., founder and long-standing Director of the CESNET Association, received the 2026 Mensa Honorary Award on 12 September at the Mensa Academy in Prague. Mensa Czech Republic announced his selection as this year’s laureate in June. The award is granted on the basis of a vote by Mensa members to an individual whose abilities and work make a significant contribution to society and help promote the good reputation of the Czech Republic internationally.

Hundreds of hours of work. A year of preparation. Another year of waiting. In July 2026, CESNET received the HR Excellence in Research Award (HR Award) for its systematic efforts to develop its working environment in line with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers. In doing so, CESNET joined more than 700 organisations that have received the award, including Charles University, Czech Technical University in Prague, Masaryk University and the Czech Academy of Sciences.

What was the most challenging part of the preparation? What does receiving the award mean for CESNET employees and the organisation as a whole? And why is this only the beginning rather than the end goal? We discussed these questions with Anna Blaháková from CESNET’s HR department.

Although most people don’t give it much thought, precise time is a very important part of our lives. Whenever we make a phone call, use mobile internet, or rely on navigation, we’re depending on systems that are synchronized to a very precise time. Precise time synchronization is used not only in telecommunications, but also in the energy sector, the financial sector, defense, and research. In some cases, accuracy down to seconds or even milliseconds isn’t enough—precision is measured in microseconds and sometimes even nanoseconds.

After a hiatus of several years, the traditional CESNET e-Infrastructure Conference is returning. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the association’s founding, making its return more timely than ever. We therefore invite you to the Diplomat Hotel in Prague on September 30 and October 1 for a two-day event dedicated to technologies, services, and research for science, research, and education. We will present the latest developments in the world of networks, cybersecurity, data storage, and high-performance computing. You can also look forward to the results of research and projects we are working on at CESNET, as well as our popular technology demos.

The first day will be dedicated to news, projects, and trends across e-infrastructure. The second day will feature thematic sessions focused on computing infrastructure and data storage, cybersecurity, multimedia, and research. The program will also include a Phishingator workshop and expert consultations with the Data Storage Department.

Registration is now open. You can register until September 18, 2026, or until capacity is reached.

This year’s IPv6 Day conference is now over. If you were unable to attend in person or would like to review any of the presentations, you can now find video recordings of all the talks and the presentations in PDF format on the conference website.

The conference took place on June 4, 2026, at the National Technical Library in Prague and, as usual, provided a forum for sharing experiences in the fields of IPv6, modern networks, and Internet infrastructure. Experts discussed topics such as the implementation of IPv6 in government, the use of IPv6 in grid computing environments for CERN experiments, and the question of whether and how cyberattackers exploit IPv6. If any of these topics piqued your interest, now is the perfect opportunity to revisit them.

IPv6 Day is jointly organized by CESNET, CZ.NIC, and NIX.CZ.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)