PhD Studentship: Human Factors in Security of Cyber-Physical Systems
under Attack
Further details: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AMA717/
Closing date: 15th November 2015
Contact: Professor Awais Rashid, [log in to unmask]
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A full-funded 3.5 year PhD studentship is available within Lancaster
University’s institution-wide research centre, Security Lancaster, which
is one of the UK’s Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security
Research. The successful candidate will join a major programme of work
on cyber security of industrial control systems currently in progress
through a number of research projects. Specifically, s/he will be part
of the EPSRC-Chist-ERA programme funded project DYPOSIT: Dynamic
Policies for Shared Cyber-Physical Infrastructures Under Attack. The
project will commence on the 1st of December 2015 and is being
undertaken in collaboration with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
and University College Cork, Ireland.
The world is experiencing a massive growth in cyber physical systems
(CPS). Little is currently understood about the resilience of CPS in the
face of unfolding attacks or when part of the CPS is compromised as a
result of an attack. DYPOSIT tackles the particular challenge of
dynamically formulating and adapting security policies, rapidly and
on-demand, in the face of unfolding attacks on a shared CPS fabric
integrating multiple applications run by a variety of stakeholders.
The particular focus of this PhD studentship is to develop a detailed
understanding and models of operator interaction with a CPS under
attack. The research has a strong experimental focus, with experiments
that move cumulatively from fundamental lab-based assessments of
operator behaviour and judgement, through to more ecologically valid
assessments of operator behaviour within a simulated setting. These
simulations will test hypotheses about operators’ reactions to
particular conditions, as established from the previous experimental
work. In doing so, the research will establish a rich understanding of
how operators engage with CPS under attack. The research will be
conducted through experiments performed using an extensive real-world
testbed for security of industrial control systems (representing complex
CPS in such settings) available within Security Lancaster.
The successful candidate will join a thriving multi-disciplinary
community of 80 researchers within Security Lancaster, tackling current
and future challenges to the security and resilience of individuals,
organisations, infrastructures and society-at-large. The Centre offers a
highly inclusive and stimulating environment for research career
development. There is a strong expectation that the student will
actively contribute to the strong profile of the Centre and its
inter-disciplinary ethos through participation in the development and
publication of research results.
The studentship is available from the 1st of December 2015 (or as soon
as possible thereafter) for a period of 3.5 years. It covers fees at the
Home/EU rate and provides an annual, tax-free, research stipend of
£14,057. The studentship will be jointly supervised by Professor Awais,
Professor Paul Taylor and Dr. Utz Roedig. Informal enquiries should be
addressed to Professor Awais Rashid, Director of Security Lancaster and
Principal Investigator of the project, email: [log in to unmask] or
telephone +44 1524 510316.
Prospective candidates will have a Bachelor’s (First Class with Honours)
or Master’s degree (with Distinction) in Computer Science or Psychology
and a strong passion for studying human factors in cyber security.
Prospective candidates should email a CV and a cover letter highlighting
their research interests and suitability for this studentship to Prof.
Rashid by 15 November 2015.
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