City University unites researchers to combat cyber threats

London's City University has created a dedicated research centre to help experts better tackle the growing threats of cyber terrorism and cyber crime.

The Centre for Cyber and Security Sciences will unite experts from around the university, who can collaborate to share expertise and insight on areas such as cryptography, software reliability, network security and more.

"As the world moves rapidly and irreversibly towards web-based government, infrastructure, commerce, retail, banking and social activity, we have inadvertently introduced more effective, easier and low cost paths through which societies can be attacked," said Dr Muttukrishnan Rajarajan, a Reader in Information Security Systems at the university.

"The university has many specialists in this area with experience of both advising governments and industry and researching the latest trends. The new Centre will coordinate these efforts for the first time and enable us to address a wider range of cyber security threats."

At the same time as announcing the launch of the research centre, the university also unveiled a new research project called 'The Uncertainty of Identity'. It has been funded by money from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and will explore the connection between our real identities and our online personas.

The university will work with others on the project including the Home Office, University College London and the University of St Andrews.