Cardiff University has been named as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), as the first institution in Wales given this status. Launched in 2016, the NCSC was set up as part of the Government listening agency GCHQ to help protect the UK’s critical services from cyber-attacks, manage major incidents, and improve the underlying security of the UK internet.
Other academic Centres of Excellence include the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and University College London. Cardiff will focus on how artificial intelligence can be used to monitor, identify and ultimately tackle cyber-attacks.
Prof Pete Burnap, Principal Investigator of the Centre of Excellence and Professor of Data Science & Cybersecurity in the School of Computer Science and Informatics, said: “We are delighted to receive this recognition as it evidences our long track-record of research excellence in cyber security. Our core identity is the interdisciplinary fusion of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, a concept we call Cyber Security Analytics. AI is at the heart of the UK government’s industrial strategy and our aim is to innovate with AI to improve automated cyber threat intelligence and support decision making and policy responses to make the UK more secure for individuals, business and the government.
“We are proud to be the first Welsh university to be recognised by NCSC for our cyber research capability, and we hope to build on the impressive expertise that already exists across the region between academia, government and business.”
The Airbus Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Analytics was recently launched at Cardiff University to further research into the link between artificial intelligence and cyber security, and is the first centre of its kind in Europe. Other research aims to protect corporate IT networks, intellectual property, and critical national infrastructure.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan said: “The recognition afforded by the National Cyber Security Centre is validation of the University’s world-leading expertise in this area, and further demonstrates the real-world impact that our research has on the UK as a whole. At a time when threats to our critical infrastructure have never been greater, it’s particularly encouraging to see Cardiff University research contributing to efforts to detect and deter cyber-attacks.”
