Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry
A programe designed to help SMEs with business growth, stability and security. The Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry is a collaboration between the universities of Salford, Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Lancaster.
How can we help?
This fantastic fully-funded programme provides businesses with the opportunity to:
- Investigate the potential for cyber innovation to support business growth and productivity through defence, market differentiation and diversification
- Develop growth strategies utilising cyber innovation
- Receive technical assistance (if eligible) from experts in cyber innovation
Programme structure
The programme is a blend between online 1-2-1 sessions, workshops and learning modules. There is no cost to participating companies.
Phase One (Workshops, online materials and one-to-one meetings)
The business would need to commit to:
- An initial diagnostic meeting
- Attending online workshops
- Completing several online, structured packages of support (business model canvas; innovation audit; absorptive capacity analysis; driving forces exercise; cyber growth; developing a business strategy)
- Attend a one-to-one development meeting
Each business then receives a tailored report, business strategy and action plan.
Phase Two (Technical Assistance)
Some businesses may then be eligible to receive further technical assistance from one of the academic teams to drive forward a new cyber product or service. This phase would match the business’ support requirements with an expert in that field and work collaboratively on the project for around four months. Examples of some of the areas of specialism include:
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Data visualisation |
Data science – privacy and anonymisation |
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Applied cryptography |
Data driven democracy and fake news |
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Cloud computing security |
Distributed ledger technology |
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Human aspect of security (socio-technical) |
Distributed systems security |
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Biometric authentication |
Fraud detection |
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Machine learning |
Electrical power |
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Code verification |
IoT security |
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Crypto markets |
Penetration testing |
Case Studies
Take a look at how other's have engaged with the Cyber Foundry programme.
Blogs
Below are a number of articles from our academics discussing the issue surrounding cyber security.
Technical articles
The Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry includes expertise and knowledge from Academics, Professors and Lecturers from four universities. The technical team are heavily involved in the delivery of our programme and you will find some of their writings, findings, articles and insights here.
Advanced Persistent Threats – What are they and do they really exist? by Robert Marsh
Advanced Persistent Threats are being utilised by organised criminals and are often developed/sponsored by nation states for a variety of different reasons.
Logging: What is it and why is it important? by Robert Marsh
Log files are highly valuable data sets which are frequently used by software developers and engineers to understand what has gone wrong. Is that the limit to their value?
Formjacking: What is it and how does it work? by Robert Marsh
Formjacking is a relatively new technique which cybercriminals are using to exploit and steal potentially sensitive information from commercial websites.
Counterfeit Products. Protecting your business from imitation hardware by Robert Marsh
As the costs of research and development rise, innovative hardware devices that reflect these increased expenses are being targeted by counterfeit criminals.
Our partners
The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Salford, along with their regional neighbour Lancaster University work together on cyber security to maximise their contributions to regional and national agendas.
Get in touch
To find out more information on how to access the programme please contact: