European response to cyber physical threats in the food industry. The ACT4FOOD project officially launched
The ACT4FOOD project has been officially launched
ACT4FOOD project team
The project, which brings together 11 partners from 8 countries over 36 months, is funded by the European Union through the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), under the call DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07, and is managed by the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre (ECCC). Among the work package coordinators is June Communications, which manages the communication, dissemination, exploitation, and standardization package.
The European consortium implementing this project is coordinated by INNOV-ACTS Limited (Cyprus) and brings together technology and research partners - Maggioli S.p.A. (Italy), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena - UPCT (Spain), CREME Software Ltd (Ireland), Montimage EURL (France), Ianus Technologies Ltd (Cyprus) and Agritrack Lyseis Technologias A.E. (Greece) - who contribute to the development and integration of advanced cybersecurity solutions for the food chain, alongside partners from the agri-food sector who test and validate these solutions in real conditions: GR Family Farm (Greece), as processors, and Obedineni Akvakulturi OOD - United Aquaculture (Bulgaria), as producers, and METRO A.E. (Greece), as a player in the food retail sector. Among the work package coordinators is June Communications (Romania), which manages the communication, dissemination, exploitation, and standardization package.
The ACT4FOOD project responds to the increasingly complex challenges posed by the accelerated digitization of the food industry, which has significantly increased exposure to cyber risks in recent years. According to the latest Eurostat data, approximately 21.5% of businesses in the European Union reported IT security incidents in 2023, including data loss, service unavailability, and confidentiality breaches - a clear sign of the growing digital risks across all economic sectors.
Data from ENISA, the EU agency for cybersecurity, highlights an increasingly intense landscape of attacks: between July 2024 and June 2025, nearly 4,900 cyber incidents reported in member states were analyzed, showing that malicious actors continue to exploit vulnerabilities in digital infrastructures and supply chains.
The ACT4FOOD project aims to strengthen cybersecurity in the food sector by developing and implementing advanced technological solutions tailored to the specific needs of the food sector. The initiative aims to protect critical infrastructure, sensitive data, and digital flows throughout the food chain, from production to retail. To this end, the project seeks to increase the level of cyber resilience of critical food chains through an integrated framework of dedicated technologies and methodologies, as reflected in the following key objectives:
• Developing a cybersecurity system based on artificial intelligence for detecting threats, anomalies, and intrusions in industrial control systems (ICS), IoT networks, and supply chain operations;
• Creating a secure blockchain-based information exchange platform for the secure and verifiable sharing of cyber threat intelligence alerts and information;
• Extending the TACCP concept through TACCP 4.0, an advanced threat assessment framework that integrates cyber and cyber-physical risks, in accordance with regulations such as NIS2, PAS 96, FSMA, and GDPR;
• Testing and validation of the solutions developed in three real-life use cases representative of the food chain: aquaculture (producers), dairy industry (processors), and food retail (distributors and supermarkets).
“Digitizing food chains brings major benefits in terms of efficiency and traceability, but it also creates new vulnerabilities. Through ACT4FOOD, we aim to address these risks in an integrated way, combining artificial intelligence, secure data exchange, and advanced threat assessment models. Our goal is to support food and retail industry players in becoming better prepared for cyber attacks and to contribute to protecting food safety and consumer confidence at the European level,” says Dr. Odysseas Kokkinos, Project Coordinator at INNOV-ACTS Limited in Cyprus.
Through its results, ACT4FOOD directly contributes to the objectives of the Digital Europe Programme, supporting the protection of critical infrastructure, strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy in cybersecurity, and increasing digital trust in the food sector. The project will help reduce the risk of supply chain disruption, prevent economic losses, and protect public health in a context where the food sector is recognized as critical infrastructure at the European level.
By implementing the solutions developed within ACT4FOOD, the project will contribute to creating a more secure and cyber-resilient European food ecosystem, facilitate the adoption of good security practices, and support organizations in the agri-food sector in their responsible digital transition.
ACT4FOOD
ACT4FOOD
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