Cybersecurity

Almost every aspect of modern life is accessed through phones or computers. Yet the data driving our digital lives can easily be compromised by faults or cyber-attacks. Europe’s digital transactions need to be more robust, energy-efficient and secure in keeping with technological advances. Bringing together the expertise of seven academic institutions and five leading cybersecurity companies, the ENCODE project is guiding eight PhD candidates through challenges in coding theory to help them acquire the scientific tools and expertise they need to bridge the societal critical skills gap in mathematics. The project focuses on the fundamental mathematics that make communication and computation more efficient, private and secure. By training a new generation of experts in this area, Europe gains an increased self-reliance in digital technology. People will benefit by getting more efficient and secure data storage, computation, and communications, ensuring our personal data, homes and businesses remain protected against future technological threats.

The era of digitalisation has brought new risks such as cyberattacks and privacy breaches. Organisations need real-time threat analysis with smarter tools. By using artificial intelligence, tamper-proof record-keeping techniques and cyber threat intelligence mechanisms, Dr. Vinod Puthuvath, the researcher leading the OPTIMA project, helped industries and governments build safer digital environments. As malicious software attacks are increasingly sophisticated, OPTIMA used deep learning to detect and classify them more accurately. A tool called the Organization-Specific Threat Intelligence System (OSTIS) was used to scan security blogs to gather information. A deep learning programme then analysed this data to assess attack patterns and threat actors. During tests and simulations, the tool reduced the cyberattack success rate by 22.8 % and spotted hidden malicious software with a 99.97 % accuracy, meaning it effectively detected and countered evolving threats. Because the system design is modular, it can integrate into existing IT infrastructure. This makes it useful in a variety of contexts: from governments to industries such as finance and healthcare.

Quantum computers pose a significant security challenge. Researchers believe they will have the power to crack our passwords and read our encrypted data at some point within the next decade. It means that, as research into quantum technology continues to make breakthroughs, the next generation of European researchers needs to overcome some significant threats in order to keep communications secure in the quantum era. In response to this threat, the QSI project is training a group of PhD candidates in both academia and industry to meet the quantum security challenges that lie ahead. It means stronger security in everything from healthcare to banking and public administration, ensuring that personal data remains private. The project, which featured in the EU pavilion at Expo 2025, a World Expo held in Osaka, Japan, is also providing policymakers with new insights on how to protect sensitive information and counter the looming threat of password-cracking quantum computers.