Cranfield University and the Defence Cyber School at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham, are setting up a National Cyber Deception Laboratory (NCDL).
It will be aimed bringing practitioners and researchers from government, academia and industry to facilitate research and provide guidance in the context of national security.
The initiative is intended to produce new approaches to the development of cyber deception capabilities. These involve controlled acts to conceal networks and create confusion among potential attackers.
Cranfield University said it is likely to be one of the most significant growth areas in cyber security over the coming years, and its evolution within the UK military will allow network defenders to take a proactive approach to defend against attackers operating within their networks. This may involve confusing the enemy into taking steps that might expose their identity or sabotaging their attacks.
Creating errors
Darren Lawrence, director of the NCDL and senior lecturer in behavioural science and head of the Information Operations Group at Cranfield University, said: “Military networks need a full spectrum military defence – existing civilian security approaches are simply not up to this task.
“Deception is all about creating errors in how our adversaries make sense of their world. It is about getting them to act in ways that suit our purposes, not theirs.
“We are delighted to be working with the Defence Cyber School on this initiative. Researching ways to shape attacker behaviour and deny them the freedom to operate within our networks will enable military cyber defence to move on to a more aggressive footing and deter future attacks.”
The Defence Cyber School is a Ministry of Defence facility providing training and education for military and government organisations on protecting against cyber attacks.
Image from Cranfield University, CC BY-SA 3.0
