Web security breakthrough claim

Screening for cybercrime

Hardware processors that can screen massive amounts of internet traffic for malicious content in real time have been unveiled by a UK cybercrime centre.

The systems, capable of screening the data equivalent of internet traffic produced by over 10,000 households, are being developed at the £30m Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast’s Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology.

Until recently the international community has not tackled cyber security in a co-ordinated way, said CSIT principal investigator professor John McCanny.

"Our work at CSIT is of fundamental importance at this critical time in the development of the internet. It’s like being in on the ground floor at the beginning of the semiconductor industry," he added.

The traffic-screening processors will be controlled by complex rules written to spot actions like identity theft, fraud or adults grooming children online.

A variety of crime and behavioural specialists will be liaising with CSIT to write the rules. CSIT expects to have prototypes available in three years.

If the system identifies an online security risk it will be capable of triggering an immediate response, said CSIT. What that response would be is as yet undefined, although one of the government agencies partnering with CSIT is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

ACPO recently outlined its strategy for dealing with cybercrime. Its immediate priorities are to improve the accuracy of e-crime recording, beefing up frontline officers' skills and awareness, and co-ordinating its response countrywide.

The grant for the CSIT project started on 1 March 2009.