London, UK: British cyber security specialist, Becrypt, further commits to supporting government and academia by becoming a founding member of the government’s newest cyber security initiative, CyberInvest. Launched today at IA15, CyberInvest is a public/private partnership that brings together key players from government and industry to invest in and support the development of cutting edge cyber security research across the UK’s academic sector. During IA15, Becrypt CEO, Dr Bernard Parsons will be joining a thought leading panel discussion in the Real World Challenges – Building Resilience stream, to debate cyber risk and liability, the outcome of which is hoped to start new lines of thought in influential places both within government and industry.
As a founding member of CyberInvest, Becrypt will be joining the Pledge Signing Ceremony at IA15, hosted by GCHQ on the first morning of the event, with Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP, Prof. Angela Sasse and Mark Hughes of CGP and BT. To date, 18 companies, including Becrypt, have committed to invest £6.5 million in CyberInvest over the next 5 years.
Parsons comments; “We view our participation in the Government’s CyberInvest scheme as an exciting opportunity to strengthen our ties with academia to support innovation. The scheme will allow us to identify areas of research focus within academia that we can both contribute to and benefit from, and guidance provided by GCHQ will help identify and validate research priorities. Industry, academia and government bring very different skills and experience to the table and we see the collaborative nature of the scheme providing a unique opportunity for the UK Cyber Community.”
At the opening of IA15, the Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, said: "CyberInvest is an exciting initiative which brings industry, government and academia together, and builds on the UK's reputation as a global leader for cyber security research. Over the last 4 years we have invested over £20 million in UK cyber security research, and the new CyberInvest scheme will play an important role in our ongoing work to help protect UK citizens and businesses online."
This latest announcement demonstrates Becrypt’s continued stance to work both with government and for government, and comes hot on the heels of the firm’s involvement with the CGP Exchange, a major new initiative to promote good cyber security practice and UK cyber capability. The new CGP Exchange (www.cgp.uk.net) brings together expertise from government, industry and academia and aims to provide a platform for the UK cyber industry to promote ideas and best practice. As well as providing a focal point for cyber security businesses to engage, connect and collaborate, the exchange also provides a one-stop-shop for non-cyber organisations to better understand cyber security and how to protect their business.
Also at IA15, Becrypt will publishing a case study detailing how the Cabinet Office has enabled the adoption of more flexible and mobile ways of working by installing Becrypt Disk Protect CPA on its laptop estate of 1,250 machines. Becrypt’s solution utilises the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, so that users no longer need to use two factor authentication, significantly improving login times. Disk Protect CPA secures the laptops without the requirement for CESG key material, enabling central management which saves considerable time for IT, managers and staff.