Strong partners from research and industry launch joint project
The research project ‘Security Retrieval Augmented Generation’ (SRAG) was recently launched. The project partners came together at the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA in Lemgo for the kick-off meeting to plan their joint work. inIT was represented digitally by Natalia Moriz, research group leader. The aim of the project is to use artificial intelligence (AI) for the secure and efficient handling of software vulnerabilities in automation technology components.
Exchange on goals and challenges
The meeting focused on presenting the areas of expertise of the individual partners and discussing the first steps of the project. SRAG relies on large language models (LLMs) to analyse information about potential vulnerabilities from various sources in a holistic and automated manner, deriving concrete recommendations for action tailored to the respective use case. This will enable companies to respond more quickly and specifically to potential threats in the future, which is an important step towards strengthening cyber security sustainably in highly automated environments.
Work packages at inIT
The project is based at inIT in the ‘Interconnected Automation Systems’ working group headed by Prof. Dr. Henning Trsek. The working group contributes its expertise in the areas of (partially) automated risk assessment and knowledge modelling.
Tour of SmartFactoryOWL
One highlight of the kick-off event was a tour of SmartFactoryOWL, the real-world laboratory for Industry 4.0 at the Innovation Campus Lemgo. Participants gained insights into practical research on digitised and networked production environments. Robin Foster, research associate to Prof. Dr. Henning Trsek, presented the TEACHER demonstrator and results from the GraphWatch project.
Working together for practical solutions
‘In the SRAG project, we are developing an approach that helps companies identify software vulnerabilities at an early stage, evaluate security advisories in a targeted manner and derive effective measures,’ explained Natalia Moriz, adding: ‘Through close cooperation with our partners from research and industry, we ensure that the solutions are not only technically innovative, but also practical.’
Further information on the SRAG research project: https://www.init-owl.de/forschung/projekte/detail/security-retrieval-augmented-generation-basierte-ki-assistenz-fuer-den-umgang-mit-security-advisories-fuer-die-automatisierungstechnik/