Securing AI systems: Introducing the EU-funded SHASAI project

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly embedded in everyday technologies and critical sectors, ranging from healthcare and mobility to industrial systems. While these AI-based systems offer significant advantages, their increasing complexity and dependence on data also make them vulnerable to cyberattacks. Ensuring that AI systems remain secure throughout their entire lifecycle has therefore become a pressing challenge.

A European project to secure AI systems

The new EU-funded SHASAI project (Secure Hardware and Software for AI systems) will tackle this challenge. Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, SHASAI aims to strengthen the security, resilience and trustworthiness of AI-based systems. The project will address cybersecurity risks from the initial design and development stages through to deployment and real-world operation.

With SHASAI, we aim to move beyond fragmented security solutions and address AI cybersecurity as a lifecycle challenge. By combining secure hardware and software, risk-driven engineering and real-world validation, the project will help organisations deploy AI systems that are not only innovative, but also resilient, trustworthy and compliant with European regulations.
Leticia Montalvillo Mendizabal
Cybersecurity Researcher at IKERLAN and SHASAI Project Coordinator.

Testing solutions in real-world scenarios

The project will demonstrate and validate its methods and tools in three real-world scenarios: AI-enabled cutting machines in the agrifood sector, eye-tracking systems used in assistive healthcare technologies, and a tele-operated last-mile delivery vehicle in the mobility sector. These diverse use cases will enable the project consortium to test its approach in different fields while ensuring that results can be transferred to other AI applications.

Supporting trustworthy AI in Europe

By translating high-level cybersecurity and AI safety principles into concrete technical practices, SHASAI also supports Europe’s broader efforts to promote trustworthy AI. The project aligns with key EU frameworks and initiatives including the EU AI Act, the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), the NIS2 Directive and the EU Cybersecurity Strategy.

SHASAI brings together a European consortium of 16 partners from five countries (Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Türkiye), coordinated by IKERLAN (Spain). The consortium combines expertise from research organisations, universities, industry and technology providers. The project started on 1 November 2025 and will run until the end of April 2029.