Universities awarded grant for I.T. security scheme

Eight UK universities have received grants so that they can train a new generation of I.T. security experts.

Among the recipients is the University of Sunderland, which has been awarded £29,000 towards Problem Based Learning (PBL) in I.T. security.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has teamed up with The Higher Education Academy (HEA) to offer advice on how Developing Fund grants should be distributed to higher education institutions.

Government research, carried out in June this year, revealed that the average expense for most significant I.T. Security breaches in large companies starts at £1.46m.

The purpose of the grants is to  improve not only I.T. security learning, but training too.

The lead for the HEA Development Fund Project for Sunderland and Computer Science Professor, Alastair Irons, said:

“The project will take the form of the development of a range of PBL teaching resources, student led workshops, staff development events and a PBL conference on cyber security.

“We will be working closely with government agencies, businesses and industry in addressing the cyber security skills gap.”

There are numerous businesses up and down the UK that could benefit from having more trained I.T. security staff on their team. This scheme was implemented for a reason, and that is to combat recent attacks from hackers, which has become an even more newsworthy issue over the past 12 months. It is now up to businesses to reevaluate their I.T. security recruitment policy in order to benefit themselves from such schemes.