In times of increasing digitization, IT security is becoming increasingly important. In a new Austrian flagship project, local high-tech companies are developing new security concepts for the Internet of Things (IoT) in cooperation with research institutes and universities. Including the research and development company Salzburg Research. “Networked systems in the Internet of Things open up new opportunities for businesses. A timely and well-founded examination of the topic in close cooperation between science and industry is of great importance for the local competitiveness”, said Governor Wilfried Haslauer.

The networking of various IT systems in applications such as the connected car or in the concept of Industry 4.0, in which industrial production is to be interlinked with modern information and communication technology, creates new security challenges.

The leading project “Trustworthy IoT for CPS” bundles the know-how of 17 partner organizations from the Austrian industrial and research landscape, including the Salzburg IT research institute Salzburg Research. Over the next three years, methods, guidelines and tools will be developed to make the complex and networked cyber-physical systems that are emerging everywhere today safe and trustworthy.

“The goal is to fully exploit the potential of cyber-physical system applications and thereby provide important innovation impulses for the business location. At the same time, it has to meet the special requirements for robustness, safety and reliability, “said Salzburg Research Managing Director Siegfried Reich. Even a small mistake or a hacker attack can have serious consequences in such systems. It takes into account aspects of data security, mutual trust in distributed systems, and the design of secure and robust systems throughout the lifecycle.

For example, new updates to IT systems pose new security challenges. The project will lay the foundations for ensuring safety along the entire value chain from semiconductors through control systems to applications. Salzburg Research develops the technical concept for a “digital twin” for industrial products as well as software prototypes for the data management of such digital twins.

IoT4CPS is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation & Technology (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation & Technologie – bmvit) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft – FFG) as part of the funding program “ICT of the Future” (“IKT der Zukunft”). The funding volume of the three-year project amounts to a total of three million euros. Project Coordinator is the Austrian Institute of Technology.

Source: Landeskorrespondenz