Cyber Security research theme

Overview

The Cyber Security research theme covers a wide range of topics within the scope of cyber security, ranging from software, sensors and infrastructure systems security; data security, AI-based security and the security of AI; as well as cyber crime, digital forensics, human aspects of security, and geo-politics of cyber security.

Much of our research is applied in nature, through our extensive partnerships with government and industry, including the National Cyber Security Centre and GCHQ, the Ministry of Defence, and the National Crime Agency, as well as industry collaborators within the telecommunications sector, national security, and defence.

Theme Lead

Professor Phil Legg

Members

• Dr Aida Abzhaparova
• Dr Sarfraz Brohi
• Dr Djamel Djenouri
• Mr Ian Johnson
• Professor Phil Legg
• Mr Alan Mills
• Dr Zeinab Rezaeifar
• Mr Jonathan White

Activities

Cyber sandpit: Linking cyber effects to mission objectives

A DSTL-funded project in collaboration with Trimetis and Frazer Nash Consultancy that explores training capabilities for military cyber protect teams and how human and machine-based decision support systems can assist for analysing and acting to protect hostile cyber environments (January 2023 -October 2023).

Human-as-a-sensor: Crowdsourced cyber security

A DSTL-funded project in collaboration with Trimetis and Frazer Nash Consultancy that explores human reporting mechanisms for suspicious behaviour, and how human reporting can be processed and coupled with machine observable attributes, to provide proactive security for organisations (January 2023 - October 2023).

Transforming Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): UK's First Technology Line of Defence

A UKRI Innovate UK-funded project, in collaboration with Synalogik Innovations Ltd, as well as Cardiff University and the University of Reading, to explore improving both the production and analysis of the SARs process, resulting in more efficient capability to investigate and respond to cyber crime and financial crime activity (September 2022 - March 2024).

Measuring the suitability of AI technologies for autonomous resilience in cyber defence

A DSTL-funded project in collaboration with Trimetis, PA Consulting and QunetiQ. Within this project, we conducted a deep dive investigation into current and future considerations of how AI should be utilised in military, security, and defensive operations, including incident response and training activities. This project served as part of the ongoing "Autonomous Resilience in Cyber Defence" programme that DSTL operate. (2022).

CAVForth

CAVForth, funded by both UKRI Innovate UK and the Government Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), in collaboration with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Fusion Processing, and Stagecoach, developed a fully autonomous bus service in Scotland. The CSRC Cyber Security team contributed towards the cyber security assessment of this project, to ensure that safe and secure mechanisms are in place for vehicle operations (2020-2022).