ENSURESEC - Security and resilience for the digital single market

The EU research project ENSURESEC (End-to-end Security of the Digital Single Market's E-commerce and Delivery Service) aimed to improve the security and resilience of e-commerce platforms and their delivery processes. The project focused on the technical and social challenges in digital commerce and developed solutions to minimize physical and cyber-physical threats.

Challenge: Security risks in e-commerce

With the growth of online commerce, security threats are also constantly increasing. Cyberattacks, fraud and physical manipulation along the supply chain jeopardize the integrity of e-commerce transactions. The aim of the project was to develop a holistic security concept that takes both technical and social factors into account.

Project objective

ENSURESEC took a socio-technical approach to protect the e-commerce sector against digital and physical threats. The core objectives included:

• Development of a security platform for companies
• Integration of automated protection mechanisms into existing digital trading platforms
• Use of blockchain technology for greater transparency and tamper-proofing
• Raising awareness of security risks among SMEs and consumers through training and campaigns

Solution approach: Developement of a security platform

• The ENSURESEC project combined various IT security measures and developed a modular platform that helps companies to detect and ward off cyber attacks and physical threats at an early stage. The following measures were implemented for this purpose:
• Early detection of threats through AI-supported analyses
• Protection mechanisms for digital trading platforms using blockchain and smart contracts
• Monitoring of delivery processes to identify potential risks
• Training programs and information campaigns to raise awareness among companies and end customers

Results and added value for digital commerce

The project delivered a large number of innovations for securing e-commerce processes:

• Security toolkit for companies to monitor and secure digital trading platforms
• Automated security analyses to detect and prevent cyberattacks
• Recommendations for legal regulations to strengthen data security in online retail 
• Awareness campaigns for companies and end customers to identify threats

ENSURESEC has made a significant contribution to making the e-commerce sector more resistant to cyber attacks and physical manipulation. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular benefit from the security solutions developed, as they often have fewer resources to combat such threats.