Enforcing End-user-driven Secure Services Across Diverse Domains in the Computing Continuum
Overview
The ENFORCE project addresses the growing trust, security, and orchestration challenges arising from the rapid evolution of IoT technologies combined with 5G connectivity and edge computing. As modern applications increasingly rely on a unified compute continuum spanning cloud, edge, and far-edge infrastructures, ENFORCE aims to enable secure, trusted, and service-driven deployment of advanced digital services across heterogeneous environments.
Building on emerging ETSI standardisation efforts (ETSI SDG-OSL, ETSI SDG-TFS) and Trusted Computing Group initiatives, ENFORCE introduces a holistic framework for zero-touch service and network management that integrates security assurance, trust evaluation, and automated mitigation mechanisms. The project enhances infrastructure and service-level assurance by continuously assessing vulnerabilities, validating service requirements, and dynamically adapting service function chains to mitigate threats while preserving performance and confidentiality.
ENFORCE enables automated and policy-aware orchestration actions, including real-time anomaly response, trusted execution environment migration, and service continuity mechanisms across the compute continuum. The platform supports large-scale deployment scenarios relevant to telco operators and private infrastructures, facilitating secure adoption of advanced services in critical sectors. The project further lays the foundation for next-generation Security Operations Centres capable of operating across multi-domain, cross-border infrastructures, supported by the active involvement of telecom operators and cybersecurity authorities.
Objectives
Design and extend the ENFORCE platform for secure and scalable orchestration and management of services and resources across the computing continuum and the interconnected domains.
Register and validate the infrastructure domains requesting connection to ENFORCE platform, and suggest enhancements to the security, trustworthiness, and usability of the domains by assessing the risk, deploying monitoring agents, and providing attestation services for secure identities and usability.
Enhance the security and performance of the end-user service deployments across the computing continuum and the interconnected domains, by assessing the risk, suggesting, and incorporating network function enhancements, and relying on AI-based tools.
Continuously evaluate the runtime security risks of the instantiated services, across the computing continuum and interconnected domains, through continuous vulnerability risk assessment in combination with analysis of security updates and threats from knowledge base and conclude on security improvement decisions.
Provide advance runtime detection capabilities followed by mitigation and resiliency processes that can efficiently react to detected attacks, by using the platform’s automated capabilities for intra- and inter-domain reconfiguration actions.
Test and verify the security and privacy performance and compliance of the ENFORCE platform across the computing continuum and the interconnected domains, using realistic testing infrastructure and use case blueprints.
Maximise the impact and adoption of ENFORCE through relevant standardisation and innovation in end-to-end security and user-centric privacy in complex distributed platforms, through Validation Case (VC) activities, and to achieve market impact through technology innovation and a win-win business model that will render ENFORCE an exemplar secure and trustworthy framework with true market potentials.
eBOS Role in the Project
eBOS, will have a major technical role in the ENFORCE project, in the design, development and integration of the AI-based Decision Engine Framework envisioned as one of ENFORCE innovations. This will be assembled initially for evaluating recommended solutions while emphasis is placed on incorporating safe AI approaches to ensure a secure and ethical deployment of the decision-making mechanisms. A key initial objective is to compile a repository of suitable AI algorithms and potential metrics and adapt them accordingly.
In addition to its technical role, eBOS will lead the dissemination and communication activities that aim to widely expose project’s achievements and research results, through its network of associations.
Finally, eBOS will lead the project’s Quality Assurance, safeguarding the quality of the deliverables, as well as be responsible for Risk Management.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
