The grant has been sanctioned for five years and covers expenditure for the setting up infrastructure, equipment etc., for the centre, said the institute’s deputy director Manindra Agrawal.
The centre will work closely with researchers from IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, ISI Kolkata, IIIT Delhi and MNIT Jaipur, Agrawal told ET. It will be headed by Agrawal and Sandeep Shukla of the department of computer science and engineering at IIT Kanpur.
“This centre will engage faculty in cutting edge research in the domain of cybersecurity of critical infrastructures (water treatment plants, nuclear power plants, power distribution infrastructure),” said Agrawal. It would also provide training through cybersecurity courses for students across other institutes as well as government and industry executives.
The facility would come up in a year’s time where research on cyber vulnerabilities of critical industrial systems such as power systems, industrial automation systems, transportation systems etc., will be carried out.
Earlier, IIT Kanpur had also signed an MoU with NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Tel Aviv University in Israel, and Bombay Stock Exchange to collaborate on cybersecurity.
