Researchers in new bid to tackle billions lost to cyber-crime

Experts in the UK's largest cyber security research lab at Queen's University Belfast are joining forces with their colleagues in Lancaster University to wage a new war on the type of cyber crime which is costing billions evey year. In  The UK alone it is estimated at £27 billion.

The new partnership between Queen's and Lancaster will produce the UK's biggest ever group of creative and innovative cyber security researchers.

Currently, the economic cost of cyber crime globally is estimated to be between $250 billion to $1 trillion per year, while the UK cyber crime total is made up of £21bn of costs to businesses, £2.2bn to government and £3.1bn to citizens.

Addressing the serious lack of highly qualified cyber security personnel will be one of the main aims of the new collaboration between the universities, both of which have been declared Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research.

The new alliance, which has been formalised with the signing of a memorandum of understanding, will also share resources, ideas, knowledge and discoveries in the fast-moving research field.

Experts will address some of the key threats to security, including responding to unanticipated cyber threats, securing mobile and embedded infrastructures, coping with the fluid nature of online identity, cyber security behaviours and secure communications.