Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research - Lancaster University
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Computing & Communications
Abstract
The Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) is hosted within the University's flagship cross-disciplinary Security Lancaster Research Centre. Inaugurated by Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones in October 2012, the centre is nationally and internationally renowned for its inter-disciplinary, systems-centred research, that blends computer science and communications aspects of cyber security with approaches from behavioural and social sciences. Members of the ACE-CSR come from Computer Science, Communication Systems, Physics, Psychology, Management Science and the University Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language (UCREL). The ACE-CSR is led by Professor Awais Rashid and involves 18 academic staff: 6 full professors (Rashid, Hutchison, Taylor, Roedig, Angelov and Ni), four Readers (Race, Mauthe, Young and Rayson), five senior lecturers (Yan, Nagaraja, Busby, Towse and Alexander) and 3 lecturers (Baron, Marnerides and Zhang).
We have a thriving doctoral programme with 16 students completing their studies in the period Jan. 2012 - Dec. 2016 and 32 new students starting. Most of the centre staff and students are principally housed in a dedicated wing of Infolab21, a £15M state-of-the-art research centre in ICT. In addition to office space for permanent staff, there is dedicated space housing the post-doctoral researchers and PhD students as well as lab space to house state-of-the-art testbeds on cyber security of industrial control systems, software-defined networks, network function virtualisation, and novel security interfaces for IoT. The centre also has a flagship inter-disciplinary MSc in Cyber Security - with its own dedicated teaching labs.
We participate in and lead a number of major programmes of research. For instance, we co-lead (together with Imperial) the Security and Safety Stream within the EPSRC Hub on Cyber Security of the Internet of Things (PETRAS) and are leading a new international effort on Research into a Cyber Security Body of Knowledge. We lead the ESRC Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) that we host. We also lead the EPSRC project SAI2: Situation-aware Information Infrastructure and participate in the EPSRC Programme Grant: TOUCAN: Towards Ultimate Convergence of All Networks. We also lead a major project funded by US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) on Atomically Unique Physically Unclonable Functions. We also participate in two of the three current UK Research Institutes in Cyber Security. We lead the MUMBA project as part of the Research Institute in Trustworthy Industrial Control Systems and also participate in the EPSRC DAPM project part of the Research Institute in Science of Cyber Security - Phase 2.
We have a thriving doctoral programme with 16 students completing their studies in the period Jan. 2012 - Dec. 2016 and 32 new students starting. Most of the centre staff and students are principally housed in a dedicated wing of Infolab21, a £15M state-of-the-art research centre in ICT. In addition to office space for permanent staff, there is dedicated space housing the post-doctoral researchers and PhD students as well as lab space to house state-of-the-art testbeds on cyber security of industrial control systems, software-defined networks, network function virtualisation, and novel security interfaces for IoT. The centre also has a flagship inter-disciplinary MSc in Cyber Security - with its own dedicated teaching labs.
We participate in and lead a number of major programmes of research. For instance, we co-lead (together with Imperial) the Security and Safety Stream within the EPSRC Hub on Cyber Security of the Internet of Things (PETRAS) and are leading a new international effort on Research into a Cyber Security Body of Knowledge. We lead the ESRC Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) that we host. We also lead the EPSRC project SAI2: Situation-aware Information Infrastructure and participate in the EPSRC Programme Grant: TOUCAN: Towards Ultimate Convergence of All Networks. We also lead a major project funded by US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) on Atomically Unique Physically Unclonable Functions. We also participate in two of the three current UK Research Institutes in Cyber Security. We lead the MUMBA project as part of the Research Institute in Trustworthy Industrial Control Systems and also participate in the EPSRC DAPM project part of the Research Institute in Science of Cyber Security - Phase 2.
Planned Impact
The project's key focus is on maximising impact from the ACE-CSR status and funds. As such the project targets a number of stakeholder groups in industry, policing and governmental organisations interested in cyber security. A number of mechanisms are built into the project work plan to engage with these various stakeholders. The visits/secondments programme is specifically designed to ensure a close working relationship with such stakeholders by hosting them within the Lancaster ACE-CSR or by providing opportunities for Lancaster staff and students to spend a period of secondment at stakeholder sites. This will maximise the potential of transferring knowledge, tools and techniques from the ACE-CSR to industry and practice.
