The virtual centre for real-time dynamic cyber risk management has reached full operational capability
Leonardo has announced that the first pan-European virtual centre for real-time dynamic cyber risk management has reached full operational capability. The company developed the centre in partnership with Spanish company Indra, as part of an €18 million project awarded by the European Commission’s DG Connect, the EU executive’s directorate for digital policies.
The centre aims to provide full situational awareness by analysing and processing data from multiple sources, including websites, social media, databases, and the dark web. This is underpinned by a knowledge base consisting of more than 5 million ‘Indicators of Compromise’, digital traces of computer incidents that are managed each year by Leonardo via the company’s supercomputing infrastructure.
Using this information, the centre produces sectoral threat scenarios related to different matters for DG Connect. This allows the European Commission to continuously monitor the level of cyber-attack risk against European digital infrastructure, highlighting possible threat actors, likely modes of attack, potential targets and their vulnerabilities. This makes it possible to dynamically calculate the impact of potential attacks on critical infrastructure and services of strategic interest.
Research by Leonardo analysts has found that the most widespread offensive cyber techniques (Ransomware, DDoS, Wipers, Phishing and disinformation campaigns) increased by an average of 180% in 2022 compared to 2021, making cyber resilience a pressing requirement.
At the same time, a side effect of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has seen Europe become more of a target of hybrid threats, which combine multiple techniques and different actors. These can cause serious repercussions, sometimes to national security.
The project includes the establishment of a physical centre in Brussels that will enable the Commission to work directly on the cyber threat. Leonardo’s Regional Centre in Brussels – part of the company’s Global Security Operation Centre – will also support the physical infrastructure. The centre will be interoperable with all entities at a European level responsible for cyber threat analysis.
