Introduction
Cybersecurity in modern systems is increasingly about resilience and adaptability. Traditional risk assessment methods, designed for static infrastructures, are no longer sufficient for today’s dynamic, interconnected, and adversarial environments. This is particularly evident in critical sectors such as automotive, aerospace, healthcare, and industrial IoT, in general, where vulnerabilities may emerge deep within firmware, adversaries exploit minute gaps in security, and new threats appear daily.
The REWIRE Project has taken on this challenge by developing a novel Risk Assessment Architecture that enables continuous, modular, and automated risk analysis across complex ecosystems. This architecture provides the foundation for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks in software, firmware, and hardware components, while at the same time feeding its insights into broader policy and security management frameworks.
The Motivation for a New Architecture
Traditional risk assessment frameworks have well-documented limitations. They tend to operate on a static basis, where risks are assessed periodically rather than in real time. This approach is ill-suited to environments where system configurations change rapidly and adversarial tactics evolve even more quickly. Such frameworks also rely heavily on manual processes and expert assessments, which makes them slow, costly, and inconsistent. In many cases, existing tools work in silos: vulnerability scanners, policy managers, and analytics platforms are not integrated, leaving blind spots in the overall security posture. Finally, risks are often assessed without sufficient contextualisation in relation to business goals, safety requirements, or mission-critical constraints, meaning that organisations struggle to connect risk scores to actual operational priorities. The REWIRE Project addresses these limitations by designing a unified architecture for risk assessment that embeds automation, modularity, and dynamic updating at its very core.
The REWIRE Risk Assessment Architecture
The REWIRE architecture is structured as a layered system that integrates multiple sources of input and generates actionable outputs for decision-makers. It does not operate as a one-off evaluation but as a living framework that continuously evolves in response to new vulnerabilities, changing configurations, and emerging threats.
The process begins with the collection of inputs from several key sources. Software and firmware vulnerability analysis provides low-level insights into potential weaknesses in both source code and binaries. Threat intelligence feeds enrich the picture by bringing in real-time information about emerging attack vectors and exploit kits. System configuration data is used to understand how devices, enclaves, and communication protocols are set up, providing essential context for evaluating risks. Finally, the architecture integrates security policies expressed in REWIRE’s Multi-level Security Policy Language (MSPL), which encode the requirements and constraints defined by the operators of the system.
These inputs are processed by the Risk Assessment Engine, the analytical core of the architecture. The engine performs risk calculations using a combination of quantitative metrics, such as CVSS scores, and qualitative modelling, such as likelihood-impact matrices. Unlike static frameworks, the REWIRE engine is capable of continuous updates. Whenever a new vulnerability is discovered, a system configuration changes, or a new threat indicator emerges, the risk profile is automatically recalibrated.
A defining feature of the architecture is its modularity. Each functional block—whether vulnerability discovery, risk scoring, or prioritisation—can be designed as a module. This makes it possible to tailor the architecture to different domains without redesigning the entire system. For instance, the modules used in an automotive context will differ from those deployed in healthcare, yet the architecture remains consistent and coherent.
The outputs of the architecture take the form of risk scores, prioritisation lists, recommended mitigations, and policy updates. These results are not only presented to system administrators and developers but can also feed into automated response mechanisms, thereby closing the loop between assessment and mitigation.
Conclusion
The REWIRE Risk Assessment Architecture offers several clear advantages. Its continuous operation ensures that risk profiles are always current, making it much more responsive to rapidly changing threat landscapes than traditional periodic reviews. Its integration across layers closes the gap between vulnerability identification and policy enforcement, ensuring that risks are not only known but acted upon. While it is highly automated, the architecture still allows for expert oversight, ensuring that human judgement remains part of the process. Finally, because of its modularity, it is adaptable across multiple domains, from automotive vehicles and industrial systems to healthcare networks and military platforms.
The REWIRE Risk Assessment Architecture represents a step change in the way cybersecurity risks are identified, quantified, and mitigated. By combining modularity, automation, and continuous operation, it enables organisations to stay ahead of adversaries and maintain operational assurance, even in the most adversarial environments.