Additional mechanisms such as direct meetings with stakeholders are again designed to maximise the impact on industry and practice.
The ACE-CSR will not operate in isolation and there is an extensive network of industry, practice and community contacts open to us through existing projects under the umbrella of the ACE-CSR. All these will also provide invaluable pathways to impact from research within the ACE-CSR - in fact the ACE-CSR will enable us to harmonise these various contacts into a systematic approach for maximising impact from our cyber security research.
Additional mechanisms such as direct meetings with stakeholders are again designed to maximise the impact on industry and practice.
The ACE-CSR will not operate in isolation and there is an extensive network of industry, practice and community contacts open to us through existing projects under the umbrella of the ACE-CSR. All these will also provide invaluable pathways to impact from research within the ACE-CSR - in fact the ACE-CSR will enable us to harmonise these various contacts into a systematic approach for maximising impact from our cyber security research.
Organisations
- Lancaster University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Fujitsu (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) (Collaboration)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD (Collaboration)
- Raytheon Systems Ltd (Collaboration)
Publications
Giotsas V
(2020)
A categorisation of policy conflicts in distributed systems and network management
in International Journal of Information Privacy, Security and Integrity
Giotsas V
(2021)
O Peer, Where Art Thou? Uncovering Remote Peering Interconnections at IXPs
in IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking
Gouglidis A
(2018)
Formal Verification of Usage Control Models: A Case Study of UseCON Using TLA+
in Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science
Gouglidis A
(2018)
Game Theory for Security and Risk Management - From Theory to Practice
Green B
(2021)
PCaaD: Towards automated determination and exploitation of industrial systems
in Computers & Security
Green B
(2017)
"How Long is a Piece of String":
Hao Y
(2017)
On the Energy and Spectral Efficiency Tradeoff in Massive MIMO-Enabled HetNets With Capacity-Constrained Backhaul Links
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Hao Y
(2018)
Interference-Aware Resource Optimization for Device-to-Device Communications in 5G Networks
in IEEE Access
Hao Y
(2018)
Robust Multi-Objective Optimization for EE-SE Tradeoff in D2D Communications Underlaying Heterogeneous Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
He B
(2019)
User-Pair Selection in Multiuser Cooperative Networks With an Untrusted Relay
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
| Description | The Cyber Security Research Centre (CSRC) at Lancaster University is nationally and internationally renowned for its multidisciplinary research that puts the person at the heart of security decisions. We are one of the few centres to tackle human and technological cybersecurity challenges in socio-technical systems. We work across industrial sectors and academia to enhance the knowledge base, and support organisations and individuals in cyber security technologies, practices and culture to help support and protect the UK. The CSRC is hosted within Security Lancaster, one of four Lancaster University research institutes, which support and nurture strategically important research across the University. Members of the CSRC are drawn from active research groups in disciplines such as Computer Science, Communication Systems, Physics, Psychology, Politics Philosophy & Religion, Health & Medicine, and Management Science, with concentrations from Psychology and Computer Science. The CSRC is led by Professor Nicholas Race and involves 24 academic staff: 10 full professors (Angelov, Black, Davies, Hutchison, Knott, Ni, Race, Taylor, Towse and Young), one Reader (Rayson), 4 senior lecturers (Busby, Conchie, Prince and Wang), 8 lecturers (Baron, Broadbent, Ellis, Giotsas, Gouglidis, Marnerides, Warmelink and Zhang) and one Early Career Fellow (Green). Dr Daniel Prince is deputy director of the CSRC, with specific responsibility for the development of relationships with industry and government organisations. His role is supported through a wider team from Partnerships and Business Engagement within the University. Administrative support for the CSRC is provided by Mr Paul Bennett, as part of Lancaster's institutional commitment to cyber security. Since the award of ACE-CSR status in 2012, the University's cyber security community has grown from 10 to 24 academics and is expected to grow to 30 academic staff by the end of this year. This comes as a result of strategic investments in staffing by senior University management, who see security and cyber security research as a priority. The CSRC has a thriving doctoral programme with 32 students completing their studies in the period Dec. 2013 - Dec 2018 and 52 new students starting. |
| Exploitation Route | We work closely with organisations where these outcomes can be taken forward. We are a Raytheon Gold Research Partner (with them investing in research collaborations), and a strategic partner with Fujitsu, who have funded our CyberThreat Lab. We have funded research collaborations with industry partners such as Fujitsu, Raytheon, Airbus, BT and Frazer Nash. We are supported by active relationships with a wider community of partners such as Thales, Telefonica, Cisco, Atkins, The Bank of England, the Investment Association and BAE-Applied Intelligence. Our community is also proactive in its partnerships with government organisations such as GCHQ, MoD, DSTL, Interpol, FBI, Dept. of Homeland Security, NCA, Cabinet Office and CPNI. We have strong relationships with SMEs and have engaged in a large number of focused SME growth efforts, such as the Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Energy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cybersecurity/ |
