How Surrey is changing the face of cyber security
News | 24-06-2022
Surrey is home to the South East’s only UKC3 recognised Cyber Security cluster and is tackling national and global challenges through major initiatives. We are addressing key issues in innovative ways, and building on our history of developing world-leading research.
This country’s economic future depends on its ability to defend itself against cyber-attack. It’s also a rapidly growing area for employment. As well as providing highly trained graduates for industry roles such as penetration testers and ethical hackers – highly valuable skills that are much sought after – we are seeing an increase in demand across many sectors for professionals with cyber security qualifications because they offer specific benefits to organisations seeking to protect their data assets.
Surrey is a centre of excellence for cyber security
Through the Surrey Centre for Cyber Security (SCCS), Surrey provides businesses with access to leading tools and services that keep them ahead of the curve against some of the most sophisticated threats on the planet.
Our expertise in both offensive and defensive cyber security allows us to offer a comprehensive suite of services to protect your systems from attack, or if breached, help you respond effectively so that you can stay up and running – fast!
Surrey is tackling national and global cyber security challenges through major initiatives
As the UK’s centre of excellence in cyber security, Surrey is tackling national and global challenges through major initiatives.
Cyber security is a significant part of computing research at Surrey. This has led to an expansion of Surrey’s reputation as a hub for high profile research projects in this area.
Cyber security is also an area with high employment growth potential – more than 500 new jobs were advertised in 2017 alone!
Cyber security has been a significant part of computing research at Surrey since the beginning
Cyber security has always been a significant part of computing research at Surrey. The first computer science degree was offered in 1983 and since then we have trained many graduates who have gone on to work in this field. In 2017, our cyber security research team received over £1M through EPSRC funding alone.
We are also proud to say that we have an international reputation for excellence in cyber security research: our PhD students regularly take part in international conferences, some even winning prizes such as the Student Paper Award at ACM CCS 2016 or Best Student Paper Award at ACM SIGCOMM 2017!
This country’s economic future depends on its ability to defend itself against cyber attack.
The threat of cyber attack is a growing concern for businesses and governments. It’s also one of the biggest threats to our everyday lives, as it’s estimated that cyber-crime costs the UK £27 million each day.
Cyber security is a rapidly-growing industry that has seen unprecedented growth over the past decade. The number of employees working in cyber security increased by almost 96% between 2005 and 2015. The Government’s national Cyber Security Strategy places protecting Britain from cyber attacks at its heart, with an aim to protect critical infrastructure such as energy grids and transport networks against external threats by 2020.
It’s also a rapidly growing area for employment
The cyber security industry is growing at an astonishing rate, and Surrey is no exception.
- According to recent data, the UK’s cyber security industry grew by 20% in 2018.
- In contrast, the average job growth rate across all industries was just 2%.
- It’s clear that the demand for skilled workers in this field is increasing faster than traditional jobs are being created—so now might be an ideal time to start your career in cyber security!
Surrey is home to a leading cyber security research institute
The Cyber Security Research Institute (CSRI) at Surrey is recognised as the UK’s leading academic research institute into cyber security. The CSRI has a strong track record in pioneering new ways to counter cyber-threats, and its internationally renowned faculty includes nine Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 15 Fellows of British Computer Society.
The University of Surrey is ranked among the top 25 universities in the world for computing. It has been awarded five Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, recognising its achievements in areas including research and technology transfer; export success; support for business growth; innovation and entrepreneurialism; skills development; and corporate social responsibility (employee volunteering).
…and Europe’s largest biometric testing lab
The Centre for Vision Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) is a world-leading research centre, dedicated to discovering new methods that enable computers to process human speech and visual information.
It is the largest biometric test lab in Europe, which has been set up to evaluate facial recognition systems. The lab conducts innovative research into biometric traits – voices, faces, fingerprints or irises – with the aim of developing systems that can accurately identify people from these traits alone.
Surrey is a hub for cyber security businesses looking to grow
The cyber security sector is growing and requires a highly trained workforce to meet its increasing demands. Surrey has the largest concentration of expertise in the UK, with some 150 organisations that provide cyber security services in the region. We want to share this knowledge with our partners in industry and government by providing a range of programmes that help them fast-track their implementation of world-leading research.
Surrey’s Cyber Academy provides a range of programmes for industry and government partners to fast-track their implementation of world-leading research.
We have tested over 200 different products within this unique facility which includes high performance computing infrastructure and testing equipment to represent all aspects of critical national infrastructure (CNI). The academy can provide up to 20-30 trained engineers per year.
UKC3 recognised cyber security cluster
The UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) have recognised Surrey as a cyber security cluster, as a result of their application in March 2022. This recognition supports the growth & success of the sector across the region and will help to put Surrey on the map within the cyber security space.
Surrey County Council’s worked closely with senior university and business leaders to develop Surrey’s cyber security cluster proposal as part of the newly created Cyber Security Working Group. This project saw the group conducting a review of everything Surrey had contributed to the cyber sector, as well as the growth and potential for the future.
Surrey has a long history of developing firsts in cyber security and is home to one of the world’s leading cyber security research institutes. We’re committed to continuing that legacy by investing in new research centres and facilities, expanding our existing network of partners and educating the next generation of experts who will help keep us all safe online.
Find out more about the Surrey based cyber security businesses which are helping to shape the future of the sector below:
| BAE Systems | CGI | F5 Networks |
| Ramsac | Surevine | VMWare |
| Akamai Technologies | HCL | |
| Project Five | Capgemini |
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