Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) launched a cybersecurity centre intending to boost fundamental and applied research that drives innovations in the country.
The cybersecurity centre will work towards pioneering advancements in blockchain, security for AI models, cryptography, quantum security, and IoT security.
The ‘Centre for Cybersecurity, Trust and Reliability’ (CyStar) was inaugurated in the presence of Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Centre Coordinators Prof Shweta Agrawal, Prof Chester Rebeiro and Prof John Augustine, faculty, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras and a host of academicians and industry representatives from India and abroad.
“With the growth of cyber threats, not just for financial gains but also targeted sector wise attacks on critical infrastructure, it is very important that we arrive at proactive cyber defence mechanisms to protect our Nation. In this context, such efforts are extremely crucial,” said Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.
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The key Research, Industry and Government partners of CyStar include the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Education, Vitesco Technologies, Kaspersky, IDBI Bank, LG India, Saptang Labs, Algorand, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research and National Security Coordination Secretariat among others.
“We are happy and excited to launch this center, which will bring together people with varied expertise to study the complex problem of cybersecurity. Our approach is multi-faceted. We aim to make contributions in domains ranging from fundamental research to real-world applications to fostering start-ups and everything in between,” said Centre Coordinator Prof Shweta Agrawal.
“India is a federal country with a vast number of highly distributed social and business networks with diverse security needs. CyStar’s vision is to empower individuals in this ecosystem to secure their lives and businesses through platforms that are designed with security, trust, and reliability in mind,” said CyStar Coordinator Prof John Augustine.
“CyStar aims to address critical cyber security challenges in the country through fundamental and applied research, outreach programs, and by fostering industry-academia relationships,” said CyStar Coordinator Prof. Chester Rebeiro.
CyStar at IIT Madras will develop a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy to address the emerging cybersecurity challenges driven by AI and the post-quantum era. This approach will focus on safeguarding critical national infrastructure, offering a holistic defence against these advanced technological threats. The Centre aspires to build a knowledge and innovation ecosystem where industry leaders, scholars and government institutions can collaborate with state-of-art technology to integrate and apply advancements in knowledge to real-time products or services in Cybersecurity, mentioned the press release.
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