| Description | Our research has substantial impact on policy and practice. Our work as part of the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats has led to changes in practice and policy for UK government and agencies. The SECCRIT EU project on secure cloud for Critical Infrastructure has led to contributions in European standards in the areas of risk management and vulnerability assessment. Our research on employing quantum mechanics for standard cryptographic functions has led to 6 patent filings to date, a successful spin-out company (QuantumBase), significant media coverage, informing US air force technology policy and key representation at two Royal Society Summer Exhibitions. Our research on the resilience of the Internet backbone in Europe has provided policy input to the Cabinet Office and ENISA. Our work on penetration testing standards has provided recommendations to the British Standards Institute (BSI). |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Raytheon Systems Limited PhD scholarship |
| Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Raytheon Systems Ltd |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2018 |
| End | 02/2021 |
| Title | Cyber Physical Socio-Technical Security Research Testbed |
| Description | This is a research lab environment for the security testing of socio-technical cyber physical systems. It was developed with circa £300k of capital funding from the university and industry partners (NCSC/Checkpoint/Fujitsu etc). It enables the controlled testing of a range of cyber physical environments from Plant automation ICS, Building Management Systems and IoT devices. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The research platform has resulted in a number of publications and collaborative projects with government. |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cybersecurity/facilities/ |
| Title | Secure Data Science Infrastructure |
| Description | The Secure Data Science Infrastructure (SDSI) will provide a unique regional platform for researchers to access, store and process data across a range of UK government classification levels. The SDSI was funded with £900k from charitable donations with around £500k from the university to provide a £1.4M GBP capital and revenue project across 5 years of activity. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The SDSI was a significant contributing factor to Lancaster University receiving University Enterprise Zone status (UEZ) in the theme of Secure Digitalisation, the only one with this theme in the country. The UEZ programme will look at a range of industrial digitialisation approaches with security at the core to ensure the approaches which are adopted do not accrue significnat security risk for the future. |
| Description | Fujitsu Threat Intelligence Platform |
| Organisation | Fujitsu |
| Department | Fujitsu Laboratories of Europe |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Lancaster provides research input and technical capability to provide a threat intelligence research platform. This is a secure network location run on the university's digital estate to capture a range of malicious traffic, and monitor malicious activity for threat analysis. This platform is used by academic (Staff and students) and industrial researchers. Lancaster also contributed equipment and capital resources to this test environment to establish and run the platform. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Fujitsu have provided considerable input in terms of human resource and equipment provided to the university. |
| Impact | This has resulted in a number of academic publications. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | GCHQ/NCSC partnership |
| Organisation | Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | This partnership has resulted in the direct award of the ACE-CSR collaboration. It includes a number of research activities focusing on the specialisms in cyber security and networking. We have provided knowledge exchange activities as well as collaborating directly with various business units on internal projects. The partnership has seen activities from small projects to support infrastructure development, all the way through to phd sponsorship and co-supervision. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners have contributed to teaching, research and public engagement activities. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry |
| Organisation | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This partnership was developed on the back of the reputation of being an ACE-CSR. It has went forward and was successful in receiving an ERDF award with a total project cost of circa £6M. This project provides a knowledge exchange pathway for the four universities around the core concept of Cyber Innovation. It is a strategically important project within the Greater Manchester Combine Authority and supports their overall digital strategy. Lancaster's contribution to this project is two fold: to provide a programme of support to companies to embed the practice of cyber innovation and inculcate a culture of higher education collaboration: to provide research input to knowledge exchange projects with companies to exploit cyber security research knowledge based in the ACE-CSR. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MMU are the project lead and provide overall project management. MMU, University of Manchester and Salford university are responsible for business recruitment and also for providing knowledge exchange projects. |
