ECCWS 2026
25th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security
Biographies
Below are the ECCWS Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
Prof. Steven Furnell is Professor of Cyber Security in the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham. His research interests include security management and culture, usability of security and privacy, and technologies for user authentication and intrusion detection. He has authored over 400 papers in international journals and conference proceedings, as well as various books, book chapters, and industry reports. Steve is the UK representative to Technical Committee 11 (security and privacy) within the International Federation for Information Processing, a board member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, and a member of the Steering Group for the Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK) and the Careers and Learning Working Group within the UK Cyber Security Council.
Dr. Dimah Almani completed her PhD in Cybersecurity at the University of Nottingham, specialising in trust mechanisms for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Her research focused on improving security in connected vehicles using simulation tools such as Veins, SUMO, and OMNeT++. She also holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Nova Southeastern University, Florida, where she investigated cybersecurity vulnerabilities in smart transportation systems. With over 10 years of teaching experience, Dimah has developed and delivered courses on emerging technologies, supervised postgraduate students, and contributed to cybersecurity research. She is skilled in C++, Python, and MATLAB, with strong knowledge in network simulations and mathematical modelling. Dimah has served as an IEEE reviewer and held academic leadership roles including Coordinator of Quality Control and E-Learning Program Manager. She received the IBM Artificial Intelligence Analyst – Explorer Award in 2020. Her work connects theoretical models with real-world applications in cybersecurity and intelligent transportation systems.
Keynote Speakers
Mini Track Chairs
Dr Hossein Abroshan is a cybersecurity researcher focusing on adversarial machine learning and applied AI for cyber defence. His recent work includes building AI poisoning-detection pipelines; developing AI-driven ransomware detection for OT; and AI-powered phishing detection using human factors. He has also developed AI and cybersecurity materials for CyBOK (ai4cs.uk and secai.uk). Hossein is the director of cybersecurity research group and director of MSc Cyber Security course at ARU, Cambridge, and has been leading/supervising several cybersecurity and AI projects in various sectors. Hossein’s interests include AI security and trustworthy AI, human factors in cyber security, and protection of critical infrastructures.
Dr Iain Reid is a Senior Lecturer in Cybercrime in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. He is an Expert Fellow of SPRITE+, Member of SASIG, and was previously a Founding Committee Member of the Defence and Security Psychology Section. In addition, Iain is the Course Leader for the Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management and is the Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Research Group Lead. Iain’s research interests focus on defensive cyber deception, software development and security, cyber conflict, and lie detection
Dr. Char Sample is an assistant professor of cybersecurity at Marshall University. Dr. Sample has 40 years of industry experience beginning in software development, through product test and integration, and finally as a researcher (both applied and academic). Dr. Sample’s research areas are all cybersecurity related with an interest toward decision-making in cybersecurity.
Jill Slay is currently the University of South Australia SmartSat Professorial Chair in Cybersecurity. Her work focuses on the context of developing a national technical agenda in satellite cybersecurity and resilience with Industry and government. Previous appointments have included Optus Chair in Cybersecurity at La Trobe University and Founding Director of the Australian Centre for Cyber Security at the Australian Defence Force Academy.