Below are the ECCWS Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
Dr Thaddeus Eze is a Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security at the University of Chester. He is the founder and convener of the IEEE UK & Ireland YP Postgraduate STEM Research Symposium, Vice Chair, IEEE UK & Ireland Young Professionals, a technical committee member for a number of international conferences (e.g., ICAS, CYBERWORLDS, EMERGING etc.), and currently runs the Computer Science departmental research seminar series. His research interests include Trustworthy Autonomics, MANET and Cyber Security (specifically, Return Oriented Programming, Policing the Cyber Threat and Cyber Education) and he has a number of publications in these areas.
Dr Lee Speakman is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead for Cybersecurity at the University of Chester. Lee has worked in Defence since 1999. He has gained experience in Intelligence, Strategy, Electronic Warfare, Communications, and Networking. He gained his PhD in MANETs from Niigata University, Japan, in 2009, and returned to Defence to work in Cyber and Information Security, and related areas. He joined the University of Chester in 2015 as the Programme Leader to develop and deliver Cybersecurity courses. His research interests are in software and system security.
Dr Cyril Onwubiko is the Secretary, IEEE UK & Ireland, Chair, IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group, and Director, Cyber Security Intelligence at Research Series Limited, where he is responsible for directing strategy, IA governance and cyber security. Prior to Research Series, he had worked in the Financial Services, Telecommunication, Health sector and Government and Public services Sectors. He is a leading scholar in Cyber Situational Awareness (Cyber SA), Cyber Security, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Data Fusion & SOC; and interests in Blockchain and Machine Learning. He is the founder of the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research, Innovation & Collaboration (C-MRiC) https://www.c-mric.com. Detailed profile for Cyril can be found on https://www.c-mric.com/cyril
Damian Ward is a Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police Service. Damian has spent 21 years in law enforcement; principally as a Detective investigating homicide, counter terrorism, organised crime groups and cyber crime. Recently he has spent several years within national fraud and cyber investigations, on both reactive and prevention teams. In 2016 he completed a BSc at Canterbury Christchurch University, reviewing some of the challenges for law enforcement when responding to cyber crime. He has received commendations for his management of body identification at disasters such as the MH17 air crash in the Ukraine and the Grenfell Tower fire. Currently Damian works within counter terrorism investigations in the UK.
Nasser S. Abouzakhar is a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Currently, his research area is mainly focused on critical infrastructure security, cloud security and applying machine learning solutions to various Internet and Web security and forensics related problems. He received PhD in Computer Sci Engg in 2004 from the University of Sheffield, UK. He is a technical studio guest to various BBC World Service Programmes such as Arabic 4Tech show, News-hour programme and Breakfast radio programme. Nasser is a BCS chartered IT professional (CITP), CEng and CSci and is a BCS assessor for the accreditation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK.
Dr. Sangapu Venkata Appaji is working as a Professor, at KKR and KSR Institute of Technology and Sciences, Guntur, India. He completed his doctorate in Computer science and Engineering in the area of Cryptography and Network Security from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad, INDIA. He has more than 10 years of teaching experience in Computer Science and engineering and Information Technology department for graduate and post graduate students. He supervised IOT, Security related projects for graduate and postgraduate students.
Dr. Shahzad Memon is working as a Professor, at Institute of Information and Communication Technology at University of Sindh, Pakistan. He completed his doctorate in Biometrics fingerprint sensors technology from Brunel University, London, UK. Dr. Memon has published and supervised MPhil and PhD students in his main field of research Cyber Security, Privacy issues in IoT and Social Media, Smarts systems and ICT applications. He also granted funding for research from Higher Education commission and ICT Research and Development, Ministry of Information Technology, Pakistan.
Julie Murphy is a PhD researcher focused on cybersecurity and cyberpsychology. Julie works in IBM and has over 10 years experience in the telecommunications industry. She holds an MSc in Cybersecurity, and a BA in MIS. Julie lectures part-time and is actively involved in community efforts to promote cybersecurity, advocating education as a primary defense.
Brett van Niekerk is a senior lecturer in computer science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He serves as secretary for the International Federation of Information Processing Working Group on ICT in Peace and War, and the co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism. He has numerous years of information/cyber-security experience in both academia and industry, and has contributed to the ISO/IEC information security standards. In 2012 he graduated with his PhD focusing on information operations and critical infrastructure protection. He is also holds a MSC in electronic engineering and is CISM certified.
Trishana Ramluckan has been an academic and researcher in the IT and governance fields for the past 12 years. She is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Law and Management Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is a member of the IFIP working group on ICT Uses in Peace and War, the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa and serves as an Academic Advocate for ISACA. In 2017 she graduated with a Doctor of Administration specialising in IT and Public Governance. Her current research areas include Cyber Law and Information Technology Governance
Dr. Char Sample is the Chief Cybersecurity Research Scientist for the Cybercore division at Idaho National Laboratory. Dr. Sample is a visiting academic at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK and a guest lecturer at Bournemouth University, Rensselaer Polytechnic University and Royal Holloway University. Dr. Sample has over 20 years’ experience in the information security industry. Dr. Sample’s research focuses on deception, and the role of cultural values in cybersecurity events. More recently she has begun researching the relationship between human cognition and machines. Presently Dr. Sample is continuing research on modeling cyber behaviors by culture, other areas of research are data resilience, cyber-physical systems and industrial control systems.
Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. Her research interests lie in the areas of cyberterrorism, cyberlaw, and international humanitarian law. Pardis’s research has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals and she has presented papers at national and international level conferences. She is a member of the editorial review board in several journals. She is also an international scientific member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law.
Richard L. Wilson teaches in the Philosophy and Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University in Towson, MD and is a Research Fellow in the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics at the University of Baltimore. Professor Wilson has taught a wide variety of Applied Ethics courses including Engineering Ethics, Computer Science Ethics, Medical Ethics, Environmental Ethics and Business Ethics, and has a wide variety of publications in all of these areas. Previous experience also includes being an Ethics for the Department of Justice for the United States Government
Dr Edwin “Leigh” Armistead is the President of Peregrine Technical Solutions, a certified 8(a) small business that specializes in Cyber Security. A retired United States Naval Officer, he has significant Information Operations academic credentials having written his PhD on the conduct of Cyber Warfare by the federal government and has published three books, in an unclassified format in 2004, 2007 and 2010, all focusing on full Information Warfare. He is also the Chief Editor of the Journal of Information Warfare (JIW) https://www.jinfowar.com/; the Program Director of the International Conference of Cyber Warfare and Security and the Vice-Chair Working Group 9.10, ICT Uses in Peace and War.