ABEDI launches in Euskadi to boost industrial cybersecurity

The strategic ABEDI project has been launched in Euskadi to advance the cybersecurity of industrial systems and equipment with embedded software, the components that control the internal operation of machines, devices and critical processes. In a context of growing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, ABEDI anticipates the requirements of the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), which from 2027 will oblige manufacturers to meet stricter cybersecurity standards for products with digital elements.

Led by Orbik, the Hazitek project has a total budget of €5,131,000 and will run until December 2027, financed by SPRI and the Basque Government. The consortium includes CAF Signalling, Fagor Automation, Mondragon Assembly and Ormazabal as leading industrial partners, together with GAIA Cluster, Ikerlan, Koniker, Fagor and Ormazabal from the Basque Science and Technology Network.

ABEDI will research a new model to protect industrial systems with embedded software, using high‑fidelity virtualized environments that enable remote, automated and proactive cybersecurity testing without sending physical equipment to external laboratories, replicating up to 95% of real system behaviour. The project will also explore secure over‑the‑air (OTA) update mechanisms to ensure continuous software and firmware evolution without interrupting industrial operations.

The initiative focuses on key enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Data Science, cyber‑physical systems, advanced cybersecurity and virtualization. Its technical goals include achieving 99% availability in industrial systems through secure‑by‑design architectures and safe OTA updates, cutting response times to cybersecurity incidents by 80%, reducing manual intervention in security management by 70%, eliminating physical transport of equipment and reducing certification costs and times by 50% while ensuring full compliance with the CRA.