Southeast University (SEU) has an impressive history of talent cultivation in the field of cybersecurity. In 1960, the Department of Calculating Apparatus and Technology was established, and in 1978, Academician Gu Guanqun established the discipline of Computer Network. In 1994, the School began to enroll graduate students in Cybersecurity, thus SEU became the first university engaged in education and research in the field of computer network security. At the dawn of the 21st century, the discipline of Information Security was established. After years of development, a series of innovative achievements have been made and several key laboratories have been established. In 2015, faced with the requirements of the national strategic development in cybersecurity, SEU seized the historical opportunity by integrating resources of several advantageous disciplines, including Information and Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, Mathematics, etc., with the intention of building a high-quality and multi-tiered scientific research team in cybersecurity. In 2016, the PhD program of the first-level discipline of Cybersecurity was authorized; hence the School of Cyber Science and Engineering was founded, which was much earlier than some other institutions in China.

In 2017, the Discipline of Cybersecurity was approved as a Provincial Key First-level Discipline of Jiangsu. In March 2018, the undergraduate program of Cybersecurity was approved by the Ministry of Education.

During its establishment, the School has worked together with local governments, enterprises and institutions by taking the advantage of industrial development of electronic information and network security in Jiangsu Province. Meanwhile, adhering to the philosophy of “taking the advantage, cross development, mutual development and leading development” and based on the School features, academic advantages, scientific research platforms and international influence, the School of Cyber Science and Engineering makes every effort to build a cradle for first-class talents in network security.