ENFORCERS: Enhanced Cooperation for Cybersecurity
Industrial automation and manufacturing are undergoing a profound transformation. Increasing connectivity, long product lifecycles, heterogeneous Operational Technology (OT) environments, and strict availability requirements make cybersecurity in industry fundamentally different from IT security. Detecting incidents is no longer enough: vulnerabilities must be mitigated, software updated, and trust restored across complex supply chains, often under real-world constraints such as segmented networks or limited connectivity.
These realities formed the backdrop for ENFORCERS, a European project launched to address cybersecurity as a lifecycle challenge. At the core of ENFORCERS is the development of a Cybersecurity System Platform that connects these processes into a cooperative framework. Private Security Operation Centers (SOCs) play a central role in collecting and correlating vulnerability data, while Digital Elements anchored in Secure Elements establish trust at critical OT edges and gateways. Automated workflows link incident handling with secure updates and re-certification, ensuring that software integrity can be restored even in complex industrial environments. The approach directly supports compliance with NIS2 and anticipates the requirements of the Cyber Resilience Act, while remaining adaptable to future regulatory and cryptographic developments.
ENFORCERS brings together a strong consortium of industrial, technology, and research partners from across Europe. Industrial companies such as Balluff (Germany and Hungary), Schneider Electric (France), TTTECH Computertechnik (Austria), and Nexus Secured Business Solutions (Sweden) contribute real-world requirements from automation and manufacturing. Cybersecurity and technology specialists including Infineon Technologies (Germany), Langlauf Security Automation (Germany), DYNAMIKI (Greece), AITAD (Germany), and ResilTech (Italy) provide expertise spanning secure elements, cryptography, SOC integration, and incident response. Applied research is supported by Fraunhofer SIT, while VDMA contributes its industrial network and perspective on standardization and adoption.
The project is co-funded by the European Union under the Digital Europe Program and supported by the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, underlining the EU’s role in enabling cross-border cooperation on cybersecurity challenges. ENFORCERS is planned as a three-year initiative, with clearly defined phases covering requirements analysis, system architecture, implementation, demonstration, and dissemination.
The project’s official kickoff took place on 10–11 February 2026 at Wibu-Systems’ headquarters in Karlsruhe, where consortium partners met in person to align on objectives, responsibilities, and the technical roadmap. As project coordinator, Wibu-Systems led the discussions, marking the transition from concept to execution and setting the foundation for close collaboration in the years ahead.
Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre. Neither the European Union nor the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre can be held responsible for them.
KEYnote 51 – Edition Spring/Summer 2026