Northern Ireland set for more cyber security jobs

Northern Ireland is set to see a surge of new jobs in the cyber security sector as attacks become increasingly potent and frequent, BBC News reports.

More than 1,100 Northern Ireland residents are employed in the industry and Queens University has announced it has created ten new research and engineering positions to make networks more resilent and less likely to be attacked.

Dr Godfrey Gaston of the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) believes even more jobs will follow across the region as more everyday gadgets and functions become connected.

Speaking at a two-day summit at the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) at Queen's University, Dr Gaston commented: “There are about 1,200 cyber security jobs in Belfast and our biggest agenda is how we can grow that number significantly in the coming years.

“Now we only connect laptops, desktops, mobiles and tablets to the internet but in the future it will be cars, your 'digital home' - they will all be connected. We have a huge opportunity.”

The latest announcement comes just weeks after CSIT was selected by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to partner with Plexal and Deloitte to deliver a £13.5 million cyber innovation centre in London.

Located in the East End’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the London Cyber Innovation Centre will help secure the UK’s position as a global leader in cyber security innovation.