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
Rak J
(2017)
Disciplines and measures of information resilience
Rauf I
(2021)
The Case for Adaptive Security Interventions
in ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology
Rayson P
(2017)
A deeply annotated testbed for geographical text analysis
Reid VM
(2018)
Response to Scheel et al.
in Current biology : CB
Romano G
(2024)
A Log-Linear Nonparametric Online Changepoint Detection Algorithm Based on Functional Pruning
in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing
Rotsos C
(2017)
Network service orchestration standardization: A technology survey
in Computer Standards & Interfaces
Rotsos C
(2018)
ReasoNet: Inferring Network Policies Using Ontologies
Saeed A
(2018)
A word sense disambiguation corpus for Urdu
in Language Resources and Evaluation
Sameen S
(2018)
Measuring Short Text Reuse for the Urdu Language
in IEEE Access
| Description | The Cyber Security Research Centre (CSRC) is internationally renowned for interdisciplinary cyber security that places individuals at the heart of security decision-making. Cyber security is a long-standing 'jewel in the crown' of Lancaster's research activity. The University has recently committed to a further £19M of investment and a five-year delivery plan to accelerate growth in its cyber capability. The CSRC is home to 26 academics with a grant portfolio of over £28M. Expertise is drawn from multiple departments and faculties across the institution, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of our work. Our membership includes researchers from Politics Philosophy & Religion, Physics, Sociology, Mathematics & Statistics and Management Science, with concentrations in Psychology (5 staff) and Computer Science (15 staff). The CSRC is led by Professor Nicholas Race (PI) as the Centre Director and Professor Daniel Prince as the Centre Deputy Director. Since the original ACE-CSR recognition in 2012, the CSRC has grown from 10 to 26 academics. With the University's investment we expect our community to grow by a further 30 staff by 2027. For well over a decade, the CSRC has tackled the complexities of cybersecurity research, encompassing both human and technological aspects within socio-technical systems. The centre has evolved its focus to encompass the critical research areas of: Cyber Security Behaviours, Cyber Security Analytics, Software and Systems Security and Critical Infrastructure Security. Our future research direction is strongly aligned with the strategic needs of GCHQ, and the National Cyber Force (NCF) based at Samlesbury in Lancashire. |
| Exploitation Route | The CSRC has a long track record of cyber security engagement and collaborative research with a range of stakeholders. During the last five years alone, over £23M of funding has supported cyber security specific knowledge exchange activity. This funding builds upon our £28.8M research grant portfolio and longstanding collaborations with academia, industry and government to deliver socio-economic impact. The CSRC's engagement programme has a strong regional focus. Lancaster is the only North West HEI undertaking cyber security engagement across multiple counties in the North West. Our community is supported by dedicated professional service staff for all aspects of its operation. Key to our research is a dedicated Cyber Security Partnerships and Business Engagement team. The CyberWorks team supports the CSRC in developing a range of partnerships, and over the last five years has contributed to the establishment of research collaborations with industry partners including Fujitsu, BT, Cisco, IBM, NDA, BAE, Templar Executives and Frazer Nash. |
| 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 | Lancaster University continues to play an active role in working with businesses across the North West region through key activities, and over the last five years Lancaster has completed three KE projects supported with £10.6M of external funding. Based on UK government measures, these projects have provided over 280 companies with cyber innovation support, developed 130 new products - either cyber specific or with increased cyber innovation, and importantly created 52 new cyber, or related, jobs. These projects include: - The Secure Digitalisation University Enterprise Zone (SecureD UEZ). This Secure Digitalisation Accelerator Programme supported companies to develop innovation strategies to adopt Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs) securely and a new suite of world-class secure digital fabrication and Secure Data Science Infrastructure (SDSI). The SecureD UEZ extended across the University campus and to the White Cross Business Park in Lancaster, strengthening links between campus activities and the city. This project supported 24 companies to develop cyber innovation strategies; used its cyber research base to develop 10 cyber, or related, products; and created 10 cyber, or related, jobs. - The Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry (GMCF) and the Lancashire Cyber Foundry (LCF). The GMCF is a consortium formed of Lancaster University (LU), Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), University of Manchester (UoM) and University of Salford (UoS); delivering support to SMEs in the Greater Manchester region. Lancaster University was solely funded to deliver the LCF project. Both Foundry projects are based on our programme of cyber innovation business support which involves enhancing cyber practice, cyber leadership and cyber