CLUE cybersecurity research database

By Tom Illube

With incidents such as the Sony hack in the headlines business leaders are becoming more aware of cybersecurity risks and challenges. They know that threats are evolving all the time so relying on traditional firewalls and intrusion detection systems will not always be effective. They have to stay ahead of the game.

Meanwhile researchers in universities are delving deep into these emerging threats and finding solutions. However, solutions to tomorrow’s attacks that come from academia may not transfer fast enough to industry to combat these risks. There needs to be an increase in cooperation between researchers and industry in order for real-world solutions to have an impact in a timely fashion.

CLUE, created by Crossword Cybersecurity in collaboration with the Partnership, is an information platform for cybersecurity research being conducted by major UK and European universities.  It currently features over 320 projects, highlighting just how much academic work is going on. The aim is for the tool to be used to help industry professionals gain visibility of cyber security-related research and engage with researchers who are active in areas of interest to them. In the future this may enable them to influence which areas of cyber security are investigated and developed.  The use of the CLUE platform, which is available free to all users, will encourage and support a much needed increase in communication between academia and industry.

The number of projects on the platform is increasing every day. Access controls and trust and reputation management are the two biggest areas of research currently although research related to cloud computing and insider threats have picked up markedly in recent years. As we widen our range beyond just the UK and onto projects from across Europe we expect to develop a comprehensive picture of the landscape for cyber security research in a form that is extremely easy for industry to engage with.

Tom Illube is CEO of Crossword Cybersecurity, a technology commercialisation company focusing exclusively on the cybersecurity sector.