DMU experts help businesses lockdown their data during Cyber Week

De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is using its expertise in cyber security, AI and machine learning to help businesses stay safe online.

Lockdown Your Data: East Midlands Cyber Security Week is being run for businesses by East Midlands Chamber and DMU. It will bring together businesses, digital specialists and policymakers to provide insights and tools on an issue that has become more prominent during Covid-19.

Taking place from Monday to Friday next week, it will involve industry leaders and experts delivering webinars each day – giving people the opportunity to understand the challenges faced from cyber-crime and how to devise and implement continuity and recovery plans.



It comes as the National Cyber Security Centre warned that phishing scams rose by more than 600 per cent in the early stages of the pandemic, while one in three attacks it responded to in 2020 were coronavirus-related.

Diane Beresford, the Chamber’s deputy chief executive and digital lead, said: “The pandemic has caused the world to adapt.

“As technology is incorporated into more aspects of our daily lives, remote working has become the norm. This has meant cyber-crimes and cyber security have evolved and diversified, bringing new challenges.

“This changing landscape has increased the need to develop innovative managerial, technological, and strategic solutions to allow the business world to keep moving.

“Our week-long event has been designed to inform and support businesses looking to understand the strategic decisions needed to ensure digital resilience.”

Cyber Week will explore a range of themes, including online security, digital identity, homeworking solutions, process automation, data redundancy, scalability, best practice, emerging technologies, threat detection and landscapes, malware and the human factor, and risk reduction.

Real-life case studies will be used to illustrate successful cyber security plans, while there will also be an opportunity to network and forge new partnerships.

DMU is running a series of events for both students and industry, including a full-day series of sessions alongside multinational aerospace manufacturer Airbus on Wednesday 3 March, covering topics such as how artificial intelligence and machine learning into cyber security.

Dr Allan Cooke, of DMU’s Cyber Technology Institute – the only facility in the East Midlands to be recognised as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – will also talk about how organisations can prepare and rehearse for a cyber-attack before it happens.

Professor David Mba, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at DMU, said: “With more and more people working remotely, on a variety of devices, staying safe online and protecting data has arguably never been more important.   

“Businesses will need to lean on technology more than ever and a focus on cyber security will be the difference between those who succeed in the ‘new normal’ and those who do not.

“As one of the country’s leading centres for cyber security, DMU is delighted to be teaming up with East Midlands Chamber to ensure businesses get the advice and support they need to protect them against cyber-crime, and to ensure that training is available for staff at all levels.”