A project led by Lancaster University’s Professor Awais Rashid, along with others in cyber security – including Professor Andrew Martin, Professor George Danezis, Dr Emil Lupu, and Dr Howard Chivers – aim to pull together knowledge to form a Cyber Security Body of Knowledge.
Prof Rashid, Director of Lancaster University’s Security Lancaster Research Centre, said: “The creation of a Cyber Security Body of Knowledge is an essential step towards creating the necessary foundational knowledge to inform the education and development of future cyber security professionals, and the discipline as a whole. The aim is for it to become the Bible for the cyber security field and a resource that the whole community can use.”
The Cyber Security Body of Knowledge would be made open-source and would be of benefit to educators, schools and for professional development programmes. In addition to bringing together cutting-edge knowledge, it will also make recommendations about which elements should form content for curricula at different levels.
There will be opportunities for academia and cyber security people to participate in the two and a half-year development by acting as authors or participating in the community of reviewers to scrutinise the body of knowledge. The process will also be informed by an Industrial Advisory Board.
This project will be funded through the National Cyber Security Programme – a £1.9 billion transformational investment to provide the UK with the next generation of cyber security.
Minister of State for Digital and Culture Matt Hancock said: “We have recently announced a Cyber Schools Programme so thousands of the best and brightest young minds are given the opportunity to learn cutting-edge cyber security skills alongside their secondary school studies. This follows a series of other initiatives to find, finesse and fast-track tomorrow’s online security experts as part of the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme. I welcome the development of the Cyber Security Body of Knowledge which will play a vital role in helping professionals share their expertise to help inspire the next generation of talent across the country.”
Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for Cyber Security Skills and Growth at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said: “NCSC and GCHQ are undertaking ambitious skills programme that includes a suite of initiatives designed to strengthen and develop the pipeline of talent feeding the UK’s cyber security workforce. The Cyber Security Body of Knowledge is an important part of this urgent work that seeks to inspire and train talented young people to develop their cyber skills.”
