University leads way in bid to tackle cyber crime

Aug 13 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

LEADERS of a scheme which aims to create 150 hi-tech jobs by helping businesses tackle cyber crime say they are confident of getting the £150,000 needed to launch the project.

Late last year, Northumbria University teamed up with the Newcastle-based accountancy firm RMT to launch the WARP project – a scheme in which specialist IT students test the security systems of small and medium companies to help them combat cyber crime attacks.

The initial success of the project has seen it attract interest from firms across the country as well as one in Norway and plans are now taking shape for a large-scale commercial spin-out to be based in Newcastle.

Since Northumbria University runs courses such as ethical hacking and computer forensics, it attracts some of the most promising students in the field to the region as well as giving them much sought-after skills when they graduate.

However, according to the university’s Dr Chris Laing, come graduation, the majority of these students realise there are very few jobs which suit their skills here in the North East and they are usually forced to move to the South.

Those behind the WARP project believe they can arrest this brain drain from the North East by setting up a commercial enterprise which tests online security systems and advises businesses on steeling themselves against hackers. They are now on the look out for £150,000 in funding from industry or regional development agency sources and aim to create new jobs within two years.

It is hoped that the first 18 graduates of Northumbria’s new ethical hacking course could find employment through the scheme when they finish their studies in 2011. It is also expected that the 35 students on the computer forensics course will be persuaded to stay in the region by the project when they graduate next year. Dr Laing, from the university’s school of computing, engineering and information sciences, said the Warp project will take an innovative approach to fighting back against hackers. He said: “Our students will identify what information is available online about a company, assess what their known vulnerabilities are, and then make sure they make steps to protect it.

“If the WARP project gets the funding it needs, it could create 150 jobs over a period of time. Northumbria University is trying out some of the highest quality, highly skilled computer forensics and we want to keep the work here.”

Under RMT’s partnership with the University, the WARP movement recently won £148,000 in funding – 50% of which came from the Technology Strategy Board – to develop tools to help SMEs manage their networks securely. RMT’s commercial services partner Stephen Slater said: “We are trying to come up with something positive to address the problems businesses have.”