Edith Cowan University (ECU) has been added to the ranks of a top international cyber security group to bolster efforts to tackle emerging cyber challenges.
The International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (INCS - CoE) is a hub for cyber security research, education and advocacy.
ECU is the first Australian member admitted since its inception in 2019.
The Center of Excellence was founded by Imperial College London, Royal Holloway, University of London in the UK, Northeastern University, University of Maryland in the United States and Kyushu University and Keio University in Japan and also includes other universities in France, the UK and Israel as members.
It focuses on building international partnerships for research collaboration, training the next generation of cyber security professionals and advocating to build international cyber security resilience.
ECU's cyber security expertise and education have been recognised as part of the Center.
Cyber expertise recognised
ECU Vice Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman CBE said ECU's inclusion in the group is further recognition of the University's formidable research and teaching expertise in cyber security.
"ECU is already a global leader in cyber security education and research and our membership in the International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence is further recognition of that status."
"As the only Australian university to join the Center of Excellence, our cyber security experts will provide an Australian perspective on the enormous challenges in this field."
ECU cyber security students will have opportunities to take part in cyber competitions as part of the new group.
Partnership in competition
Local students are also set to benefit from the membership. Each year the Center of Excellence runs a global student cyber security competition to develop skills and international contacts.
ECU School of Science Executive Dean Professor Andrew Woodward said ECU cyber security students were already seeing the benefit of the partnership with several teams competing in the global 'Capture the Flag' (CTF) competition in 2020.
"These competitions are an important way for cyber security students to put the skills they learn in class into practice in competitive, real world scenarios," he said.
"Last year ECU students were among the top performers in the Center of Excellence's Country to Country CTF and the winning team's leader was an ECU student.
"International CTFs are based on solving problems that cyber security professionals face every day. Students' performance in these competitions are increasingly used by employers to find new talent."
Professor Woodward said the Center of Excellence would also help to build research partnerships with other member universities through the Centre for Securing Digital Futures.
Vice-Chairman of the INCS - CoE and Director of the Transformative Digital Technologies, Security and Society research catalyst at Royal Holloway, Professor Keith Mayes welcomed ECU to the group.
"Professor Andrew Woodward of Edith Cowan University has been supporting INCS-CoE activities for some time, so it is fantastic to welcome the ECU institution as an Affiliate Member," he said.
"Without INCS-CoE, and particularly the symposia organised by Keio University I would not have fully appreciated the impressive breadth and depth of cyber security activity in Australia and the contributions of ECU.
"I look forward to working with ECU and Andrew, as INCS-CoE, expands its activities into Australia."
For more information on the International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence visit the Center's webpage.
