Professor Tim Watson

  • Professor of Cyber Security

Professor Tim Watson FBCS FIET is Professor of Cyber Security and the Director of the Cyber Security Centre at Loughborough University. With more than thirty years’ experience working with government, industry and in academia, he has been involved with a wide range of programmes, several high-profile projects and has acted as a consultant for some of the largest telecoms, power and transport companies. He is an adviser to various parts of the UK government and to several professional and standards bodies. Tim’s research includes EU-funded projects on combating cyber crime, UK MoD research into automated defence, insider threat and secure remote working, and UKRI-funded research, focusing on the protection of critical national infrastructure against cyber attack. Tim is seconded for part of his time to The Alan Turing Institute where he is the Programme Director for Defence and Security.

Cyber Security and Resilience, AI

2022

Boyes, Hugh and Watson, Tim (2022) Digital twins : an analysis framework and open issues. Computers in Industry, 143 . 103763. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2022.103763 ISSN 2049-4297.

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2022) Information management for trust computation on resource-constrained IoT devices. Future Generation Computer Systems, 135 . pp. 348-363. doi:10.1016/j.future.2022.05.004 ISSN 0167-739X.

Fernandez de Arroyabe, IgnacioWatson, Tim and Angelopoulou, Olga (2022) Cybersecurity in the automotive industry : a systematic literature review (SLR). Journal of Computer Information Systems . pp. 1-19. doi:10.1080/08874417.2022.2103853 ISSN 0887-4417. (In Press)

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, ArshadWatson, TimFlores, DenysBurton, Jonathan and Butler, Matthew (2022) Threat modelling guided trust-based task offloading for resource-constrained Internet of Things. Transactions on Sensor Networks, 18 (2). 29. doi:10.1145/3510424 ISSN 1550-4859. 

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, ArshadWatson, TimFlores, DenysBurton, Jonathan and Butler, Matthew (2022) Threat-modeling-guided trust-based task offloading for resource-constrained Internet of Things. ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, 18 (2). pp. 1-41. 29. doi:10.1145/3510424 ISSN 1550-4867.

2021

Karamperidis, StavrosKapalidis, Chronis and Watson, Tim (2021) Maritime cyber security : a global challenge tackled through distinct regional approaches. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 9 (12). e1323. doi:10.3390/jmse9121323 ISSN 2077-1312.

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2021) Trust trackers for computation offloading in edge-based IoT networks. In: INFOCOM, Virtual, 10-13 May 2021. Published in: IEEE INFOCOM 2021 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications doi:10.1109/INFOCOM42981.2021.9488844 ISSN 0743-166X.

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2021) Trust assessment in 32 KiB of RAM : multi-application trust-based task offloading for resource-constrained IoT nodes. In: Symposium on Applied Computing, Virtual conference, Republic of Korea, 22-26 Mar 2021. Published in: SAC '21: Proceedings of the 36th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing pp. 184-193. ISBN 9781450381048. doi:10.1145/3412841.3441898 

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2021) Data for Buffer management for trust computation in resource-constrained IoT networks. 

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2021) Data for Trust assessment in 32 KiB of RAM : multi-application trust-based task offloading for resource-constrained IoT nodes. 

Bradbury, Matthew S.Jhumka, Arshad and Watson, Tim (2021) Data for Trust trackers for computation offloading in edge-based IoT networks.

2020

Adegoke, Elijah I.Bradbury, Matthew S.Kampert, ErikHiggins, Matthew D.Watson, TimJennings, Paul A.Ford, Col R.Buesnel, Guy and Hickling, Steve (2020) PNT cyber resilience : a Lab2Live observer based approach, Report 1 : GNSS resilience and identified vulnerabilities. Technical Report 1. Coventry: University of Warwick. (Unpublished)

Bradbury, Matthew S.Adegoke, Elijah I.Kampert, ErikHiggins, Matthew D.Watson, TimJennings, Paul A.Ford, Col R.Buesnel, Guy and Steve, Hickling (2020) PNT cyber resilience : a Lab2Live observer based approach, Report 2: specifications for cyber testing facilities. Technical report 2. Coventry: University of Warwick. (Unpublished)

Tully, GillianCohen, NeilCompton, DavidDavies, GarethIsbell, Roy and Watson, Tim (2020) Quality standards for digital forensics : learning from experience in England & Wales. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 32 . 200905. doi:10.1016/j.fsidi.2020.200905 ISSN 0379-0738.

2019

Boyes, Hugh and Watson, Tim (2019) Towards a secure and resilient IoT architecture for smart home energy management. In: Living in the Internet of Things, London, 1-2 May 2019. Published in: Proceedings of Living in the Internet of Things ISBN 9781839530890. doi:10.1049/cp.2019.0161 

Sohrabi Safa, Nader Maple, CarstenHaghparast, MahboobehWatson, Tim and Dianati, Mehrdad (2019) An opportunistic resource management model to overcome resource-constraint in the Internet of Things. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 31 (8). e5014. doi:10.1002/cpe.5014 ISSN 1532-0626.

