Students in Coventry are leading the way in the fight against cybercrime thanks to a brand new Ethical Hacking Lab in the Faculty of Engineering and Computing, which officially opened last week.
The Applied Research Group (ARG) in Digital Security and Forensics (SaFe) at Coventry University was established in 2006, and aims to advance technical knowledge in the broad area of digital security and computer forensics; offering educational research opportunities, developing technical products and software, and providing consultancy services.
The Group works closely with Leamington-based IT security business partner Nettitude, who generously donated around £17,000 worth of equipment to make the new Ethical Hacking Lab possible.
Brian Moore, Senior Lecturer in Ethical Hacking and Network Security said, “Technology has changed the way we work, shop, educate, relax, and communicate. As technology evolves, so do the opportunities for cybercrime, so it is necessary to research and investigate the applications, operating systems, and networking devices in the same ways that a criminal would so we can mitigate such threats.”
“To conduct this research and teaching we needed a dedicated Ethical Hacking Lab to simulate malicious hacking techniques. Nettitude has been instrumental in its creation, donating around £17,000 of security related equipment including a server, firewall, and IDS module. Nettitude has also provided guest lectures, placement opportunities, technical expertise, and support. This donation paved the way for the University to invest a further £20,000 for 25 new PCs and an additional server configured especially for use in the lab.”
The new equipment means students can work in a dedicated environment, where they can simulate many of the systems that exist globally. This offers students at Coventry University a richer, more diverse opportunity to engage with the technologies under attack; sending them better equipped into the world of employment.
This “hacking lab” has been established in the United Kingdom. I think this is a very creative and great way to train IT professionals to deal with today’s ever increasing cybercrime. I hope similar training programs will be established in the United States. Maybe some schools do currently offer similar training programs, but I think we need to make this an area of study in all IT schools. We need more people specifically trained to understand, intercept and manage cases of hacking. Businesses and individuals can greatly benefit if we increase our pool of knowledgeable professionals in this area.
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