CICERO, a Spanish network to strengthen the cybersecurity of companies.
04 | 10 | 2024
The project CICERO starts with the mission statement to launch a strategic program of research and development+i in cybersecurity to guide the research towards those of companies using Artificial Intelligence as a technological factor core topic.
The project has been funded with 3.5 million euros by the CDTI through the Cervera Call for Technology Centers 2023.
The massive adoption of information and telecommunications technologies is transforming our society and all sectors of our Economics. Although the benefits of this transformation are innumerable, it also increases the associated risks, mainly cyber threats. Organizations, in adopting new technologies to maintain their competitiveness and efficiency, are exposed to a greater issue of vulnerabilities. To meet these challenges, it is essential that innovation in cybersecurity advances at the same pace.
In this context, the national project CICERO is born with the mission statement to launch a strategic program of research and development+i in cybersecurity, aimed at the transfer, generation and recruitment of talent researcher in cybersecurity. CICERO is currently the only cybersecurity network Cervera, focused on guiding the research towards those of companies using Artificial Intelligence as a technological factor core topic.
Four challenges core topic
Funded with 3.5 million euros by the CDTI through the Cervera Call for Technology Centers of Excellence 2023, it is formed by the technology centers Gradiant, CEITi2CAT, ITCL Technology Center and FIDESOL, who have committed to potential technology transfer through four areas of research:
Identification challenges
The first challenge consists of identifying the threats and vulnerabilities to which organizations are exposed. Key here are technologies that allow cyber intelligence to be obtained, such as honeypots, technologies for identifying vulnerabilities, and risk analysis methodologies.
Protection challenges
financial aid will be promoted to organizations to improve the robustness of their systems against cyber-attacks. This includes technologies that improve security in network protocols and their implementation, in cyber-physical systems and access control, as well as ensuring protection in emerging paradigms such as the virtualization of network functions.
Challenges in detection
Technologies will be developed to detect suspicious events in the increasingly complex systems and networks of data of companies. Research will be carried out on technologies based on the massive processing of information, its correlation and statistical analysis, essential for an adequate detection.
Challenges in response and recovery
In the face of a cybersecurity incident, a rapid, coordinated and informed response is essential to ensure that organizations' information systems and networks at data are restored to a known, expected and secure state. Research will be conducted on rapid network orchestration and reconfiguration technologies using software-defined networks, as well as forensic analysis to determine the impact of incidents.
Paper of Ceit
Focusing on these challenges, Ceit will work on different specific objectives, such as the consolidation of the research in industrial cybersecurity, the research and development of knowledge around cybersecurity in cloud environments, the use of Machine Learning techniques for anomaly detection in industrial environments and the development and integration of management identity and access systems. In addition, the technology center will develop a hybrid cybersecurity laboratory that will enable realistic analysis of industrial systems.
The project, which will run until June 2025, has among its objectives to establish the cluster of technology centers as a reference in research and development in cybersecurity, promote the partnership and maximize innovation and socio-economic impact. In addition, it seeks to promote effective technology transfer and develop specialized training programs focused on Cervera technology to prepare staff researcher and technicians.
