Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research - University of Southampton

CyberSecurity Southampton focusses on the security of the cyber space from all digital threats, whether malicious or not. Our multidisciplinary expertise contributes knowledge, understanding and innovation to the protection of critical infrastructures, users, their data and interests, and connects activities across electronic and software systems, advanced networking and protocols, risk behaviour, social and legal acceptability, and physical and cyber identity management.

CyberSecurity Southampton represents the combined contribution of top researchers across 12 distinct research groups within the disciplines of Electronics and Computer Science, Law, Management, Mathematics, Optoelectronics and Psychology. Together they delivers a wide spectrum of interwoven research ranging from electronic (nano) devices to (physical and cyber) biometrics, passing through world-leading research on cyber-enabling infrastructures - viz., fibre-optics, internet and the web - using behavioural and cognitive psychology, and deploying both formal and experimental methods. Over the past five years, the centre has developed enormously through collaboration across groupings, institutional and external investments, contracts and research. A representative sample of achievements includes: secure sanitisation, automotive electronics, side channels analysis, access control, software engineering tools, provenance, dynamic trust, privacy, knowledge and belief.

CyberSecurity Southampton is unique in having a decennial experience in joint hardware/software operations and world-class expertise on critical infrastructures (communications and the web), a state-of-the-art, in-house nano-fabrication facility and a well integrated research portfolio linking together in a full circle (opto)electronics, computer science and engineering, social and human aspects. Our vision is informed by such strengths, and by the understanding that outsourcing the manufacturing of even the most elementary component unwisely may lead to unacceptable security risk. In particular, our vision is:

- to supply secure (embedded) systems and their design methodologies via an integrated hardware-software ap- proach, and focus on the creation and use of security-enhancing computer-aided design and verification tools;

- to secure the cyber space by design, analysis, simulation and proof, in order to protect infrastructures and data, users and their interests;

- to adopt a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, which takes into full account human aspects and behaviour, as well as social and legal acceptability issues;

- to foster excellence in research, depth in impact, and to educate top-class cyber security experts.

CyberSecurity Southampton is fully equipped by its component groups and can count on two Doctoral Training Centres to provide a conducive environment for PhDs in cyber security: the Complex Systems Simulations and the Web Science DTCs. Some of our researchers have recently secured two programme grants that supports cyber security research, as well as Government Advisory Roles on National Security and on Open Data of considerable policy and strategic oversight, able to provide a conduit between Government, the Agencies and the academic teams of CyberSecurity Southampton. Together, this marks CyberSecurity Southampton as a significant, established, and coordinated Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security.

The present proposal aims at securing a support grant for the centre. Specifically, we seek funds to: free time for the Director to dedicate to the organisation and daily running of the centre; start and run a Distinguished Lectures in Cyber Security series; foster multidisciplinary activities; participate in networking events with other ACE-CSRs and host a national ACE-CSR workshop; run annual outreach, public engagement and industrial liaison events; develop a suitable web portal; print and distribute brochures and publicity material.

We propose activity to support the development of CyberSecurity Southampton as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, as well as a member of a national network of excellence in cyber security. This will (1) help us realise the vision for our centre, (2) foster the ACE-CSR network of excellence and, as a consequence of these facts, (3) provide a contribution to implementing the UK Cyber Security Strategy. In this sense, the range of beneficiaries is very wide, ranging from researchers at CyberSecurity Southampton to Society at large, from industry to UK Government and National Security Agencies.

The development of a website and publicity material will help CyberSecurity Southampton establish a high-reputation profile and visibility with industry and other potential partners. This, together with an annual outreach, public engagement and industrial liaison event, will facilitate contacts and create the synergies for collaboration between our centre and new potential partners for research and economic/industrial exploitation. Through these events, as well as through the existing channels at Southampton, we shall establish a dialogue with the Press. This will help us disseminate our research to the general public and raise awareness of threats and dangers relating to cyber security and arising from cybercrime.

The creation a series of Distinguished Lectures in Cyber Security, will facilitate exchange of ideas and help create a thriving research environment. It will also contribute to raise the profile of CyberSecurity Southampton, both internally and externally. Around the Lectures, we shall build a regular system of institutional events to provide the centre with a portfolio of activities which will establish it at the top of Southampton's research structure, as part of the multidisciplinary University Strategic Research Groups (USRGs). This will help us us contribute to the formulation of the University's strategic research plans and, therefore, put cyber security at the top of the agenda.