IRIS
Artificial Intelligence threat Reporting and Incident response System
FinEst Centre for Smart Cities participated in 2020 autumn in writing a Horizon 2020 cybersecurity and smart city-themed IA project proposal called “IRIS: artificial Intelligence threat Reporting and Incident response System”, with partners all over Europe, including Forum Virium Helsinki and the Delft University of Technology and led by INOV from Portugal. The proposal was valued by experts with maximum points (15 out of 15) and is the first funded project of the FinEst Centre, where FinEst Centre has been involved from the proposal writing phase. The project starting date was in September 2021 and the project will run for 3 years.
In smart cities the uptake of IoT and AI-driven ICT systems is crucial but it depends on our strategic ability to protect these systems from cyber threats and attacks on their privacy. IRIS addresses this challenge with a collaborative-first approach centred around CERTs/CSIRTs. From a technological perspective, it deploys (i) autonomous detection of IoT and AI threats, enriched with (ii) privacy-aware intelligence sharing and collaboration, and (iii) advanced data protection and accountability. Crucially, IRIS introduces (iv) the first dedicated online training and cyber exercises to prepare CERTs/CSIRTs to collaboratively protect critical infrastructures and systems against cross-border AI and IoT threats.
IRIS will be validated in three pilot demonstrators, focussing on the IoT, AI and cross-border dimensions, across three existing smart city environments (in Helsinki, Tallinn and Barcelona), involving the associated national/governmental CERTs/CSIRTs, cybersecurity authorities and municipalities.
The scenarios will contain real-life inspired cyber incidents that will build up into pilots at all levels (from local to national and to cross-border) to showcase the versatility of the IRIS solution. With 19 key partners from around Europe and 5 CERTs/CSIRTs as Associated Partners, IRIS’s solid consortium composition and work plan prioritise the effectiveness needed for quick real-world adoption and impact.
Moreover, the integration will be carried out on the EU’s existing MeliCERTes platform, with the support of INTRASOFT, while training will build upon THALES’s existing cyber range, and ECSO will ensure the contribution to standards and policymaking. With the formal support of the four H2020 Cybersecurity Competence Network Pilot Projects, IRIS will also actively engage with the full scope of the cybersecurity ecosystem in Europe.