Road safety no longer depends only on the state of the asphalt — it also depends on the robustness of the digital systems running smart roads. Among its 89 projects along the Mediterranean, Atlantic and North Sea-Mediterranean TEN-T corridors, MATIS treats cybersecurity as one of its five core intervention areas. Two completed projects, in France and Portugal, show what that means in practice.
Securing the Sirius traffic management system in Île-de-France
The DGITM-DIRIF secured the Sirius traffic management system, covering the A13, A6, N104, A104, N184 and N10 — about 1,000 km. Sirius connects all roadside equipment outside tunnels (variable message signs, data collection points, access control) to the traffic centre, driving traffic plans and real-time information.
The upgrade covered three layers: encrypted, certificate-based exchanges at the software level; switches and routers replaced with firewall-equipped, cyber-secure devices at the network level; and firmware or module updates on terminal equipment to enable encrypted communication. It also had a human side: the project trained maintenance technicians, supervisors and traffic operators who weren’t previously familiar with cyber issues, and kick-started DiRIF’s broader cybersecurity policy.
Securing data communication on the A24 in Portugal
APCAP/NORSCUT renewed the telecom and telematics infrastructure of the A24, linking Chaves (Spanish border) to Viseu. The project deployed a 157 km Local Area Network with new backup hardware (a Backup Proxy server, a StoreOnce 3660 unit) connected to the existing fibre network — securing 24/7 data communication, including data transmission to the Portuguese State.
Cybersecurity, again central in MATIS 2
Now with MATIS 2, the approach is consistent: securing the digital layer is part of road safety, not an afterthought.