Kamarudin, Muhammad HilmiMaple, Carsten and Watson, Tim (2019) Hybrid feature selection technique for intrusion detection system. International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking (IJHPCN), 13 (2). pp. 232-240. doi:10.1504/IJHPCN.2019.097503 ISSN 1740-0562.

Yuan, HuMaple, CarstenLu, Yi and Watson, Tim (2019) Peer-assisted location authentication and access control for wireless networks. Internet Technology Letters . e71. doi:10.1002/itl2.71

2018

Boyes, HughHallaq, BilalCunningham, Joe and Watson, Tim (2018) The industrial internet of things (IIoT) : an analysis framework. Computers in Industry, 101 . pp. 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2018.04.015 ISSN 1872-6194.

Yuan, HuMaple, CarstenChen, Chao and Watson, Tim (2018) Cross-device tracking through identification of user typing behaviours. Electronics Letters, 54 (15). pp. 957-959. doi:10.1049/el.2018.0893 ISSN 0013-5194.

Lu, YiMaple, CarstenSheik, Al TariqAlhagagi, Hussam A.Watson, TimDianati, Mehrdad and Mouzakitis, Alexandros (2018) Analysis of cyber risk and associated concentration of research (ACR)² in the security of vehicular edge clouds. In: Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018, London, 28-29 Mar 2018. Published in: Proceedings of Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018 pp. 1-11. ISBN 9781785618437. doi:10.1049/cp.2018.0019 

Sohrabi Safa, Nader Maple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Von Solms, Rossouw (2018) Motivation and opportunity based model to reduce information security insider threats in organisations. Journal of Information Security and Applications, 40 . pp. 247-257. doi:10.1016/j.jisa.2017.11.001 ISSN 2214-2126.

Safa, Nader SohrabiMaple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Von Solms, Rossouw (2018) Motivation and opportunity based model to reduce information security insider threats in organisations. Journal of Information Security and Applications, 40 . pp. 247-257. doi:10.1016/j.jisa.2017.11.001 ISSN 2214-2126.

Chen, ChaoLee, Sang WooWatson, TimMaple, Carsten and Lu, Yi (2018) CAESAR : A criticality-aware ECDSA signature verification scheme with Markov Model. In: 2017 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), Torino, Italy, 27-29 Nov 2017. Published in: 2017 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC) doi:10.1109/VNC.2017.8275638 ISSN 2157-9865.

Chen, ChaoLee, Sang WooWatson, TimMaple, Carsten and Lu, Yi (2018) ATHENA : a pagerank-based scheme to solve the thundering herd in authentication. In: 2018 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), Taipei, Taiwan, 05-07 Dec 2018 pp. 1-4. ISBN 9781538694299. doi:10.1109/VNC.2018.8628353 ISSN 2157-9857.

Ivanov, Ivan V.Maple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Lee, S. (2018) Cyber security standards and issues in V2X communications for Internet of Vehicles. In: Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018, IET London, Savoy Place, 28-29 Mar 2018. Published in: Proceedings of Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018 ISBN 9781785618437. doi:10.1049/cp.2018.0046 

Sohrabi Safa, Nader Maple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Furnell, Steven (2018) Information security collaboration formation in organisations. IET Information Security, 12 (3). 238. doi:10.1049/iet-ifs.2017.0257 ISSN 1751-8709

Le, AnhtuanMaple, Carsten and Watson, Tim (2018) A profile-driven dynamic risk assessment framework for connected and autonomous vehicles. In: Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018, London, 28-29 Mar 2018. Published in: Proceedings of Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT - 2018 pp. 1-8. ISBN 9781785618437. doi:10.1049/cp.2018.0020

2017

Kamarudin, Muhammad HilmiMaple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Sohrabi Safa, Nader (2017) A new unified intrusion anomaly detection in identifying unseen web attacks. Security and Communication Networks, 2017 . pp. 1-18. 2539034. doi:10.1155/2017/2539034 ISSN 1939-0114.

Kamarudin, Muhammad HilmiMaple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Sohrabi Safa, Nader (2017) A LogitBoost-based algorithm for detecting known and unknown web attacks. IEEE Access, 5 . 26190 -26200. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2017.2766844 ISSN 2169-3536.

Sample, CharHutchinson, SteveCowley, JenniferWatson, TimHallaq, Bilal and Maple, Carsten (2017) Data fidelity : security’s soft underbelly. In: IEEE 11th International conference on Recent Challenges in Information Systems, Brighton, UK, 10-12 May 2017. Published in: 2017 11th International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS) ISBN 9781509054763. doi:10.1109/RCIS.2017.7956552 ISSN 2151-1357. 

