Cyber security for infrastructure

In recent years, securing CI has become a priority, made more difficult by the increasing sophistication of computer attacks. Add-on security solutions are generally ineffective, necessitating new security measures integrated directly into the control systems.

Developing such measures is the goal of the EU-funded 'Prevention, protection and reaction to cyber attacks to critical infrastructures' (PRECYSE) project. In order to secure Europe's CI management computers, the nine-member consortium aims to develop and validate its methodology, architecture and tools. The project's first year of three entailed specification and design, with later phases to include implementation and demonstration/dissemination. PRECYSE concludes in February 2015.

During the first reporting period, work focused on identifying scenarios to be investigated, and on defining the work structure breakdown. Hence, the group produced the first draft of the reference architecture. The document defines the components and concepts to be developed, and their relationships.

In parallel, the team established the fundamentals of its security methodology. The combined framework for methodology and security services is expected to have been completed during the first part of the second year.

PRECYSE will contribute to improved security resilience of the computer systems supporting European CI. The resulting systems will also allow superior detection of and response to cyber threats.