Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT)

Recently the media has been awash with reports on the downloading and sharing of music files, a crisis which strikes at the economic viability of the entire global music industry. This is a startling reminder of the security challenges posed, in both the civil and criminal domains, as we move relentlessly to a world in which all Information Technology is fully connected, facilitated by the development and rapid uptake of Web 2.0. This, and its successors, will radically transform society in a way unimaginable a decade ago. However, with the accrued benefits come major threats in terms of privacy, security of information and vulnerability to external attack. Threats range, in the criminal domain, from the petty criminal stealing credit card details, through trouble making hacktivists, who attack organisations to further political aims, to the sinister cyber-terrorists, who attack strategic targets in the same way that terrorists would bomb and destroy national infrastructure. At the heart of the CSIT project is the perennial challenge of making all of the IT solutions, of today and tomorrow, secure. CSIT will be a world-class Research and Innovation centre coupling major research breakthroughs in Secure Information Technology with exciting developments in innovation and commercialisation.Information Technology in the widest sense deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, analyze, transmit, and retrieve information. So, the IT field covers every aspect of data processing from the banking using one's home PC with its (increasingly wireless) broadband connection, through to the complex systems which control and manage the world's aviation, maritime and telecommunications systems. As anyone who has had a virus, worm, Trojan or spyware on their home PC can readily testify, security is an essential requirement for any IT systems in order to retain privacy, integrity and trust. When electronic sensor devices and CCTV cameras are networked and combined with computer processing, IT then becomes a power enabling tool in the field of physical infrastructure protection, which includes fire monitoring, asset tracking and intrusion detection. Thus while IT security itself is often a matter of defending against automated attack by viral programs, IT for asset protection is a tool to assist the human operator. The IT systems used for infrastructure systems must themselves be secure not least because personal biometric data is increasingly being rolled out as a part of the solution.IT systems are analysed into a stack of independent layers along lines defined in international standards. CSIT staff are world leaders in academic research in these layers, an attribute which is reflected in the four initial fields of academic research: data systems, networks, wireless and intelligent surveillance. However a key distinguishing feature of CSIT is the fact that it understands, because of its history, the necessity to ultimately take a the holistic, or systems engineering, perspective in order to research and develop the creation of complete secure IT systems, which undoubtedly are greater than the sum of their layers. The involvement of many industrial partners in CSIT bears witness to this.The driving goal for CSIT is to strategically position U.K. industry at the forefront of the field of secure IT because this field is a critical, emerging and rapidly growing sector with its wider benefits for the safety and security of society. Embedded within Queen's University, with its very successful record of industrial collaboration and spin-out company formation, CSIT therefore lends itself well to a strong business and academic partnership, creating a continuous flow of knowledge transfer opportunities, with realizable shorter term milestones for transfer of the research, coupled with exciting opportunities for major breakthroughs and ensuing commercial opportunities for UK industry.

Who will benefit from this research? Industrial partners will be one of the main beneficiaries of the research through various knowledge transfer processes. These companies come from a variety of sectors and include for example, systems manufacturers, telecoms companies, internet security companies, banks and financial service companies. In addition to industrial partners, a number of stakeholders within government will also benefit from the research. These include government organisations responsible for information and physical security, in addition to law enforcement agencies responsible for detection of e-crime. The wider academic community will also benefit from the new body of knowledge developed by the researchers in CSIT. Research excellence will be the key foundation on which all the impact will be based, both academic and commercial. Metrics and measures of esteem used in the recent RAE and future REF framework will be an important driver to ensure high and relevant impact. How will they benefit from this research? Society in general will also benefit indirectly from CSIT, partly through improved security of information and data as well as improved physical security. Examples of this include increased security of data on line, lower risk of virus infection or improved security at airports or public transport with reduced crime rates. Also there will be a benefit as a result of the contribution to the wider economy through jobs (up to 80), services etc. The jobs created both directly by CSIT and also as a result of the spin out companies, will result in high value posts which will ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of this important market sector. This also reduces the risk of transferring these positions to a low cost economy. The commercialisation plans will ensure that the timescales for the impact of the research will be from 2010 to 2014 i.e. not just at the end of the funding period, but as each new innovation reaches sufficient maturity for technology transfer. What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this research? The structure and staffing of CSIT will ensure that commercialisation and impact will be a critical element of CSIT operations e.g. extensive range of companies and other government agencies on the industrial advisory board, employment of 12 experienced industrial engineers and 5 business development and commercialisation staff. Since the industrial advisory board has been closely involved in the formulation of the research agenda, this will ensure that commercialisation and knowledge transfer is built into the R&D process. It is expected that teams involving CSIT staff, and industrial staff, will work together on the different work packages of the grand challenges. These teams will have specific objectives and goals, many of which will be technology transfer. A wide variety of mechanisms will be employed to maximise impact. These include QUB's high success rate in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, licensing deals, spin out companies, training courses and the usual dissemination methods to ensure academic impact (e.g. high quality journals and international conferences). CSIT will also act as a facilitator for networks regarding different aspects of security e.g. information or physical. This will provide the opportunity for stakeholders within the same market or technology area to meet and discuss common challenges and solutions. This will also provide a market focus to the research to ensure it is of benefit to industry. CSIT has already established strong international links and will look to grow these and develop new links to ensure the research is of the highest quality. The objective is to reach out internationally for UK benefit. As the threat of cyber security increasingly becomes an international issue, this cannot be solved in isolation - a global solution is required. CSIT can act as a conduit to UK stakeholders in this regard.