Across Europe, millions of people rely on local organizations every day: a library that offers digital access, a housing association managing vital services, a food bank supporting families, a community radio station giving voice to local concerns. These institutions — from youth centres and sports clubs to faith-based networks and cultural venues — form what we call Critical Community Infrastructure.
They are essential, but they are also vulnerable. Cyberattacks against charities, libraries, and cultural institutions have shown just how quickly daily life can be disrupted. Despite their importance, most of these organizations are not included in Europe’s cybersecurity regulations and often lack the resources to strengthen their defenses.
Today, we are launching the Virtual Routes Cybersecurity Services Centre to close this gap. As James Shires, Co-Director of Virtual Routes, explains: “We founded this Centre because the organizations that keep our communities running every day should not be the easiest targets online. By providing simple but effective services, we can make a real difference.”
What is the Cybersecurity Services Centre?
The Centre is a hub designed to support organizations whose primary value lies in strengthening communities at the local or regional level. These can be nonprofits, small businesses, or local government bodies — organizations that matter deeply to people’s daily lives but often fall outside cybersecurity frameworks.
The Services Centre is designed with accessibility in mind. We focus on non-intrusive measures that strengthen security without demanding full access to internal systems. This includes helping organizations improve their email security so attackers cannot impersonate them, running phishing simulations to prepare staff against the most common threats, scanning websites for vulnerabilities, offering secure VPN accounts, and supporting the roll-out of multi-factor authentication across staff and volunteers. Just as importantly, we provide consultations and awareness sessions to ensure organizations can sustain these improvements over time.
“What excites me about this initiative is how practical it is,” says Max van der Horst, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant at Virtual Routes. “We’re not asking organizations to become security experts. We’re giving them tools they can use right away to reduce their risks.”
Support from Google.org
This effort is made possible through support from Google.org, which ensures that eligible organizations in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Spain can access the Services Centre free of charge. To deliver these services, we work with top-tier external cybersecurity providers, who are compensated at market rate to guarantee the highest quality. Selected organizations may also receive a grant of up to €10,000 to support the implementation of improvements.
As Haviva Kohl, Senior Program Manager from Google.org notes: “Community organizations are central to resilience and inclusion across Europe, but they often lack the resources to protect themselves online. By supporting the Virtual Routes’ Cybersecurity Services Centre, we aim to ensure that these organizations can continue to do what they do best — serve their communities — without being held back by digital threats.”
Shaping a Broader Vision of Cybersecurity
For Virtual Routes, this initiative is about redefining what cybersecurity means in practice. As Max Smeets, Co-Director of Virtual Routes, puts it: “Cybersecurity is no longer just about critical national systems. It’s also about protecting the places people turn to most: their libraries, food banks, and community groups. This initiative is about recognizing and resourcing that layer of society.”
The Virtual Routes Cybersecurity Services Centre is a step toward ensuring that the organizations people rely on every day remain safe, resilient, and trusted in the digital age.
