Advanced Design of the HERMES Data Exchange Platform Supporting the Cyber Defence of Autonomous Military Systems

Duration: 01/12/2021 – 31/08/2024  |   Total Funding: €2,499,780.00

Challenges

One of the main challenges in cybersecurity operations is the overload of poor quality and irrelevant information. Cybersecurity experts are overwhelmed with information of varying accuracy that needs to be analysed in order to determine their applicability and usefulness. Moreover, while cybersecurity systems can usually scale to meet higher volumes of data, they suffer from the use of proprietary or difficult to update data formats limiting their rapid evolution. HERMES seeks to provide a foundation that addresses the challenges of overloading a cybersecurity system with poor quality, untimely, and irrelevant cybersecurity information.

HERMES aim is to fully design and deliver the so called ‘HERMES Data Exchange Platform (DXP)’, addressing different challenges relating to automation in cybersecurity and information sharing. Based on Common Requirements agreed by the participating Member States during the studies phase, the project will also demonstrate the HERMES system’s key features and technologies, targeting the area of “cybersecurity solutions for the protection of future security and defence systems”.

Through engagements with participating Member States and stakeholders, the project will validate the underlying novel approach proposed to address the need for cyber resilience in autonomous military systems. This project brings together three SMEs with expertise in software development and cybersecurity for the full technical design of an advanced cybersecurity information management system, the HERMES DXP.

Data

Because the primary usage of the information held in HERMES is automated and autonomous therefore relevant and timely data is required

Exchange

Because one of the key strengths of HERMES is to facilitate the exchange of data across cybersecurity solutions, organisational boundaries, and security domains

Platform

To stress the fact that HERMES is not a cybersecurity tool per se, but rather a foundational system that provides data to cybersecurity applications

OVERALL PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The HERMES DXP will provide a foundation for a disruptive paradigm shift in autonomous military systems ensuring cyber information superiority while also improving the ability of cybersecurity applications to interoperate and function autonomously in a reliable manner.

Key Objectives
1

Enable automation and autonomy in cybersecurity operations

2

Facilitate burden-sharing collaboration and outsourcing of cybersecurity data management

3

Improve Information Superiority and Cyber Responsive Operations

4

Deliver the complete design of the HERMES Data Exchange Platform

5

Bring forward SME innovation

eBOS will coordinate the project by leading Work Package 1 (WP) ‘General Management and Coordination of the Action’, assuming responsibility for the Coordination and Management of the project, including the planning, monitoring, assessment, reporting, evaluation and continuous assessment of all WPs, their associated tasks, and the overall execution of the implementation plan.

Moreover, eBOS will:

1

Undertake the role of the Quality Assurance Manager aiming to implement quality assurance procedures with particular focus on monitoring review activities and submit quality review reports.

2

Lead the Innovation and IPR Management activities monitoring the progress of the development of innovative tools/services throughout the project while designing the IPR protection strategy.

eBOS Tasks

eBOS will also lead the WP dedicated to ‘Impact Maximisation’ being responsible for the following tasks:

Dissemination & Communication Plan and Activities;

Market analysis, business model and sustainability;

Engagement, scale-up and standardisation.

Consortium

EBOS TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED (Coordinator)

This project has received funding from the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), under Grant Agreement “EDIDP-SME-2020-099-HERMES”.