Imperial has founded an international cyber security centre with partners in the US, Japan and the UK.

The centre, which was officially launched this week at a meeting in Tokyo, brings together world-leading experts to tackle growing and emerging global challenges in cyber security.

In an increasingly connected world, cooperation from international researchers and partners will be essential to improve security in cities, for industry, and major international events Professor Chris Hankin

The five other founding institutions include Northeastern University and University of Maryland (UMBC) in the US; Keio University and Kyushu University in Japan; and Royal Holloway University of London in the UK.

Members of the new International Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence have already discussed how to build better security for large, international events like the 2020 Olympics being held in Tokyo next summer

Professor Chris Hankin, Co-Director of the Institute for Security Science and Technology and Imperial’s lead for the Centre said: “Imperial is delighted to join international partners in launching the International Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence.

“This Centre will bring world-leading experts together to tackle the growing challenges facing cybersecurity and will help governments stay ahead of emerging threats.

“In an increasingly connected world, cooperation from international researchers and partners will be essential to improve security in cities, for industry, and major international events such as the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“Imperial has a vibrant cyber security community tackling cutting edge research challenges, educating the next generation, and working with industry.”

Several large corporations have already provided funding for the new centre, including CISCO, Adobe, Hitachi, NEC, Fujitsu, and Northrop Grumman.

Training the next generation

The centre is also dedicated to training the next generation of cyber security professionals to understand the international challenges they will face.

The universities are considering creating an international security competition, in which teams comprised of groups of students around the world would hand off their work from country to country as the day progressed.

“The challenges this first-of-its-kind partnership aims to solve span a complex set of cybersecurity issues,” said David Luzzi, the senior vice provost for research at Northeastern University.

Imperial is one of the UK’s leading universities in cyber security research and is recognised as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by the National Cyber Security Centre and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.