New UKRI-funded network to bolster UK’s cyber security research ecosystem

The UK is the third most targeted country in the world for cyber-attacks, after Ukraine and the United States. Launching in early 2025, the CRANE initiative aims to create new insights into how to achieve security by design and default.

The goal is to drive better cyber security across the economy, including sectors from manufacturing and healthcare to law enforcement. This will make businesses, charities, communities, and people more resilient against cyber threats.

This network will bring together key people from across academia and industry to work in the best way to better protect us against cyber threats and attacks. This investment underlines our commitment to enhancing the UK’s security and resilience, ensuring that we are prepared to adapt to the evolving challenges of our digital world.

Professor Charlotte Deane, EPSRC Executive Chair and a Professor in Oxford University’s Department of Statistics

The network will provide leadership in spotting emerging global trends and national strengths in cyber security, including understanding the potential of game-changing technologies from artificial intelligence to quantum computing.

Project lead Professor Andrew Martin (Department of Computer Science, Oxford University) said: ‘There is a pressing need for improvements in cyber security across a broad spectrum of social and technical research. We want to help the community to identify areas where research can bring the most benefit and encourage its development right across the UK and beyond.’

CRANE will have the following core objectives:

• Support the UK National Cyber Strategy
  CRANE’s work is aligned with the UK National Cyber Strategy, and by building a robust cyber ecosystem and maintaining a competitive technological advantage, CRANE aims to boost the UK’s resilience against cyber threats nationally and internationally.
• Build and nurture a research-driven ecosystem
  CRANE will advance research across disciplines, including computer science, psychology, social sciences, law, and economics. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, CRANE will work to create a transformative research environment where academics, industry leaders, and policymakers can share insights and address emerging challenges.
• Identify game-changing opportunities
  CRANE will identify breakthrough opportunities, and through a structured horizon-scanning process will seek to capitalise on these opportunities by anticipating research needs and opportunities. This will allow researchers to stay ahead of trends and adapt to a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
• Establish a new learned society
  CRANE plans to establish the first learned society dedicated to cyber security research. This will bring together researchers from across disciplines and provide UK businesses, government, and the voluntary, charity, and community sectors with a key connection point to access experts nationally and internationally.
• Foster an inclusive community
  CRANE is committed to building an inclusive and diverse community of professionals and researchers. Through a combination of online and in-person regional events, CRANE will provide opportunities for collaboration while making participation accessible to researchers across the UK, minimising the need for travel.

This new network will help further open opportunities for the sector to collaborate on the most pressing cyber challenges, driving meaningful progress through our joint efforts to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.

National Cyber Security Centre Chief Technical Officer, Ollie Whitehouse

CRANE will be co-led by Professors Lynne Coventry from Abertay University, Adam Joinson from the University of Bath, Steven Murdoch from University College London, and Mark Ryan from the University of Birmingham. It aims to be a collaborative hub – a ‘one-stop shop’ for engagement between the research community and other sectors, including government, industry, and non-profit organisations. This integrative approach will facilitate international collaboration and encourage the UK’s cyber security ecosystem to connect with global peers, strengthening its position on the international stage.

The program is structured to support grassroots research efforts by helping researchers form special interest groups and working groups focused on specific cyber security research areas, enabling researchers to connect with others working on similar problems to share insights, methods, and breakthroughs. In addition, a horizon-scanning process will guide the development of CRANE’s research agenda, ensuring the initiative remains responsive to current needs and emerging threats.

These actions, alongside regional activities, face to face/online events, and a small grants scheme for early-stage research projects will help nurture talent across the UK, support the career development of future world-class cyber professionals, and create a long-term sustainable community.

Minister for Cyber Security, Feryal Clark, said: ‘Since taking office we’ve made shoring up our cyber defences a national priority. To make sure they’re stronger than ever, we’ll be bringing in new laws next year as we continue to take steps to ensure our online economy and critical services are safe, resilient and secure.’

‘This network will bolster those efforts, building up a better picture of where our strengths lie and where the gaps we need to plug are, all while supporting our expert cyber security workforce to drive forward their careers and become the UK’s cyber leaders of tomorrow.’

Further information can be found on the UKRI website.