The University of New Brunswick has played a critical role in expanding cybersecurity innovation in Canada. Now we’re taking our experience and expertise to the global industry.
With one of the strongest core computer science programs in Canada, UNB has the research and development capabilities to create and grow industry disrupting innovations.
Our computer science program is led by Dr. Ali Ghorbani, the Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity, and a leading international expert in network and information security, complex adaptive systems, and critical infrastructure protection. He’s developing techniques and tools to identify cyberthreats and cybercriminal activity before they’re able to cause harm.
UNB’s Faculty of Computer Science has the largest network security research group in Canada. Since 2007, the Information Security Centre of Excellence (ISCX) at UNB has played an important role in the success of cybersecurity research and innovation in New Brunswick.
ISCX, which is the precursor to the CIC, has generated over $5 million in external funding and has trained over 30 highly specialized professionals. It’s one of the largest network security R&D centres in Canada and fosters a broad spectrum of education and industrial collaborations.
UNB prides itself on fostering industry innovation in cybersecurity and other ground-breaking technology. Named the most entrepreneurial university in Canada, UNB continually creates opportunities for researchers to help industry partners find innovative solutions to real-world problems.
CIC datasets are used worldwide by universities, private industry and independent researchers. The CIC’s intrusion detection benchmark dataset has been used by more than 800 security companies around the world to validate their research results or techniques.
UNB students are currently working with IBM on its iconic Watson cognitive technology for use in the cybersecurity battle. UNB is one of only eight universities in North America — and one of three in Canada — chosen by IBM to work on Watson.
UNB students will help Watson process and analyze massive amounts of cybersecurity data, including some 20 years of security research, details on 8 million spams and phishing attacks, and more than 100,000 documented vulnerabilities.
UNB's Office of Research Services has assisted in the creation of over 20 spin-off companies, including disruptive and innovative technology that targets cybercriminals.
Q1 Labs emerged from a desire to reduce hostile attacks on UNB's computer network. The efforts led to the development of intrusion detection technology by Chris Newton, a part-time student and technical specialist with UNB's Department of Integrated Technology Services.
Q1 Labs was acquired by IBM in 2011 and was its technology has been used to create a common security platform for IBM’s software, hardware, services and research offerings.
Sentrant Security Inc. (formerly Ara Labs) emerged from UNB’s celebrated J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship.
The company’s unique detection algorithms monitor advertising campaigns in real-time to proactively stop fraud and thwart cybercriminals. In February 2016, the company announced it had uncovered a $250,000-per-day advertising fraud that affected more than 500,000 mobile app installs on Android devices.
