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Two new research centres established to counter crime in the cloud

Two new research centres established to counter crime in the cloud

Cloud technology enables users to access software, services, data storage and computer power via internet enabled devices. This greater degree of freedom available to the user has led to its success, but also has led to the exploitation for malicious intent. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service and the National Crime Agency, have jointly funded a research call to address this problem. 

The Contrails – Finding, Understanding and Countering Crime in the Cloud call was established to fund a new research centre to inform understanding of, and responses to, criminal activities and behaviour in the cloud. The centre will advance the state of knowledge in a range of fields with relevance to crime in the cloud including criminology, cyber security, law, ethics, forensics and distributed systems.

After reviewing proposals received, two proposals were supported: 

CRITiCaL – Combatting cRiminals In The Cloud

Principal Investigator: Dr TR Gross

Research Institution: Newcastle University

Grant information: EP/M020576/1

Interdisciplinary Centre for Finding, Understanding and Countering Crime in the Cloud

Principal Investigator: Professor R Anderson

Research Institution: University of Cambridge

Grant Information: EP/M020320/1

More information on these new research centres will be available shortly.