Cranfield Defence and Security Doctoral Symposia

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https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/20781
The CDS Doctoral Symposia is the only UK conference to provide research students and early career researchers in defence and security with an opportunity to present their work to a sector-wide audience. Covering both technology and social sciences research, contributions include paper presentations, a 3MT (three-minute thesis) competition, digital images and posters.

In addition, there are plenary talks from thought-leaders, as well as opportunities to interact with industry, publishers and other employers of defence and security researchers.

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Browsing Cranfield Defence and Security Doctoral Symposia by Author "Boakes, Emma"

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    Building Management Systems: Context, Collaboration and Organisational Security
    (Cranfield University, 2020-01-09 09:37) Boakes, Emma
    Physical assets are increasingly connected to organisations’ networks, exposing organisations to the risk of cyber threats that could have a physical impact. There are several instances where this has already happened, and industry reports show that the number of groups interested in targeting such systems, and the number of cyber incidents on physical systems, is increasing. A Building Management Systems (BMS) is one such connected system. A cyber-attack targeting a BMS could disrupt heating, ventilation or power, or could undermine physical security operations which increasingly rely on internet-enabled devices, such as CCTV cameras and access control. In addition, these systems could be used as a gateway into the organisation’s network if not properly secured. It is increasingly important to consider a BMS within the context of an organisation’s overall protective security posture. Inclusion of a BMS on an organisation’s network not only increases the attack surface but also places a greater load on security staff, potentially leading to vulnerabilities. Additionally, a BMS spans the boundaries of cyber and physical security, so cyber, personnel and physical security teams need to work together to identify, understand and mitigate vulnerabilities.This research argues that current guidance fails to address the challenges of integrating cyber, personnel and physical security to protect a BMS. Guidance focuses on securing the attack surface with technological solutions and a ‘defence in depth’ approach but overlooks the impact this will have on staff managing the system. Increased system complexity puts yet more load on staff, further reducing their capacity, which in itself could create further vulnerabilities.Furthermore, guidance does not adequately address how separate security teams should collaborate to ensure effective solutions are implemented. The formal collaboration between security teams through a converged security approach has, however, been advocated by industry practitioners and the benefits of such an approach have been highlighted. Despite this, there is little evidence for the approach, and little detail about the type or level of convergence required to achieve the specified benefits. Moreover, there is no indication of how organisations might overcome the challenges of adopting such an approach.This research seeks to explore the context in which a BMS is implemented to inform organisations of the broader system implications around converged security. Initial research explores how separate security teams within organisations collaborate or converge. This presentation will outline the preliminary findings and highlight areas where future research is needed.
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    Converged Security: Building an Evidence-Based Road Map
    (Cranfield University, 2022-01-13T17:44:51Z) Boakes, Emma
    Incidents involving cyber-physical systems are increasing , , and are predicted to escalate further in the coming years . Convergence involves the integration of security resources within an organisation; it has been advocated since the early 2000s as a way of helping understand and mitigate vulnerabilities in cyber-physical systems. There is, however, little empirical research exploring converged security, and no clear roadmap for organisations who want to adopt the approach. My research examines the experiences of organisations who have taken a converged approach to security and uses this to develop an evidence-based roadmap for others to follow. I have carried out three studies to understand the implementation of converged security from different perspectives. Firstly, a literature review and a series of pilot interviews with senior security staff helped to identify the scope of converged security and key factors that facilitate effective convergence. These factors were then used to construct a three-round Delphi study with 23 security professionals working within converged security functions across the world. This study validated 22 critical success factors for implementing converged security. The third study comprised fifteen email interviews with senior staff involved in the decision to converge across different organisations and industry sectors. The interviews examined the move to convergence, and the decisions around its implementation. Taken together these studies provide an evidence-base of the activities that organisations need to adopt when deciding how to implement converged security, such as: effective communication to sell the idea, achieve buy-in and support; having a common goal that aligns converged security with business strategy; and the importance of culture, relationships and respect in ensuring collaboration within and between security resources. Grounded in the real-world experiences of a range of security professionals across different geographies and industries it is apparent that while there is no standard approach to convergence there are commonalities across different implementations. The methodological contribution of this research lies in mixed qualitative methods used remotely. The substantive contribution is an evidence-based road map for the delivery of converged security.
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    Ensuring Cyber-Physical Security in the Digital Built Environment
    (Cranfield University, 2018-11-15 17:05) Boakes, Emma
    Poster presented at the 2018 Defence and Security Doctoral Symposium.Cyberspace and physical space are increasingly enmeshed, and the need to secure the digital-built environment and its assets has given rise to the concept of cyber-physical security. Cyber-physical security concerns vulnerabilities in cyber security that can be exploited to target physical security, and vice versa. For example, insecure transmission of architectural designs can give attackers the ability to understand physical weaknesses in a building, and outsourcing of security and facilities management can provide access to an organisation through building management systems.There is a need for organisations to develop processes that will encompass cyber-physical security, but the frequent disparity between the policies, functions and personnel involved in cyber and physical security makes this problematic.This research will use methods from user-centred design to develop cyber-physical security interventions; example, scenario-driven interventions that could be used as part of regular table-top simulations and red team testing. Extensive engagement with key stakeholders will help to understand the problem space in order to develop interventions that are applicable, valid and usable, as well as providing an opportunity to test their impact. Investigations will adopt a mixed-methods approach (interviews, surveys, and focus groups) to understand how cyber and physical security personnel currently cooperate, including their awareness of the appropriate protective measures required from each other, the gaps between their approaches, and the barriers to collaboration.