Inforenz extends academic links by teaming up with Bristol University

(12/12/2003)

Information forensics investigators Inforenz Ltd is developing its links with top academic specialists in information security and cryptography by becoming an industrial partner of the University of Bristol Computer Science Department. The partnership with Bristol University extends Inforenz's global network of collaborative links with academic computer scientists at the forefront of cryptography and information security research. Earlier this year, Inforenz established partnerships with academics at the University of Otago in New Zealand and at Royal Holloway, University of London.

At the Bristol Computer Science Department Inforenz is sponsoring annual student prizes and working with the department as an industry associate, offering students the opportunity to work on commercially-significant projects as part of their studies.

The inaugural Inforenz Security Prize at Bristol was awarded to Antoine Muzereau, from Grenoble, France. Muzereau's research, which examined a particularly complex comparison of various elliptical cryptographic protocols, was the outstanding project from among this year's Master's degree students. Another prize, for the best undergraduate project in the field, will be awarded in June 2004.

As part of the Bristol industrial partnership, final-year undergraduate Emma Crow will be investigating how data-mining and machine-learning techniques could be applied to augment a software product that Inforenz is currently developing to help gather data in forensic investigations.

Dr Nigel Smart, who heads the Cryptography and Information Security Group at the University of Bristol, said: "Unlike other areas of information security, industrial links are absolutely essential in the teaching of information forensics. Students of cryptography can always set themselves the task of making better codes, but to study information forensics, students need real-world data to analyse. Working with Inforenz gives them invaluable insights of forensics practicalities."

"Examples from Inforenz' investigative work have already found their way into my lectures," said Smart. "We have been able to show our students the types of problems they wouldn't normally get to see."

"To stay one step ahead of the fraudsters and criminals, it is essential to exchange ideas with leading researchers," said Inforenz Director Andy Clark. "This additional university partnership will help ensure that we keep pace with this rapidly evolving field and tackle the most challenging elements of information forensics investigations for law enforcement agencies and commercial organisations."

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