New cyber-security research centre opens in Belfast

Computer boffins at Queen's University in Belfast are chuffed as ninepence today to snip the ribbon on a new government- and industry-sponsored cybersecurity research centre.

The £30m Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) will work primarily on embedded security tech for next-gen IT equipment, and on real-time automated analysis of CCTV footage for "criminal activity". It's hoped that much of the new kit will spin out and become commercially successful.

"Cyber-security is a global issue that affects us all," says Queen's vice-chancellor Peter Gregson. "97 per cent of business in the UK now relies on the internet and other IT systems. By coupling the pioneering research undertaken at CSIT with economic development, Queen's will secure the UK's position in cyberspace."

University spokespersons even went so far as to say that the new cybersecurity lab would be "the United Kingdom's lead centre for cybersecurity research," possibly putting a few noses out of joint at the CESG.

CSIT will be funded partly by government cash from the likes of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board. The rest of the money will come from industrial partners including arms'n'security companies Thales and BAE Systems.

There's some more detail on the projects which CSIT will take forward here, courtesy of the EPSRC. ®