As the roles of cybersecurity professionals become ever more essential in protecting our organisations and digital infrastructure, many are feeling the pressure and strains related to the job. But a team at the University of Wolverhampton are developing new technology to help reduce stress and improve performance.
According to the Express and Star, the team, led by visiting scholar Ellen Kay and Professor Prashant Pillai of Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute (WCRI), based at the university, went through a rigorous selection process, and have been selected for the Cyber Security Academic Start-ups Accelerator Programme, which aims to support cybersecurity research.
The programme, ‘CyberMIND: An AI-based platform to help Cyber Security professionals manage, predict and reduce stress’, has been funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and will be delivered in collaboration with Innovate UK and Knowledge Transfer Network. The project will be running until the end of July 2020.
The team has bee awarded £31,000 for the development of a market proposition and to carry out the market validation of the new technology.
Along with Ms Kay and Professor Pillai, the team consists of Prof Maria Uther, Professor of Psychology and Head of Centre for Psychological Research and Dr Sadiq Ali, Lecturer at the School of Mathematics and Computer Science and Member for WCRI.
Professor Pillai said: “This is an excellent source of funding and it will help us bring our innovative idea to reality. Apart from the monetary support, the accelerator programme is delivering training boot-camps and activities that are helping us build our commercial model.
“We hope to win funding for Phase 2 which will then help us build and test our MVP. Our aim is to take the product to market.”
Ellen Kay added: “Cyber professionals, like frontline soldiers in a war zone, are protecting our organisations and critical infrastructure. And due to cognitive overload, increasing sophisticated attacks and shortage of skilled staff, mental stress is now at an all-time high.
“95 per cent of cyber professionals are working beyond their contracted hours (Nominet Stress Survey 2020). CyberMIND can help with this growing issue in the cyber sector and we are very excited by the level of positive feedback so far.”
Throughout Phase 1 the team have had to present to a panel of industry experts, investors and government representatives to achieve a level of excellence at each stage.
The stress survey is open to anyone who works in cybersecurity.
WCRI will provide a diverse range of cybersecurity Continuous Professional Development training that aims to give people and businesses a better understanding of the best methods to protect and defend their products, systems, and networks from malicious cyber attacks.
If you are looking to improve your cybersecurity, and you need IT support and services in Doncaster, then get in touch with our team today.
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