Context (what is the problem?)
This project concerns decision making in high-pressure environments, which requires the ongoing detection and response to events that might derail those decisions. Those events include anything from simple interruptions (e.g., an urgent phone message) to malevolent acts (e.g., a cyberattack on a control room for the emergency services). The project will combine laboratory research and real-world research simulations. You will have an interdisciplinary supervisory team (from psychology and computer science) with strong links to the emergency services and to industry, and will join a vibrant interdisciplinary group with many linked centres spanning Human Factors Psychology, Cognitive Science and Cyber Security.
Cybersecurity incident response is a form of emergency response. The incidents might involve an individual actor responding to an isolated attack, or a multi-agency group of actors responding to a multi-pronged attack on national infrastructure. This project concerns understanding cybersecurity incident response in the context of opportunities for actors / cyber attackers to make use of (i) automated alerts to cyber attacks, from rule-based systems, and (ii) increasingly AI-driven responses.
The interdisciplinary (Psychology – in particular Human Factors, Cognitive Science and Social Cognition; and, Computer Science and Informatics) problem space is to understand: (i) individual and group dynamics that lead to an in/effective cyber incident response; (ii) the role played by automated methods for attack detection and how “dialling automated alerts up and down” have an impact of accuracy/effectiveness of decision making under pressure; and (iii) how humans develop trust with such approaches (e.g. AI-driven cyber incident responses) that enable hybrid (human and system) approaches that can handle small and large-scale attacks.
Proposed approach (what is the novelty?)
The experimental work will use our immersive Cyber Attack Laboratories (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/centre-for-cyber-security-research/about) to launch attacks on a replica enterprise IT networks, and will study how experts (drawn from industry partners and broader emergency responders) respond to these attacks – e.g. within our Simulation Laboratory (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/artificial-intelligence-robotics-and-human-machine-systems/facilities/simulation-lab) using e.g. a state-of-the-art immersive dome and/or Security Operations Centre (depending on which is best suited to task).
Experimental scenarios will vary in complexity, and include the provision and integration of automated alerts. In each case, we will study the responses of actors and groups, and tailor decision-making playbooks to improve the response. For the automated cyber incident response, we will conduct experiments to help improve human acceptability of and trust in algorithmic decision making, using well-established questionnaires and correlated real-time behavioural indices of trust.
Value to the field
The value to Psychology will be new insights into decision making under pressure for cybersecurity incident response, building on the award winning work with the UK Fire and Rescue Service and broader emergency services (e.g., Strategic Coordinating Groups). It will lead to journal articles on this topic.
In Computer Science, the research will lead to new insights into how AI can drive automated cyber responses in such a way that humans are content to work with the algorithmic approaches, and will work towards adopting them as part of everyday practice.
The studentship will commence in October 2023 and will cover your tuition fees (at UK level) as well as a maintenance grant. In 2022/23 the maintenance grant for full-time students was £17,668 per annum. As well as tuition fees and a maintenance grant, all School of Psychology students receive access to courses offered by the University’s Doctoral Academy and become members of the University Doctoral Academy
As only one studentship is available and a very high standard of applications is typically received, the successful applicant is likely to have a very good first degree (a First or Upper Second class BSc Honours or equivalent) and/or be distinguished by having relevant research experience.
How to apply:
You can apply online - consideration is automatic on applying for a PhD in Psychology, with an October 2023 start date.
Please use our online application service at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/applying
Please specify that you are applying for this particular project and the supervisor.
The School of Psychology is one of the largest and most successful in the UK and we are dedicated to providing a dynamic and stimulating learning environment informed by our leading research in psychology and neuroscience - (http://www.cf.ac.uk/psych/).
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