Industrial Cyber Security 4.0 Erasmus Project

Project Title

Industrial Cyber Security 4.0

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Open and distance learning

Project Summary

Industrial Cyber Security 4.0 (InCyS 4.0) has created a training course to raise awareness and basic responsive capacity in industrial cyber security for high level operational technicians (in robotics, mechatronics, production programming, automated systems etc.) who will professionally work with operational technology in Industry 4.0. As the Industrial landscape has evolved to integrate ever more connected digital control systems (known globally as Industrial Control Systems – ICS) for production and manufacturing, vulnerabilities abound which can affect the capacity of an enterprise to operate and offer services. Greater connectivity and digitalisation in industrial processes involving the integration of global applications and networks, while having multiple benefits, also brings greater potential risks such as hacking (breaches), sabotage, theft and chaos (the breakdown of equipment or the functioning of integral processes).

Operational technicians need to receive training in their educational programmes which covers the inherent risks related with the OT/IT (Operational technology and Information technology) reality and how to respond effectively to these risks. Employers are aware that at present they are exposed and lacking the skilled employees to face these dangers. Industrial Operational Technicians (the weak link in the chain if untrained) need to improve their awareness and gain in basic competence in responding to detected cyber security risks.

Partners from three countries, Politeknika Txorierri (ES), Instituto Politécnico do Porto (PT), Hellenic Mediterrenean University (EL) and IDEC (EL) have created a modular training Course in essential industrial cyber security and a supporting practical security Guide for technicians. The course was tested with HE technical students and industrial workers from Greece, Portugal and Spain in 2020-2021. All created materials are available via the project website in a MOOC for easy accessibility and transfer to other learning platforms.

The project investigated, in collaboration with companies and industrial cyber security experts, the main security risks facing industrial operations to include within the training course. Training content includes real life industrial case examples from each partner country.

The project has contributed to the competitiveness and prosperity of Industry 4.0, comprised mainly of SMEs as now there is a growing
pool of qualified high-level technicians with the skills needed by the local/ regional (now global) market. It has also increased cooperation between Higher VET/HE European institutions and enterprises. This cooperation started with the project analysis and training events and increased as the project developed, and the partner activities were documented and shared at international level.

The project has produced a MOOC that can be integrated easily into technical/industrial educational programmes and/or training courses for the unemployed and workers anywhere in Europe. The modular course is available in English, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish. We hope that the flexible training course will contribute to increased employability and a higher skilled European workforce.

Project Website

http://incybersecurity.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 124433 Eur

Project Coordinator

POLITEKNIKA IKASTEGIA TXORIERRI S.COOP & Country: ES

Project Partners

• AINTEK SYMVOULOI EPICHEIRISEON EFARMOGES YPSILIS TECHNOLOGIAS EKPAIDEFSI ANONYMI ETAIREIA
• ELLINIKO MESOGEIAKO PANEPISTIMIO
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO