RITICS Workshop on 'Security and Impact of Cyber-Physical Assets'

Call for Participants

We are excited to invite undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD students across the UK to participate in a pivotal one-day workshop event "Security and Impact of Cyber-Physical Assets", supported by the Research Institute In Trustworthy Inter-Connected Cyber-Physical Systems (RITICS). This event is dedicated to exploring the increasingly crucial intersection between the domains of Cyber-Physical Systems. The event is scheduled to take place at Cardiff University on the 28th of March 2025 at Glamorgan Building, Cathays, Cardiff. The workshop aims to serve as a nexus for academic discourse, professional development, and collaborative exploration. Our commitment to fostering diversity and inclusivity is at the forefront of this initiative. We strongly encourage applications from students of the UK marginalised groups, including women and those with disabilities, underscoring our dedication to cultivating a varied and dynamic academic environment.

The workshop is designed to offer attendees a comprehensive understanding of the current and future landscape of cyber-physical systems and cyber-attacks impact on smart cyber-physical systems. It will feature insightful presentations from leading industry experts, panel discussions, and a dedicated session to for research presentation, along with providing a unique platform for scholarly exchange and network expansion. 

To acknowledge each participant's contribution, the event will award the 'Certification of Participation'. We invite you to join us in this exciting opportunity of advanced cyber-physical security, analytics and innovation, offering a great place for learning and future collaborations.

We invite you to join us in this advanced exploration of cyber security and innovation, where academic and industry boundaries converge, fostering a rich environment for learning and future collaborations.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to undergraduate, postgraduate (Master's), PhD, and postdoctoral students of all disciplines from universities across the UK as well as to industry practitioners who wish to enhance their knowledge in this area.

Expenses Support

Furthermore, to ensure an accessible and equitable experience for the workshop, the event offers to reimburse expenses for outstation participants up to £180 (for travel up to £100 and accommodation up to £80) to attend the workshop in Cardiff. 

How to Apply

To apply for this workshop, interested candidates are required to register themselves on the given link. Any queries can be sent to Dr Neteesh Saxena at saxenan4@cardiff.ac.uk with the subject line "RITICS workshop application" by the 10th of February 2025. 

Spaces are limited, so we encourage you to book your seat ASAP. Candidates will be selected on a 'first come first serve' basis.

Registration

Registration to the event can be completed on this link latest by the 10th of February 2025: click here

We reserve the right to close the registration sooner than the deadline if the seats are full.

Benefits

Ø  Gain valuable insights from industry and academic leaders through focused discussions, expert talks, and hands-on knowledge.

Ø  Enjoy complimentary expense coverage through the workshop, including morning and afternoon tea/coffee and a lunch meal.

Ø  Network with distinguished scholars and industry experts in the relevant field.

Ø  Receive a Certificate of Participation endorsed, recognising your involvement and learning.

Event Summary

Workshop Date: 28th March 2025

Venue: Cardiff University, 

Glamorgan Building, Committee Room 1&2,

King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT

Contact Information

Organiser: Dr Neetesh Saxena (saxenan4@cardiff.ac.uk)

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We warmly invite you to seize this unique opportunity to expand your horizons in the world of Cyber-Physical Systems. Don't miss your chance to be part of this enlightening experience – register now to secure your spot! Thank you for considering this transformative workshop. We eagerly anticipate your participation and are excited to witness the diverse ideas and perspectives you will bring to this dynamic event.

Workshop Schedule

All participants will be provided with breakfast, lunch and evening tea/coffee.

Workshop Registration (with refreshment) - 0900 - 0950 hrs

Morning Session: 0950 - 1200 hrs

Welcome by Neetesh Saxena - 09:50 - 10:00 hrs

Speaker: Chris Hankin (Imperial College London) - 10:00 - 10:30 hrs

Professor Hankin joined Imperial College London in 1984 and was promoted to Professor of Computing Science in 1995. His research is in cyber security, data analytics and theoretical computer science. He leads multidisciplinary projects focused on providing better decision support to defend against cyber attacks for both enterprise systems and industrial control systems. He is Co-Director of the UK Research Institute on Trustworthy Inter-connected Cyber-physical Systems (RITICS) which focuses on cyber security of critical infrastructure. He is the immediate past chair of the Board for the International Cyber Security Centre of Excellence (INCS-CoE), a joint US, UK and Japanese initiative. He is a past chair of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Europe Council and immediate past chair of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee. 

Title: RITICS and the Cyber-physical Problem Book

 This talk will introduce the RITICS aims and objectives and review some of our past contributions.  We will introduce the Cyber-physical Problem Book and present some of the current RITICS-related research and situate it with respect to the problem book.  We will conclude the talk with a brief survey of some emerging issues and a consideration of how they might impact the security of critical infrastructure systems.

Speaker: Tom Chothia (University of Birmingham) - 10:40 - 11:10 hrs

Tom Chothia is a Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Birmingham, UK. His research involves the development of new mathematical analysis techniques, and the application of these techniques to real world cyber security problems. He leads research projects on industrial control systems security (including rail), automated firmware analysis and protocol analysis. His past work on the security of EMV, ApplePay, banking apps, pacemakers and video game cheats have all received widespread media coverage. His team's CNI work includes a detailed cryptographic analysis of the EuroRadio protocol, the protocols used in Positive Train Control and a proposal for a post quantum secure key management scheme for trains. Tom has carried out funded rail cyber security projects for the UN, NCSC and the UK's Office of Rail and Road.

Title: Formal Analysis of I-ETMS Train Control Systems

Modern trains are computer networks on wheels that receive encrypted commands from backend servers. Rail is an important part of critical national infrastructure; many supermarkets rely on rail to stock the shelves with food and many employees need functioning trains to get to work. This makes the cyber security of rail interesting to study. In this talk I will discuss the analysis of the closed source, proprietary I-ETMS train control system, and our analysis of this that goes from public safety case documents, to formal models and then to cyber security results. I'll also talk about how we can translate cyber risks back into safety risks, and engage with safety regulators and safety orientated companies; so completing the safety-cyber circle.

Speaker: Dimitrios Pezaros (University of Glasgow) - 11:20 - 11:50 hrs

Dimitrios Pezaros received the B.Sc. and Ph.D. in computer science from Lancaster University in 2000 and 2005, respectively. He is a Full Professor of Computer Networks with the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, where he currently holds the DSTL & CINIF / RAEng Research Chair of Digital Resilience for Critical National Infrastructure. He has received significant funding for his research from various funding agencies and industry and has published widely in the areas of computer communications, network and service management, and network resilience. He is a Chartered Engineer, a fellow of the BCS and IET, and a Senior Member of IEEE and ACM.

Title: Systems – Data – People: Three pillars in assuring Digital Resilience for Critical National Infrastructure

Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is becoming digitally enhanced and interconnected through the interface between Operational Technology (OT) with generic ICT capability. While such developments bring substantial benefits to the modernisation and sustainability of CNI, they also mean it is increasingly exposed to cyberattacks and adversarial events with potentially catastrophic consequences to society, national defence, and the functioning of the state. In this talk, I will discuss how advances in networked systems technology, machine-learning based device fingerprinting and anomaly diagnosis in industrial environments, and human-machine collaboration in augmenting organisational cyber-incident response can help assure the resilience in CNI  against threats manifest through the digital.

Lunch - 1200-1330 hrs

Afternoon Session: 1330 - 1600 hrs

Speaker: Gareth Davies (Thales UK) - 13:30 - 14:00 hrs

Gareth is the Head of Cyber Security Research at Thales UK, bringing over 17 years of extensive experience in teaching, consulting, and research and development in cyber and digital forensics solutions. As a recognised leader in the field, Gareth has made significant contributions to advancing forensic methodologies and enhancing cybersecurity measures. Additionally, Gareth serves as the chairman of the UK's First Forensic Forum (F3), fostering collaboration and innovation within the forensic community. With a passion for knowledge sharing and a commitment to developing cutting-edge solutions, Gareth continues to help shape the future of cyber forensics and security.

Title: Exploring the Art of the Possible in Cyber Forensics for Cyber-Physical Systems

As cyber-physical systems (CPS) increasingly support critical infrastructures like energy, transportation and healthcare, robust cyber forensics becomes essential. This presentation will explore the unique challenges of CPS and the innovative forensic methodologies being developed. By analysing recent cyber incidents, we will highlight the need for advanced techniques, including AI-driven analysis and improved data recovery methods. Additionally, we will discuss cyber forensics as a key component in effective incident response strategies and the importance of collaboration among industries, governments, and academia for establishing standardised practices. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the future of cyber forensics and strategies to enhance their cyber interception efforts.

Speaker: Manimuthu Arunmozhi (Aston University) - 14:10 - 14:40 hrs

Dr. Manimuthu Arunmozhi is an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity and Business Analytics and an active researcher in automotive cybersecurity and cyber-physical system at Aston University. He is core member of Aston Centre for Cybersecurity and Associate member of Aston Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Application (ACAIRA). His expertise lies in Pentesting, secure vehicular communication, AI-driven intrusion detection, and regulatory frameworks for connected and autonomous vehicles. His research focuses on threat modeling, and anomaly detection in software-defined vehicles. He has contributed to industry collaborations on secure V2X architectures, privacy-preserving ML models for autonomous driving for companies like BMN and DESAY SV Automotiv. Dr. Arunmozhi regularly engages with policymakers, industry leaders, and standardization bodies to develop robust security mechanisms for the next generation of software-defined mobility systems.

Title: Threat Modeling and Security Landscapes in Connected and Autonomous Electric Vehicles: Overcoming Adoption Barriers with Resilient Architectures

The deployment of Connected and Autonomous Electric Vehicles (CAEVs) introduces new layers of safety and cybersecurity risks due to their dependence on V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communications, AI-driven decision-making, and over-the-air (OTA) updates. With the rapid integration of software-defined architectures, cloud connectivity, and AI-based driving systems, attack surfaces have expanded, raising concerns over sensor spoofing, adversarial ML attacks, supply chain vulnerabilities, and vehicular ransomware. This talk provides a technical deep dive into the cyber-physical threat landscape in CAEVs, focusing on threat modeling, cryptographic security frameworks, and real-time intrusion detection mechanisms. We will examine resilient cybersecurity architectures, including zero-trust models for vehicular networks, post-quantum cryptography for V2X, and AI-based anomaly detection for autonomous decision-making. Additionally, the discussion will highlight key regulatory and standardization efforts (UNECE WP.29, ISO/SAE 21434, IEEE 1609.2) that define cybersecurity and safety benchmarks for autonomous electric mobility. The session will also explore practical risk mitigation strategies, including hardware security modules (HSMs) for ECU protection, blockchain for secure OTA updates, and federated learning for real-time threat intelligence sharing. The goal is to provide actionable insights into designing and implementing secure-by-design CAEV ecosystems, ensuring both regulatory compliance and public trust in next-generation autonomous transport systems.

Speaker: Daniel Lewis (KPMG) - 14:50 - 15:20 hrs

Daniel Lewis is currently Senior Manager of OT Cybersecurity at KPMG. He was previously the Founder and CEO of Awen Collective (a specialist OT cyber security software business) and a Senior Research Fellow in cybersecurity and digital forensics at the University of South Wales. Daniel has also previously advised both UK Government on how to work with cyber start-ups, and advised cyber start-ups on how to grow internationally and work with UK Government. His BT-sponsored doctoral research at the University of Bristol was in a novel approach to fuzzy set theory with the application on physical incident forensics and also holds a BSc(Hons) in Intelligent Systems and Software Engineering from Oxford Brookes University. He carefully balances strategy with the tactical, commercial with the technical, and formal with the informal.

Title: “Shift Left,” or perhaps “Shift Outwards” – the need for real OT cybersecurity solutions

So much of the commercial market within OT cybersecurity is focused on active cyber defence, for example the intrusion/anomaly detection systems. The concept of “shifting left” within the cybersecurity lifecycle generally is becoming quite popular for good reason, reducing risk before an attack is essential. This has led to some good investments in general cybersecurity in Security-by-Design and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). But what about within OT cybersecurity in particular? Do we need to shift away from the centre of the lifecycle? If so, do we shift to the left, or to the right? We will attempt to get to the bottom of this in this talk.

Speaker: Vijay Kumar (CIH) - 15:30 - 16:00 hrs

Vijay is leading the OT courses and the Testbeds of critical national infrastructure at Cyber Innovation Hub (Cardiff University). His PhD was in Smart Cities and Cybersecurity. Have consultancy research industry experience at CSC, EY and Toshiba.

Title: Advancing OT Knowledge Practical Hands-on: An effort by Cyber Innovation Hub (Cardiff University)

Cyber Innovation Hub has been funded by Welsh Gov and CCR to make Wales a tech hub. We are exploring different ways to advance Cyber security in OT area. We would talk about the different projects we are working on and how we are moving ahead in OT cybersecurity and how we can collaborate.

Tea/Coffee Break and Networking - 1600 - 1630 hrs 

Theme: Cybersecurity skills for research/industry

This is an excellent opportunity for the attendees and students to interact with the experts (in-person) to discuss their research/industry interests and understand what cybersecurity skills set they need to develop for potential employment.

Event ends - 1630 hrs

Venue

Cardiff University, 

Glamorgan Building, Committee Room 1 and 2,

King Edward VII Avenue, 

Cardiff, CF10 3WT