| Impact | This project has worked with 60 companies to provide business support. There are currently 10 companies currently engaged in knowledge exchange projects, which have yet to be completed. This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This partnership was developed on the back of the reputation of being an ACE-CSR. It has went forward and was successful in receiving an ERDF award with a total project cost of circa £6M. This project provides a knowledge exchange pathway for the four universities around the core concept of Cyber Innovation. It is a strategically important project within the Greater Manchester Combine Authority and supports their overall digital strategy. Lancaster's contribution to this project is two fold: to provide a programme of support to companies to embed the practice of cyber innovation and inculcate a culture of higher education collaboration: to provide research input to knowledge exchange projects with companies to exploit cyber security research knowledge based in the ACE-CSR. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MMU are the project lead and provide overall project management. MMU, University of Manchester and Salford university are responsible for business recruitment and also for providing knowledge exchange projects. |
| Impact | This project has worked with 60 companies to provide business support. There are currently 10 companies currently engaged in knowledge exchange projects, which have yet to be completed. This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry |
| Organisation | University of Salford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This partnership was developed on the back of the reputation of being an ACE-CSR. It has went forward and was successful in receiving an ERDF award with a total project cost of circa £6M. This project provides a knowledge exchange pathway for the four universities around the core concept of Cyber Innovation. It is a strategically important project within the Greater Manchester Combine Authority and supports their overall digital strategy. Lancaster's contribution to this project is two fold: to provide a programme of support to companies to embed the practice of cyber innovation and inculcate a culture of higher education collaboration: to provide research input to knowledge exchange projects with companies to exploit cyber security research knowledge based in the ACE-CSR. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MMU are the project lead and provide overall project management. MMU, University of Manchester and Salford university are responsible for business recruitment and also for providing knowledge exchange projects. |
| Impact | This project has worked with 60 companies to provide business support. There are currently 10 companies currently engaged in knowledge exchange projects, which have yet to be completed. This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Raytheon Strategic Partnerhsip |
| Organisation | Raytheon Systems Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | This is a formal collaborative agreement between the university and RSL which resulted from the fact the university has been accredited as an ACE-CSR. We have worked closely on knowledge exchange, public engagement and teaching engagement activities over the period of the partnership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | RSL have inputted into teaching, public engagement and knowledge exchange activities. We have hosted research teams on several occasions who have actively engaged with our research work. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Title | ?????????? |
| Description | Unique Identifier According to a first aspect of the present invention, therein is provided a method of determining or generating a unique identifier for a device, the device exhibiting quantum mechanical confinement, the method comprising measuring a unique quantum mechanical effect of the device that results from the quantum mechanical confinement; and using the measurement to determine or generate the unique identifier. |
| IP Reference | CN106537484 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | Novel PUF for small electronic systems. Currently being commercialised. |
| Title | ??????????? |
| Description | ????????????1????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????2 |
| IP Reference | JP2017519350 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | Novel PUF for small electronic systems. Currently being commercialised |
| Title | Determining a unique identifier for an optically read security element |
| Description | A method of determining a unique identifier for a security element 102 comprising one or more optically readable structures in or on a body. The optically readable structures have an intrinsic band structure prior to application of a strain, which changes due to the applied strain (200, 202). The method comprises: optically reading the security element to determine data indicative of its optical property when a strain is applied to the body via an external force. The unique identifier could be determined from a map 114 of the determined data with respect to the strain. The reading could be undertaken for multiple locations (e.g. grid 174) across the security element when the strain is applied. The map is a map of the determined data across the security element with respect to the strain. The reading for multiple locations across the security element could be undertaken in a single step, using a reader (e.g. mobile phone, 12) with a two-dimensional sensor. In an alternative embodiment a change in the band structure is used to infer the presence of the optically readable structures. |
| IP Reference | GB2556279 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | The invention relates to a novel anti-counterfeiting technology that is currently been commercially developed. |
| Title | Generating a nondeterministic response to a challenge |
