Cyber Security group

The School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics has a new research group which looks at the security of our systems and infrastructure. This is quite timely in light of the recent cyber-attacks on the NHS. The School also has two new degrees (BSc Computer Science for Cyber Security and MSc Computer Science for Cyber Security) which this research supports, offering our students real-life problems and situations to solve. MSc Computer Science for Cyber Security holds provisional GCHQ certification.

This research group carries out cutting edge research in the areas of security for safety critical systems and infrastructure. The group will develop innovative end-to-end security solutions to close the loop of prevention, detection and recovery from security attacks. Such pioneering solutions will help improve the security, resilience and reliability of the critical national infrastructure, safety-critical and cyber-physical / IoT systems; helping to reduce societal and environmental impact of security attacks.

The key application areas of focus for the research group will be:

• Secure Healthcare
• Secure exchange of patient information, secure electronic devices, intensive care, etc.
• Secure Transport
• Automotive: Vehicular communication, secure drive by wire systems, self-driving cars, etc.
• Aviation: Secure air traffic management, aeronautical communications, secure fly-by-wire, and airports etc.
• Secure Space - Satellite networks / space stations
• Secure infrastructure for sustainable cities
  • Security for smart grids: secure smart grid communications, privacy of energy usage, etc.
  • Security for nuclear industry
  • Security of water networks

Within the above mentioned application areas, the research group will work on various security aspects like: Cryptographic solutions; security protocols; attack patterns and prediction; Risk assessment, quantification and modelling; secure software engineering/software testing; secure electronics/embedded systems; and real time security analytics.