FREIA aims to help secure the infrastructures of EU bodies through operational cybersecurity services based on the six phases defined by the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. The award comes against a backdrop of rising cyber threats, with data from Leonardo’s Global CyberSec Center showing “a 36% increase in cyber events in Europe over the past 12 months.”
The company noted that protecting EU institutions and agencies is vital as they represent the core of the Union’s governance and are therefore strategic targets for attackers. It warned that, “Given the amount of critical data managed by the European institutions, their compromise would not constitute a mere incident, but could pose a risk of political instability with a potential cascading systemic effect on Member States.”
Safeguarding European entities, Leonardo stressed, not only protects the trust and values of the Union but also represents a strategic step towards meeting the Digital Compass 2030 targets and achieving Europe’s digital autonomy. In this context, the firm underlined that “global security is now built, therefore, by combining traditional defence with the protection of critical infrastructures, an area in which cybersecurity plays a fundamental role.”
The announcement coincided with the ‘Cyber for EU: Stronger Together’ event in Brussels, co-organised by Leonardo and dedicated to cybersecurity stakeholders from EU institutions and agencies. Through its Global CyberSec Center platform—designed around Zero Trust principles and enhanced by multi-agentic AI—Leonardo said it offers a comprehensive range of solutions to foster “a more cyber-resilient Union ready to meet the challenges of the future.”