| Description | A device for generating a nondeterministic response to a challenge, such as a random number generator, has structures, such as resonant tunnel diodes connected in parallel or series, exhibiting quantum mechanical confinement 6, and each structure being arranged to provide a unique response when challenged with an electrical measurement, the unique response being linked to the atomic makeup of the structure that defines the quantum mechanical confinement. The device is arranged to facilitate a challenge of at least two structures of the plurality by facilitating an electrical measurement, such as by current measuring device 4, of an output of the at least two structures. The nondeterministic response is derivable from the electrical measurement. Current measuring device 4 may be connected or connectable to the device. |
| IP Reference | GB2543126 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | The invention covers a novel random number generator that is suitable for integration into research constrained devices, such as IoT. It is been commercially developed. |
| Title | Generating a unique response to a challenge |
| Description | A device for generating a unique response to a challenge has structures, such as tunnel diodes connected in parallel or series, exhibiting quantum mechanical confinement 6, and each structure being arranged to provide a unique response when challenged with an electrical measurement, the unique response being linked to the atomic makeup of the structure that defines the quantum mechanical confinement. The device is arranged to facilitate a challenge of at least two structures of the plurality in electrical combination to generate the unique response, by facilitating an electrical measurement, such as by current measuring device 4, of an output of the at least two structures. The unique response is derivable from the electrical measurement. Current measuring device 4 may be connected or connectable to the device. The device can provide a physically unclonable function (PUF) for products. |
| IP Reference | GB2543125 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | A novel electronic authentication device (PUF), using quantum tunnelling. Currently being commercialised. |
| Title | IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE AUTHENTICATION OF PHYSICAL ENTITIES |
| Description | An authentication device (20) comprises one or more flakes of a substantially two-dimensional material (14). The one or more flakes of the substantially two-dimensional material (14) have an operative area configured to emit, by non-resonant photoluminescence, electromagnetic radiation with a property that varies with position in the operative area. |
| IP Reference | US2018018846 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | Invention relates to the use of quantum materials for unique identification and anti-counterfeiting. Currently being commercialised. |
| Title | Method of making an optically readable element |
| Description | A method of making an optically-readable element (2), the method comprises: providing one or more optically readable structures (4) in or on a body 44, a strain 46 being applied to the said structures as a result of an interaction between the body and the structures; the structures each having an intrinsic band structure prior to application of the strain, and wherein the applied strain changes that intrinsic band structure; and the interaction is such that the strain is maintained, after the element has been made, without the need for an external influence. The strain may result from the body contracting or expanding thermally, or being cured. The structures could take the form of flakes 42 and could exhibit quantum mechanical confinement. An independent claim for the optically-readable element is also included. |
| IP Reference | GB2556278 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | An invention for making Q-ID security tags for identification and authentication. Currently being commercialised |
| Title | Nondeterministic response to a challenge |
| Description | A device for generating a nondeterministic response to a challenge (e.g. for use in a random number generator), the device comprises: a structure exhibiting a nondeterministic electrical output response to an electrical input, the device being arranged to facilitate a challenge of the structure to generate the nondeterministic response, by facilitating an electrical measurement of an output of the structure, the nondeterministic response being derivable from that measurement. The structure preferably exhibits negative differential resistance (e.g. resonant tunneling diode; memristor; Gunn diode). The electrical output response preferably is linked to a state-change in the structure, and/or comprises a change in electrical output from a first level to-or-beyond a second, threshold, level. The time taken for the electrical output response to be trigged may be measured, with the non-deterministic response derivable from the time measurement. The structure preferably exhibits quantum mechanical confinement, and is arranged to provide a unique response linked to the atomic makeup of the structure defining the quantum mechanical confinement, in response to the challenge. |
| IP Reference | GB2548428 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | An invention for generating random numbers in electronic devices, for security keys etc. Currently being commercialised. |
| Title | Optical reading of a security element |
