The University of Oxford is an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR).
ACE-CSRs are jointly recognised by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with 21 universities across the UK now members of the scheme. The scheme is a part of the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy, which involves engagement with industry and academia to make the UK more resilient to cyber attacks, and to protect and promote the UK in a digital world.
The work of the Department of Computer Science, in collaboration with departments across the University, saw Oxford become one of the first higher education institutions to achieve the accolade in 2012. It was recently announced that the University has secured its position for five more years.
The repeat recognition was the result of an exacting assessment, with recipients required to meet stringent standards and requirements, including:
a commitment to supporting and investing in cyber security research capacity and capability
a critical mass of academic staff engaged in leading-edge cyber security research
a proven track record of producing high impact cyber security research
sustained funding from a variety of sources to ensure the continuing financial viability of the research team’s activities
The achievement is testament to Oxford’s position at the forefront of cyber security and its sustained, cutting-edge activity in the area, with the majority arising from the Department of Computer Science. Initially headed by Professor Andrew Martin in the department, the University’s membership of the scheme is currently led by Professor Lucas Kello, based in the Department of Politics & International Relations.
We are launching a new Security Alumni Network. The group is being established via the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security which forms part of the Cyber Security Oxford Network and the Department of Computer Science.
We are looking for alumni who have moved into the Cyber Security field, but who may not have necessarily undertaken a technical course at Oxford. This reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the academic network, with academics in 20+ departments across the university from Engineering to Politics to Geography.
We are excited to have secured leading cyber security specialists, Professor Ciaran Martin, CB (Blavatnik School of Government) former CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre and Graham Ingram (our university Chief Information Security Officer). The speakers will be discussing the current Cyber Security landscape and of particular relevance now, protecting Oxford’s leading medical research during the current pandemic.
There will also be a discussion led by Professor Andrew Martin (Director, CDT in Cyber Security) on our future plans for the Security Alumni Network and how to get involved in its development.
This online launch event will be on Wednesday 28th April (16:30 UK / 20:30 Dubai / 22:00 Delhi / 11:30 US East Coast / 08:30 US West Coast). Alumni can register via Eventbrite or if they cannot attend but wish to be included in future conversations, they can sign up to our mailing list here. The positive responses to these two channels will be used to build our new contact list: the frequency of messages will be kept low and messages will be related to the alumni group.
Grown from work on the UnBias project, this practical ethics and governance toolkit for AI and automated systems is now available to download in a DIY print-at-home version.
“Quite frankly this is the best bit of communication in this area I have ever seen. It is the perfect complement to the UnBias Fairness Toolkit. Together they can be adopted by any organisation in business, charity, education, healthcare etc etc. Especially in the light of recent events I just wish that every member of the Government and the Civil Service had a set! I know how difficult it is to refine the language so that it really gets through. You have done a superb job.”
The Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre is proud to have contributed to the new WEF Cyberseucirty, Emerging Technology and Systemic Risk report: downloadable here. It outlines 15 strategic interventions that are needed now to address the emerging systemic issues in the cyber security ecosystem.
The University of Oxford is proud to announce its 200th spinout, PhishAR, led by Cyber Security Oxford members Ivan Martinovic and Ivo Sluganovic.
PhishAR will help users identify fraudulent emails, websites and other online transactions by using artificial intelligence to scan and analyse what is presented on the screen in order to detect discrepancies such as style and formatting, used URLs, information requested from the user, and other security indicators.
10-12 November 2020: It’s an all-star lineup, including Cyber Security Oxford members Florian Egloff, Katharin Tai, James Shires, Mariarosaria Taddeo – co-organised by our own Monica Kaminska. Details and registration at https://www.thehaguecybernorms.nl/
Webinar on 10 November, with Marthie Grobler (CSIRO, Australia), Jaco du Toit (University of Johannesburg) and Sadie Creese (GCSCC, Oxford). Details available from cybercapacity@cs.ox.ac.uk.
Anjuli Shere’s article on the impact of GDPR (and the UK’s Data Protection Act) on Open-Source Intelligence has been published by the Journal of Cyber Policy.
Join Professor Sadie Creese, and former Director of GCHQ, Robert Hannigan on 6 July 2020 3pm BST (GMT+1) to discuss the evolving impact of industrial cyberattacks on operational security, human safety and productivity. Register here.
