Security Analysis and Measures in Industrial Automation Systems

Job status: Full Time
Contract type: Fixed term (3 years)
Stipend: £14,296 for 2016/17
Closing Date: 12 December 2016

The bursary will include:
1. a standard student stipend, which is 36 monthly payments (subject to satisfactory progress) at the prevailing rate set by the Research Councils.
2. payment of fees at the Home/EU level for three years

Research team: Dr Majeed Soufian (SEBE) and Dr Naghmeh Moradpoor (SoC)

The School of Engineering and the Built Environment (SEBE) and School of Computing (SoC) at Edinburgh Napier University is expanding its research into Industrial Automation Systems Security applications and is offering a PhD studentship position to enable a suitably qualified candidate to join the research team.

In last two decades, there have been rapid advances in industrial automation systems, including both factory and process control automation beside many other embedded control systems network such as CAN, which has widely been used in cars and aeroplane engine management systems. Despite the importance of such systems especially in civilian daily life, their security issues have been much less considered and underdeveloped in comparison to its financial counterparts and other networked computer systems.

The project which supports this studentship will explore security concerns and measures in industrial automation systems.

The aims of the proposed work are to:
1. Identify security vulnerability of a typical industrial automation system.
2. Develop a vulnerability scanner tool to detect and report security vulnerability of a typical industrial automation system.
3. Identify countermeasures for removing or minimising security vulnerabilities of a typical industrial automation system.
4. Develop a security patch management tool for removing or minimising security vulnerabilities of a typical industrial automation system.
5. Develop a prototype system for project evaluation and experimental testing.
6. Conduct tests and internationally disseminate the outcomes of the project work.

Interested applicants should: -
1. hold a Masters or First class Honours degree or equivalent in a related discipline. This includes but not limited to Cybersecurity, Control Engineering, Networking, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Software Engineering or Automation and Robotics.
2. be self-motivated, have good practical hardware/software/control implementation, prototyping skills and have good communication skills for regular interaction with the research team.
3. desirably have previous experience working on Cybersecurity (e.g. as a network/application penetration tester), Control Engineering and related projects; but this is not compulsory.

It is anticipated the studentship will start on 2nd January 2017. All applications must be received by 12 December 2016, with interviews expected to take place on the week commencing 19 December 2016.

Please apply by following this link:
https://applications2.napier.ac.uk/jobvac/Jobdetails.aspx?GUID=2040DE77-C4B0-49A9-BEB2-474200955FAF