SALUS
The Internet of Things (IoT) is being increasingly used in numerous (and ever growing) application domains, ranging from precision agriculture and healthcare to leisure and critical public/private infrastructure, by deploying a very large number of resource constrained devices that bridge the cyber with the physical world; hence, forming the so called Cyber–Physical Systems (CPSs). In particular, the number of IoT devices worldwide is forecast to almost double from 15.9 billion in 2023 to more than 32.1 billion IoT devices in 20302. However, due to the resource constrained nature of IoT devices, their enormous heterogeneity, the underlying communication infrastructure and the different types of protocols used by the devices, the complexity of nowadays IoT infrastructure/environment makes it highly vulnerable to security attacks. Additionally, the field of forensics for IoT environments presents unique challenges, as investigators must collect, preserve, and analyse data across diverse devices and networks while maintaining chain of custody and compliance with privacy regulations. To further extend the severity of the problem, criminal attacks become more and more sophisticated, involving new types of tactics, applications and data streams.
OBJECTIVES
SALUS addresses the growing security challenges of IoT systems by providing law enforcement with (i) new forensic investigation schemes and policies, and (ii) advanced IoT forensic tools for threat detection, evidence collection, and cross-agency collaboration, all while ensuring compliance with EU legal and ethical frameworks. To implement this, the project combines a novel Digital-Twin (DT) infrastructure for proactive threat simulation, a secure Software Defined Network-enabled IoT architecture (SDaaSS) acting as the backbone of the DT for dynamic policy enforcement, and AI-powered forensic capabilities for real-time IoT device detection, lawful evidence interception, and blockchain-based chain of custody. Validated through five diverse pilot use cases in collaboration with five (5) police authorities and two (2) critical infrastructure providers (hospitals and nuclear power plants), SALUS bridges technology and operational needs to enhance security in critical infrastructures and IoT ecosystems. The above technological developments will be closely accompanied by activities concerning: i) incorporation of legal and ethical aspects, including fundamental rights, privacy, personal data, etc, ii) integration of operational aspects, alignment with relevant EU cybersecurity policies, analysis of modus operandi, lawful evidence exploitation, and delivery of policy recommendations for tackling new and emerging forms of IoT-related crime, all aimed at improving police authorities’ understanding, iii) development of multi-dimensional, comprehensive practitioner training activities and joint exercises, tailored to the organization of operational-level hackathon activities, iv) Development of investigation, technological and security standards, and v) Establishment of a synergistic ecosystem among related national and EU-funded projects, as well as stakeholders from the law enforcement community.
The project in figures
5 M€
TOTAL BUDGET
Chronology
SALUS starts on 1 November 2025 and end on 31 October 2028.
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01 November 2025
Start of the project
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31 October 2028
End Date
