PhD Studentship: Providing security assurance over combinations of trusted and untrusted components in ultra-large-scale systems

The project:

This studentship is part of a 5 year research programme on Securing Convergent Ultra-large Scale Infrastructures (SCULI): https://sculi.ac.uk. Such infrastructures are seeing convergence and connectivity at unprecedented scale. This is true for both current critical national infrastructures and emerging future systems, e.g., smart cities, intelligent transportation, high-value manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Cyber security of such ultra-large scale infrastructures faces unprecedented complexity. Diverse legacy and non-legacy software and hardware compose on-the-fly to deliver services to millions of users with varying requirements and unpredictable actions. This complexity is compounded by intricate supply-chains and the need to deliver resilient operations in the presence of untrusted, partially trusted or compromised elements.

Ascertaining assurance levels has been explored by the scientific community, for example in trustworthy computing, a plethora of techniques have been developed to ascertain assurance measures such as reliability, availability, performability. Over security, the scenario is considerably more complex to either obtain binary assurance levels (on policy conformance, integrity, confidentiality, etc.) or the more complicated nuance of a composition of weighted security attributes especially in an ultra-large-scale infrastructure. This studentship will focus on developing a runtime assurance framework that is able to provide accurate system monitoring while accounting for the fact that conjunctions of secure and unsecure, trusted and untrusted, and reliable and unreliable elements are present.

The successful candidate will have a strong and demonstrated interest in software and systems security with a willingness to learn about cyber-physical systems and industrial control systems security. They will also have a strong interest in instrumenting systems and experimental research to be conducted on our state-of-the-art testbeds within the Bristol Cyber Security Group.

How to apply:

Prior to submitting an online application, you will need to contact the project supervisor to discuss.

Online applications are made by clicking the 'Apply' button, above.

Please select PhD in Computer Science on the Programme Choice page.

You will be prompted to enter details of the studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form.

Candidate requirements: 

Applicants must hold/achieve a minimum of a merit at master’s degree level (or international equivalent) in computer science, cyber security or a closely related discipline. Applicants without a master's qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree and can demonstrate additional experience through super curricular activities, e.g., additional courses, training, internships, or with relevant industrial experience. Please note, acceptance will also depend on evidence of readiness to pursue a research degree.

If English is not your first language, you need to meet this profile level: Profile E

Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.

Funding:

Minimum tax-free stipend at the current UKRI rate is £19,237 for 2024/25.

For eligibility and residence requirements please check the UKRI UK Research and Innovation website

Contacts:

For questions about the research topic, please contact:

Dr Sana Belguith (sana.belguith@bristol.ac.uk).

For questions about eligibility and the application process please contact Engineering Postgraduate Research Admissions admissions-engpgr@bristol.ac.uk

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