Pilot operation testing in PROTECTIVE project has been launched

Pilot operation testing in PROTECTIVE project has been launched

The European project PROTECTIVE has launched the pilot operation testing of the system which should enable automatic sharing of cyber security information. Operators of three European national research and education networks are involved in information sharing – PSNC (Poland), CESNET (Czech Republic) and RoEduNet (Romania).

​The aim of the first pilot operation is to test and assess the viability and functionality of the designed system. The focus is on the installation of the entire environment within a particular organisation, its connection of data sources and subsequent interconnection of individual nodes (“PROTECTIVE node”) to enable automatic sharing of security information.

At this stage, only basic data processing is being performed, with an emphasis on statistic data evaluation, visualisation and above all the assessment of their utilisation in the context of the security process within an organisation. More advanced processing, such as automated correlation of data from more sources, risk assessment in relation to a particular network or service, or alert prioritisation according to various criteria are planned in later project stages.

Cyber security attacks present one of the biggest threats of today. Governments and institutions alike exert great effort to prevent them, frequently at the international level. One of these activities is the PROTECTIVE (Proactive Risk management through Improved Cyber Situational Awareness) project, launched in September 2016 and running until August 2019. It is a part of the European Union Horizon 2020 programme. The PROTECTIVE consortium consists of three national research and education networks, including the Polish NREN – PIONIER infrastructure, three additional academic institutions (including the project coordinator – Athlone Institute of Technology from Ireland) and four commercial partners from eight countries.

The main objective of the project is to improve entity’s awareness of the risk posed by cyber security attacks, namely by creating a system for data and security information collection and processing within entities concerned, as well as by enabling sharing information between stakeholders. Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center is especially active in alert and – a more complex – meta-alert prioritization according to multiple criteria. Besides running the aforementioned pilot installation, PSNC extensively supports the PROTECTIVE system integration as well as significantly contributed in building the project technological background.

More information about the PROTECTIVE project can be found at: https://protective-h2020.eu/