Coventry University is to open an 'Ethical Hacking Lab', the latest UK institution to put money into developing the practical skills that have been in short supply during the cybercrime boom of the last decade.
Coventry's established Applied Research Group (ARG) in Digital Security and Forensics (SaFe), established in 2006, will receive an investment of £20,000 from the University backed up by a further £17,000 of equipment from local penetration testing company Nettitude.
This will result in a lab of 25 PCs with a server, firewall and intrusion detection system (IDS), together able to allow students to simulate attacks on systems in real time.
"Nettitude has also provided guest lectures, placement opportunities, technical expertise and support," said Coventry's senior lecturer in ethical hacking and network security, Brian Moore, underlining the public-private theme of the new facility.
"We can now forge ahead with modules in cloud security and both mobile device and network forensics. This is a very exciting and challenging time for Coventry University, and we hope to become known as the institution of choice in the UK for security and forensics," said Moore.
Coventry is only the latest UK University to embrace ethical hacking as a subject attractive to students. As long ago as 2006, Abertay University in Dundee became the first in the UK to offer a degree-level course in the subject. This year, Northumbria University became another institution to offer a degree course.
Elsewhere, City University in London recently announced a well-funded cybersecurity centre, although this will take a more academic approach to the theme of hacking and its repercussions.