YAKSHA carried out an extensive review of the cybersecurity context and status in the EU and ASEAN. Complementarily, the project organised three co-creation workshops in Southeast Asia (i.e. Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand) in order to develop a common vision and roadmap for these countries’ cybersecurity ecosystems. The workshops were attended by 75 participants from these countries.
From a technological and development perspective, the project also carried out various activities. Specifically, the project defined the methodology to collect data. The methodology establishes a baseline of activities that help determine what data YAKSHA has to collect, what methods and tools to adopt for data collection, and what reference architecture design is suitable for data collection, management and processing. In parallel, the project also defined the ontology to be used to store the information from the honeypots, and standards to be used to ensure interoperability. Lastly, the project has focused on researching new methods for malware detection and collection, as well as to measure impact.
At the technological level, the project developed the YAKSHA software technology, which has resulted in the following versions: Prototype, Beta Version, Release Candidate and Final Version. In parallel, a database was developed that is used to store the information collected by the honeypots, based on the already defined ontology. Furthermore, a data analytics correlation engine has been developed, which analyses dynamic/behavioural aspects of malware, correlates similarity of behaviour of malware samples, among others. Lastly, the project has developed the testbed for the trials of the first prototype and of the final version.
With the YAKSHA solution developed, the project also provided three pilots with different use cases: Greece, Malaysia and Vietnam. Pilot deployment began at the beginning of M18 and was completed in M36. The conclusions from the pilots’ evaluation also reinforces the significance of YAKSHA.
The success of the project was dependent on an effective dissemination and communication of the project, which has been carried out since the beginning of the project. 103 Ambassadors have been recruited covering various SEA countries. During the project period, several events and workshops were organized. Co-creation workshops to understand the potential business scenarios developed in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Two end-user events – the first was held in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur on the 27-28th of November 2019; and the second took place on the 9th of December 2020 in the form of a 4-hour long online webinar held through Zoom webinar platform. Furthermore, the project participated in 34 external (non-project) events overall.
An exploitation plan has been developed that details the actions to be implemented after the end of the project. In particular, a EU-based start-up joint venture will be established by partners MOT and StAG, in close collaboration with UPRC. This start-up will offer a range of products and services based on the exploitable assets these three partners developed during the project. The YAKSHA platform will be the core of the offer range and will be offered to end users as a cloud-based service or as a on premise installation. The launch of YAKSHA on the ASEAN market is foreseen for the last quarter of 2021 and on the European market at the beginning of 2022. Close relationships and formal agreements with the ASEAN partners CSM, ACIOA and NSTDA are being established in order to support the adoption of YAKSHA in the region and enjoy mutual technology and knowledge exchanges.
