Groundbreaking cyber security research centre to open in Cardiff

In the continual fight to ensure the best possible level of protection for organisations’ IT infrastructure, many specialists like our own here at Sec-Tec strive to provide wide-ranging and proven services such as penetration testing and PSN health checks.

Now, there has been another big step forward for cyber security in the UK, in the form of the launch of a new research centre in Cardiff, said to be the first of its kind in Europe.

“Improving our resilience to cyber attacks”

As reported by the BBC, the Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Analytics will be located at Cardiff University’s School of Computer Science and Informatics, and is a collaboration between the university and Airbus.

The centre’s research will be geared towards the protection of corporate IT networks, intellectual property and critical national infrastructure, while the university has also received an award of almost £2 million for the development of a machine to detect cyber threats.

Airbus experts will work with the university’s researchers to undertake studies into machine learning, data analytics and artificial intelligence for the purpose of detecting cyber attacks.

Academic cyber security programmes will also be developed at the centre, as part of efforts “to fill the skills gap that currently exists in the field”.

The centre’s director, Dr Pete Burnap, commented: “Cyber security analytics is about improving our resilience to cyber attacks through data modelling to detect and block malicious behaviour before it causes its full impact.

“But [it’s] also about understanding what motivates the behaviour, what its likely impact will be, and how to communicate security alerts among decision and policy-makers.”

The latest sign of a growing industry

The centre’s launch is just the most recent indication of Wales’ increasing prominence in ongoing efforts around the world to rise to ever-heightening cyber security challenges.

It follows the Cardiff-born director of operations at the also recently launched National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Paul Chichester, stating that Wales was well-placed to take advantage of the growing industry in tackling online crime.

These are all signs that we are very pleased to see here at Sec-Tec, as we continue to provide the penetration testing that gives organisations of all types – and in all manner of locations – the greatest possible peace of mind.

Contact us to learn more about the part that we can play in helping to shore up the robustness of your own company’s security procedures and infrastructure in 2017.