SecBluRed- Holistic approach to cybersecurity in the Industrial IoT (IIoT).

Project Description:

This project proposes a series of research aimed at increasing the cybersecurity of current IIoT systems, both in a non intrusive way,that is, avoiding the need to modify them, and through new improvements that can be applied directly to OT (Operational Technology) systems to be able to deal with new threats based on new technologies (such as quantum computers). It is proposed to incorporate additional devices in the communications networks used in current IIoT systems able to monitor and detecting incidents of information leakage or manipulation in real time.

Problem to be solved:

The SecBluRed project proposes a holistic research approach to cybersecurity for Industrial IoT (IIoT) in three research axes:

Securitization IIoT “Building secure IIoT systems”: whose objective is to identify new mechanisms complementary to the current ones to increase the cybersecurity of IIoT systems, considering: 5G networks, post-quantum algorithms, self-sovereign identity, blockchain, cybersecurity prediction, digital passport for IoT and secure architectures.
BlueTeam “Defense mechanisms of industrial systems”: whose objective is to provide additional cyber defense mechanisms to an IIoT system, considering: hardware design /cyber intelligent wireless unit software for network level protection, as well as design and prototyping of a non-wireless communication unit and control with cybersecurity capabilities.
RedTeam “Validate the proposed securitization and defense mechanisms”: the purpose of which is to minimize as much as possible the probability of a security gap in IIoT systems by advanced testing techniques, such as: advanced monitoring and intelligent fuzzing tests.

Project Resolution Objectives:

The general objectives of the project are based on the three research axes proposed:

Identify HW/SW architecture components with innovative functions in the field of cybersecurity that should be incorporated in IIoT systems to deal with new cybersecurity scenarios and challenges of the next few years.
Identify innovative cyber defense mechanisms in both IoT and wired industrial networks that can be incorporated in both deployed and new systems.
Identify new cyberattacks to demonstrate the strength of proposed mechanisms for secure systems development and cyber defense, which will make it possible to contrast the research done.

The specific objectives of the project are:

Investigate new approaches to architecture and design and functionality of more cybersecure IIoT systems to face the challenges that the industry will face in the coming years: 5G, self-sovereign identity and post-quantum stage.
Investigate a new hardware/software platform with AI model processing capability to increase cybersecurity at the network level.
Investigate innovative approaches to cyber-attacks in the IIot world using AI over traditional techniques for the identification of security gaps such as: SAST (Static Application Security Testing), DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing), IAST (Interactiva Application Security Testing).
Perform industrial experimentation of the results in laboratories to verify the research carried out in the project.