Professor Dimitrios Pezaros, University of Glasgow

Critical National Infrastructure is becoming digitally enhanced and increasingly modernised to support better automation and efficiency. This happens through the interface between operational technology that controls physical processes, such as sensors, valves, and turbines, whit generic ICT offering advanced compute and interconnection capabilities. A consequence of such modernisation is that elements of these vital systems could be exposed to cyberattacks and adversarial events thant manifest through the digital infrastructure.

This research programme aims to devise a holistic approach to protect the complex operation environments in defence and civil nuclear facilities. These comprise legacy and resource-constrained components and can have stringent performance requirements and reaction timescales.

The project will include the development of technical mechanisms to measure and enrich the ability of systems to respond to challenges in their dynamic operation. It will also include machine-learning approaches for timely diagnosis of adversarial events as they evolve. And the effective integration of technology within broader organisational and regulatory frameworks governing the relevant sectors.