The University of Wollongong (UOW), in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), has secured a grant from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) aiming to enhance privacy and security in cloud computing across the Indo-Pacific region.
This grant falls under the $12.7 million Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership that contributes to the countries' priorities to promote a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
The initiative addresses pressing concerns in cloud computing, a technology integral for data storage and international collaborations but fraught with challenges in data security.
What’s more, the project will develop advanced cryptographic techniques and assess existing technologies for their effectiveness in standardising privacy and security measures across cloud platforms in Australia and India.
Forefront of research
Spearheading the project is Professor Willy Susilo, an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow from UOW.
Collaborating with him is a team of experts including senior lecturer Dr Khoa Nguyen, DECRA Fellow Dr Yannan Li, lecturer in Cyber Security Dr Partha Sarathi Roy and IIT Kanpur's Professor Manindra Agrawal, and all will operate under the UOW's Institute of Cybersecurity and Cryptology.
“This project will strategically place UOW in India through research collaboration," Professor Susilo said.
"Cybersecurity research work conducted within the Institute of Cybersecurity and Cryptology at UOW has been at the forefront of the research within Australia, and this project will leverage our strategic position with our Indian partner.
“Furthermore, this research has great potential to strengthen the collaboration between Australia and India for the future through cybersecurity standardisation,” he added.
The team will leverage research partners of UOW and IIT Kanpur, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and works with start-ups from UOW’s business incubator iAccelarate as well as with Indian companies.