The complex challenges posed by accelerating digitisation in the food industry and its increasing exposure to cybersecurity risks are being addressed by the European project ACT4FOOD (Advanced Cybersecurity Tools for Critical Food Supply Chains) project, which is officially launching its activities, coordinated by INNOV-ACTS Limited from Cyprus.
As stated in an announcement by the project partners, the project aims to strengthen the cyber resilience of the food chain, from primary production to retail. The project is being implemented by a consortium of 11 partners from eight countries and will run for 36 months. The consortium includes technology and research organizations from Italy, Spain, Ireland, France, Greece, and Cyprus, including Maggioli S.p.A., Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), CREME Software Ltd, Montimage EURL, Ianus Technologies Ltd, and Agritrack Technology Solutions S.A.
The initiative, it is added, aims to protect critical infrastructure, sensitive data, and digital flows throughout the food chain, from production to retail, seeking to increase the level of cyber resilience of critical food chains through a comprehensive framework of dedicated technologies and methodologies.
Moreover, the project aims to develop an AI-based cybersecurity system for detecting threats, anomalies, and intrusions in industrial control systems (ICS), IoT networks, and supply chain operations, and to create a secure information exchange platform based on blockchain technology for the secure and verifiable sharing of cyber threat alerts and information.
The project also focuses on testing and validating the developed solutions in three real-life use cases representative of the food chain: aquaculture (producers), dairy industry (processors), and food retail (distributors and supermarkets).
In a statement, the Project Coordinator at INNOV-ACTS Limited in Cyprus, Dr. Odysseas Kokkinos, stated that "through ACT4FOOD, we aim to address these risks in a comprehensive manner, combining artificial intelligence, secure data exchange, and advanced threat assessment models. Our goal is to support food industry and retail stakeholders in being better prepared for cyberattacks and to contribute to protecting food safety and consumer confidence at the European level."
According to the announcement, the results of ACT4FOOD are expected to contribute to reducing the risk of disruptions in the food supply chain, protecting critical infrastructure, and ensuring public health in a sector recognized as critical infrastructure at European level.
The project is funded by the European Union through the Digital Europe Program (DIGITAL) program, under the call DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07, and is managed by the European Cybersecurity Competence Center for Industry, Technology, and Research (ECCC).
(Source: CNA)