innovation strategy, coupled with research led technical cyber interventions. The technical cyber interventions connected companies with the CSRC research base to develop new products or services - similar to the KTP model. The projects added £28M in GVA to the North West. Within the GMCF project Lancaster has: supported 173 companies to create cyber innovations strategies; used its cyber research base to develop 80 new cyber, or related, products; and, created 24 cyber, or related, jobs. In the LCF project, Lancaster: supported 92 companies to create cyber innovations strategies; used our cyber research base to develop 40 new cyber, or related, products; and, created 18 cyber, or related jobs. Lancaster University is also a founding partner in the North West Partnership for Security and Trust (NWPST): a partnership between GCHQ and Lancaster, UoM, MMU, UoS. The NWPST is a framework to enable defence and intelligence agencies to more readily access expertise and capabilities within the partner universities. The initial focus of the partnership has been on research challenges linked to some of the most difficult cyber technology and security problems. |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Raytheon Systems Limited PhD scholarship |
| Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Raytheon Systems Ltd |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| 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 Limited |
| Description | |
| Year Established | 2013 |
| Impact | Licensed patents, InnovateUK grants, global news coverage (BBC etc.) |
| Website | http://quantumbase.com |
| Description | Cyber Leadership Symposium 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Lancaster University and Templar Executives held the Cyber Security Leadership Symposium 2023. Attendees to the event from a national level had the opportunity to learn from top leaders in the industry, network with peers, and gain valuable insights into the latest trends and practices. The event took place in person on July 6th and 7th 2023 at Lancaster University, bringing together the brightest minds in the field of cyber leadership to share insights, trends, and best practices so you are ready to innovate for global challenges. Keynote speakers included: Paul Chichester MBE - Director Operations NCSC Simon Fell MP - Chair APPG on Cyber Security Claire Fry - Director MoD Dr Mary Haigh - CISO BAE Systems Attendees had the opportunity to participate in interactive panel sessions on specific aspects of cyber leadership and industrial sectors, across a number of topics including: Opportunities in Cross Sector Cyber Leadership Innovation in Cyber Leadership for Health Becoming a Cyber Leader Leading the Cyber Agenda in the Maritime Environment Creating a Global Cyber Leadership Community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cyber-security-education/cyber-security-leadership-2023/ |
| Description | Cyber Security Research Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Hosted at DiSH in Heron House, Lancaster University & Partners provided a showcase event of Cyber Security Research across a multitude of disciplines. On the day, local and regional SME's across the North-West had the opportunity to hear from some of our leading academics about their areas of research, find out about current research priorities, our plans for the future, and how SME's could get involved. A number of presentations and panels were held, and attendee's had the opportunity to hear from business owners about research commercialisation and meet the wider Security and Protection Science team at Lancaster University. A keynote regarding the changing Cyber Landscape was delivered by Gordon Corera (BBC Security Correspondent) and attendees had an opportunity to network with other like minded professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cybersecurity/cyber-works/dish/ |
| Description | Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Cyber Foundry is a series of multi-million pound secure digitalisation projects that have helped SMEs across both the Greater Manchester and Lancashire regions to Defend Innovate and Grow their businesses. In the Greater Manchester region, Lancaster University collaborated with the University of Manchester, University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University as the lead organisation to deliver the 5 year project in the Great Manchester area. The project worked with over 200 companies to develop cyber security-based business growth and productivity strategies, and over 70 companies were helped to develop new products and services. At the same time, Lancaster University has successfully delivered the same secure digitalisation programme to SMEs across the Lancashire region supporting a further 100 companies to develop cyber security based business growth and productivity strategies. GM Cyber Foundry provided a lot of support over its lifetime, delivering Secure Digitalisation workshops to help over 170 businesses Defend, Innovate and Grow, provided Over 60 Technical Assists to companies, giving bespoke support to develop digital innovations. GMCF has created Over 80 New Products & Services and over 24 new jobs in Cyber related industry positions. The closing event was held in May 2023, featuring key project delivery staff, as well as some of the businesses we supported along the way. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7QhYk5DAL8&t=1s |
| 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/ |