| Description | A method of determining a unique identifier for a security element 20 comprises: optically reading the security element via a configurable optical filter system 26, wherein an optical property of the filter system varies with respect to its configuration (see Figure 3); the reading further comprising determining data indicative of an optical property of the security element at first and second configurations of the filter system; wherein the unique identifier is determined from a map of the variation in determined data indicative of the optical property with respect to the configuration of the filter system. The reading is undertaken for multiple locations across the security element at each configuration of the filter system, such that the map shows the variation in determined data indicative of the optical property across the security element with respect to the configuration of the filter system. The reading for multiple locations is undertaken in a single step, using a reader with a two-dimensional sensor. |
| IP Reference | GB2548493 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | An invention for reading Q-ID tags, for authentication and identification. Currently being commercialised |
| Title | Providing a specific output in response to a specific input |
| Description | A device provides a specific output 40 in response to a specific input, the device comprising a physical unclonable function (PUF) arranged to be challenged with the specific input and to provide a unique output in response, and the device being arranged to facilitate the detection of the unique output by a detection arrangement. The device further comprises an offset arrangement, configured to receive the unique output 44 and apply a specific offset 46 to it, in order to provide the specific output 40. The offset is fixed and so the specific output is only achieved when the unique output is detected. The offset arrangement is programmed in advance with reference to the specific output. The detection arrangement may be part of the device or external. The PFU may comprise a structure that exhibits quantum mechanical confinement and provides a unique output response linked to the atomic makeup of the structure. The detection may involve an electrical measurement of an output of the structure, the electrical output involving tunnelling. An electrical circuit may be enabled or disabled depending on whether the device output is the specific output. |
| IP Reference | GB2554717 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | An invention for electronic authentication and identification, and/or key material generation, in resource-constrained devices. Currently being commercialised. |
| Title | QUANTUM PHYSICAL UNCLONABLE FUNCTION |
| Description | Unique Identifier According to a first aspect of the present invention, therein is provided a method of determining or generating a unique identifier for a device, the device exhibiting quantum mechanical confinement, the method comprising: measuring a unique quantum mechanical effect of the device that results from the quantum mechanical confinement; and using the measurement to determine or generate the unique identifier. |
| IP Reference | US2018219673 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | Novel form of quantum PUF for authentication. Currently being commercialised |
| Company Name | Quantum Base Ltd. |
| Description | Quantum Base design, develop and deliver Quantum Security solutions, which are based on quantum mechanics rather than mathematical complexity. This is the only provably secure way to secure digital information. We provide security solutions that are 100% secure and guaranteed by the laws of physics. Quantum Base is a start-up that was spun out from Lancaster University, in Lancashire in the United Kingdome in 2014. |
| Year Established | 2013 |
| Impact | Licensed patents, InnovateUK grants, global news coverage (BBC etc.) |
| Website | http://quantumbase.com |
| Description | International Cyber Security focused podcast interview on the Cyberwire Daily |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a recorded interview for the Cyberwire Daily podcast discussing the reason why the research project is important and explaining some of the key concepts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/daily-podcast/1509/notes |
| Description | Interview on the Cyberwire pod cast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed on the Cyberwire regarding the technical activity of the network research work package. The cyberwire podcast is a well regarded by industry and has a global reach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/daily-podcast |
| Description | Summer Science Exhibition 2017 - A Future Without Fakes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Led an exhibit at the RS Summer Science Exhibition on quantum authentication devices. >10,000 visitors to the stand over 7 days and media coverage in 100+ outlets internationally, including TV interviews (BBC, Sky, CCTV). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2017/summer-science-exhibition/exhibits/a-futur... |
| Description | Summer Science Exhibition 2018 - Random Revolution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Led an exhibit at the 2018 Summer Science Exhibition. More than 10,000 visitors to the stand over 7 days, media coverage seen by >1m people, more than 50k video views. Exhibition focused on the importance of random numbers in cyber security. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://royalsociety.org/assets/sse-extra/index.html |
| Description | Summer Science Exhibition 2019 - Art of Isolation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Part of organisation team for an exhibit at the 2019 Summer Science Exhibition. >10,000 visitors to the stand in person and significant media reach. Aim of the stand was to educate a general audience about the importance of measurements in science, and reflect on some of the innovations coming from our work, including compact devices for secure communications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/isolab/art-of-isolation/ |