Center for Secure Information Technologies

What Center for Secure Information Technologies does

The Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) is the UK's Innovation and Knowledge Centre for secure information technologies, established in 2009 and housed within Queen's University Belfast (a Russell Group university registered as charity NIC101788). It operates as an academic research center focused on cybersecurity innovation through collaborative research, product development, and talent training, serving the UK cybersecurity ecosystem including industry partners, government initiatives, and the academic community.

CSIT's core technology centers on applying AI and machine learning to cybersecurity challenges, with a primary focus on threat detection and alert triage for Security Operations Centres (SOCs). Its flagship initiative, the Cyber-AI Hub launched in 2025 in collaboration with Rapid7, is positioned as the UK's first such hub and addresses both the use of AI to enhance cybersecurity defenses and the protection of AI systems from adversarial attacks. The center combines academic research with industry expertise, with named engineering leadership including a Director of Engineering (Gavin McWilliams) and a Director (Godfrey Gaston).

CSIT does not generate revenue through commercial product sales. Its revenue model is built on research funding, government grants, and industry partnership contributions, with no publicly disclosed pricing or commercial offerings. Distribution of research outputs and expertise occurs through collaborative research projects, industry partnerships, talent development programs, and government-supported initiatives rather than traditional commercial channels. The center's work contributes to Northern Ireland's broader cybersecurity sector, which generates over £237 million in GVA and supports more than 2,750 jobs regionally.

Name

Center for Secure Information Technologies

Legal name

Centre for Secure Information Technologies

Website

https://qub.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

CSIT is the UK's Innovation and Knowledge Centre for secure information technologies, operating as a cybersecurity research center within Queen's University Belfast. It applies AI and machine learning to threat detection and SOC alert triage, partnered with Rapid7 via the Cyber-AI Hub.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cybersecurity Research

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

akta.pro primary industry

OT/ICS & Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Services (BPAKAHAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Penetration Testing, Red Team & Ethical Hacking (EDAOAIAH)

Keywords

• Cybersecurity research
• Secure information technologies
• AI cybersecurity
• Threat detection research
• SOC analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Antrim

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Funding and Grants: CSIT generates revenue through government-funded research initiatives and industry partnerships focused on advancing AI applications in cybersecurity and enhancing security for AI systems

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CSIT is a UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) conducting research in secure information technologies, established in 2009 and hosted at Queen's University Belfast. Its work focuses on applying AI/ML to cybersecurity challenges, particularly threat detection, anomaly detection, and alert triage for Security Operations Centres. The centre collaborates with industry partners such as Rapid7 through the Cyber-AI Hub initiative.

Product overview

The Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) is a cybersecurity research center at Queen's University Belfast. CSIT operates as a research and development entity focused on cybersecurity innovation, primarily engaged in collaborative research projects rather than commercial product offerings. Key activities include the Cyber-AI Hub initiative in partnership with Rapid7, which addresses cybersecurity challenges using AI and machine learning, with a focus on improving threat detection and alert triage for Security Operations Centres. The center's work encompasses both protecting AI systems and leveraging AI to enhance cybersecurity defenses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cyber-AI Hub
• Applied Cybersecurity Research Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Northern Ireland cybersecurity sector generates over £237 million in GVA
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Rapid7flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2025Rapid7 and Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) are collaborating through the Cyber-AI Hub to address cybersecurity challenges using AI and machine learning. The partnership involves research, product development, and talent training focused on improving threat detection, particularly alert triage for Security Operations Centres, amid increasing AI-enabled cyber threats.
• Queen's University BelfastcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSIT is the Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen's University Belfast, collaborating on the UK's first Cyber-AI Hub. The university hosts CSIT's research activities focused on advancing AI application in cybersecurity and enhancing security for AI systems through research, industry partnerships, and government initiatives.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Darktrace: UK-founded commercial vendor applying AI to cyber threat detection and SOC use cases; comparable as a UK-based AI-cybersecurity operator whose commercial trajectory illustrates the commercial path available to research-derived AI security capabilities.

Others

• Rapid7: CSIT's flagship Cyber-AI Hub partner and a global security analytics/SOC platform vendor; included as an ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, since it is a collaborator driving CSIT's commercial relevance.

Broad incumbents

• National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): UK government authority on cybersecurity, part of GCHQ; a broader public-sector incumbent that funds and shapes the UK cyber ecosystem in which CSIT operates and competes for talent and research influence.

Direct peers

• Alan Turing Institute: UK's national institute for data science and AI, headquartered at the British Library; comparable as a publicly funded UK research institute working at the intersection of AI and applied domains including security-adjacent research.
• Oxford Cyber Security Centre: University of Oxford cybersecurity research group covering software, systems, and AI-driven security; comparable as another UK university-based research hub in secure information technologies.
• Surrey Centre for Cyber Security: University of Surrey's recognized Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research; structurally similar to CSIT as a UK university-hosted research center combining academic and industry-facing cybersecurity work.
• Bristol Cyber Security Group: University of Bristol's interdisciplinary cyber security research group, recognized as an ACE-CSR; comparable as a UK Russell Group university research hub conducting foundational and applied cybersecurity research.
• UCL Computer Science – Security and Privacy Group: UCL's research group in security, privacy, and AI applied to threats; comparable in scope as a London-based UK university cybersecurity research hub with industry partnerships.
• Imperial College London – Resilient Information Systems Group: Imperial's cybersecurity research group at the Department of Computing; structurally similar to CSIT as a UK university-based center working on AI-augmented threat detection and resilient systems.
• Cambridge Centre for Cyber Security: University of Cambridge's interdisciplinary research center focused on cyber threats, cybercrime, and secure information technologies, with a comparable mix of academic research and industry collaboration in cybersecurity and AI.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Come2Queens
• Facebookfacebook.com/queensuniversitybelfast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/queen's-university-belfast
• Instagraminstagram.com/qubelfast
• Xx.com/queensubelfast

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Secure Information Technologies