L7 DEFENSE LUXEMBOURG SARL

Their core work

L7 Defense is a Luxembourg-based cybersecurity SME specializing in AI-powered network threat detection and mitigation. Their core product, developed through the Ammune project, is a botnet and DDoS defense system that uses machine learning to identify and neutralize attack traffic in real time. Beyond defending corporate networks, they have extended their expertise into critical infrastructure protection — contributing to EnergyShield, an EU Innovation Action securing energy sector operators against cyber threats including anomaly detection, vulnerability assessment, and SIEM integration. In practical terms, they build and deploy software that sits between an organization's network and the internet, identifying hostile traffic patterns before they cause disruption.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

L7 Defense entered H2020 in 2018 with a tightly scoped, product-first mission: build an AI system to stop botnet-driven DDoS attacks. That first project (Ammune) carried no thematic keywords beyond its product purpose — it was a focused SME Phase 1 feasibility study for a specific commercial tool. By 2019, their scope had broadened considerably: EnergyShield brought in vulnerability assessment, SIEM, anomaly detection, and cybersecurity culture, suggesting L7 Defense shifted from single-vector defense toward full-spectrum security monitoring for regulated industries. The trajectory is from niche DDoS product vendor toward a broader critical infrastructure cybersecurity specialist.

L7 Defense is moving from a focused network-layer DDoS product toward integrated security solutions for energy and critical infrastructure operators — a sector with strong regulatory demand and growing EU funding.

How they like to work

L7 Defense has both led and joined EU consortia, which is unusual for a micro-SME: they coordinated Ammune independently as a Phase 1 feasibility project, demonstrating they can manage EU grant administration. In EnergyShield they participated as a specialist contributor in a large Innovation Action, working alongside 21 partners across 9 countries. This flexibility — able to lead a solo initiative or plug into a large consortium as a technology provider — makes them a practical fit for either role in future projects.

Despite only two projects, L7 Defense has built a surprisingly broad network of 21 unique partners spanning 9 European countries, almost entirely through EnergyShield's large Innovation Action consortium. Their network is European in scope with no apparent concentration in a single country cluster.

What sets them apart

L7 Defense is one of very few Luxembourg-registered cybersecurity SMEs with direct H2020 participation — and notably, they have coordinated their own project rather than simply riding larger consortia. Their combination of an AI-native DDoS mitigation product (Ammune) with critical infrastructure security experience (EnergyShield energy sector) gives them a profile that spans both commercial product development and regulated-sector deployment. For a consortium builder seeking a cybersecurity SME that can demonstrate both independent product ownership and large-consortium delivery experience, L7 Defense is an uncommon find at this company size.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Ammune
  L7 Defense coordinated this SME Phase 1 project themselves, indicating they own the core technology — an AI-powered botnet DDoS mitigation product — rather than being a subcontractor to someone else's IP.
• EnergyShield
  This EUR 205,975 Innovation Action placed L7 Defense inside a large pan-European consortium protecting energy critical infrastructure, dramatically broadening their technical scope and partner network beyond DDoS defense alone.