Welcome to the Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Research Cluster (CSC3 ) blog where we plan to share with you the latest updates from the CSC3.
Cyber security is the application of technologies, processes and controls to protect systems, networks, programs, devices and data from cyber-attacks. In the “Hidden Cost of Cybercrime” report, McAfee estimates the average cost of cybercrime in 2020 as $945,000,000,000, up from $522,500,000,000 in 2018. Traditional crimes are now widely conducted through online means.
From a cyber crime perspective, there are two classes of attack: cyber-dependent crime (criminal behaviour that is reliant on technology and its use in society, such as ransomware attacks and cryptocurrency money laundering) and cyber-enabled crimes (traditional crimes that have now become more widespread due to technology, such as cyber bullying and online fraud). Such cyber-attacks may originate from “script kiddies” and insider threats, through to sophisticated and professional operations by organised crime groups and enemy nation states.
The Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Cluster (CSC3) will conduct novel multi-disciplinary research relating to both the conduct of, and the mitigation of cyber attacks. As a broad and ever-evolving research domain, this will involve a number of related areas, including understanding the motivations and precursors of criminality, the technical means that enable criminality to be conducted, and appropriate mitigation and best practice to uphold security and defence.
This research cluster will bring together a multi-disciplinary team of academics to promote synergy and new collaborations, with expertise across financial crime, digital forensics, software security exploitation, insider threat detection, cryptocurrencies and online fraud. It will serve to build capacity in this research domain, by involving our postgraduate and undergraduate student communities in paid research opportunities to support our expansion of research in this area.
Students and staff will work with major external partners to combat today’s challenges, in partnership with Avon and Somerset Police, the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, the South West Cyber Resilience Centre, the Ministry of Defence, Synalogik Innovations, Leonardo MW, and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
UWE Bristol have rapidly established a reputation within cyber security education, working alongside the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to offer a fully certified MSc Cyber Security and the only certified Degree Apprenticeship in England and Wales. Recognised as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) in December 2020, we now seek to expand multi-disciplinary research in this domain.
The nature of this cluster is to build capacity across related technical and societal areas of cyber security and cyber crime. Through our working groups, we will be able to address cutting-edge challenges as seen by our partners, and provide research opportunities for our students to collaborate in to build their student experience.
We look forward to sharing with you developments from this research cluster.
This research cluster is funded through the Expanding Research Excellence scheme at UWE Bristol. The scheme aims to support and develop interdisciplinary, challenge-led research across the University. It is designed to bring together research clusters or networks that will work together to respond to challenges (local, regional, national, global) aligned with major research themes.