Sohrabi Safa, NaderMaple, Carsten and Watson, Tim (2017) The information security landscape in the supply chain. Computer Fraud & Security, 6 . pp. 16-20. doi:10.1016/S1361-3723(17)30053-2 ISSN 1361-3723. 

He, HongmeiWatson, TimMaple, CarstenMehnen, Jorn and Ashutosh, Tiwari (2017) A new semantic attribute deep learning with a linguistic attribute hierarchy for spam detection. In: IJCNN 2017 : International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, Anchorage, Alaska, 14-19 May 2017 pp. 1-8. (Submitted)

Sohrabi Safa, Nader Maple, Carsten and Watson, Tim (2017) An information security risk management model for smart industries. In: Gao, James and El Souri, Mohammed and Keates, Simeon, (eds.) Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXXI. Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering, 6 . IOS Press, pp. 257-262. ISBN 9781614997917

Sheik, Al TariqMaple, CarstenWatson, TimAlhagagi, Hussam A.Sohrabi Safa, Nader and Lee, Sang Woo (2017) A threat based approach to computational offloading for collaborative cruise control. In: The Second International Conference on Internet of Things, Data and Cloud Computing (ICC 2017), University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 22-23 March 2017. Published in: ICC '17 Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Internet of things and Cloud Computing ISBN 9781450347747. doi:10.1145/3018896.3056792 

2016

Somer, TiiaHallaq, Bilal and Watson, Tim (2016) Utilising journey mapping and crime scripting to combat cyber crime and cyber warfare attacks. Journal of Information Warfare, 15 (4). pp. 39-49. ISSN 1445-3312. 

He, HongmeiTiwari, AshutoshMehnen, JornWatson, TimMaple, CarstenJin, Yaochu and Gabrys, Bogdan (2016) Incremental information gain analysis of input attribute impact on RBF-Kernel SVM spam detection. In: 2016 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Canada, 24-29 Jul 2016. Published in: 2016 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) ISBN 9781509006236. doi:10.1109/CEC.2016.7743901

Kamarudin, Muhammad HilmiMaple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Sofian, Hasliza (2016) Packet header intrusion detection with binary logistic regression approach in detecting R2L and U2R attacks. In: International Conference on Cyber Security, Jakarta, Indonesia, 29-31 Oct 2015. Published in: 2015 Fourth International Conference on Cyber Security, Cyber Warfare, and Digital Forensic (CyberSec) ISBN 9781467384995. 

Sample, CharCowley, Jennifer and Watson, Tim (2016) Re-thinking threat intelligence. In: New Paradigms in Security Workshop, Colorado, USA, 26-29 Sep 2016 (Unpublished)

Bryant, IanMaple, Carsten and Watson, Tim (2016) A cross-disciplinary approach to modelling and expressing adversity. In: 15th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ECCWS), Munich, Germany, 7-8 Jul 2016. Published in: Eccws 2016 - Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security pp. 42-51. ISBN 9781910810934.

Somer, T.Hallaq, Bilal and Watson, Tim (2016) Utilising journey crime mapping and scripting to combat cyber ​​crime. In: 15th European Conference on Cyber ​​Warfare and Security, Munich, Germany, 7-8 Jul 2016. Published in: Proceedings of The 15th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security - ECCWS 2016 ISBN 9781910810934. ISSN 2049-9870.

Sample, CharMaple, CarstenWatson, Tim and Hallaq, Bilal (2016) A less subjective method for evaluating cyber event threat actors. Computers & Security .

He, HongmeiMaple, CarstenWatson, TimTiwari, AshutoshMehnen, JohnYaochu, Jin and Gabrys, Bogdan (2016) The security challenges in the IoT enabled cyber-physical systems and opportunities for evolutionary computing and other computational intelligence. In: IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI), Vancouver, Canada, 24-29 Jul 2016

2015

Nicholson, AndrewJanicke, Helge Watson, Tim and Smith, Richard (2015) Rolling the dice – deceptive authentication for attack attribution. In: 10th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security: ICCWS2015, South Africa, 24-25 Mar 2015. Published in: The Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security: ICCWS2015 ISBN 9781910309964.

Le Compte, AlexisElizondo, David and Watson, Tim (2015) A renewed approach to serious games for cyber security. In: 7th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Architectures in Cyberspace (CyCon), 2015, Tallinn, 26-29 May 2015. Published in: 7th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Architectures in Cyberspace (CyCon), 2015 pp. 203-216. ISBN 9789949954421. doi:10.1109/CYCON.2015.7158478

2014

Boyes, HughIsbell, Roy and Watson, Tim (2014) Critical infrastructure in the future city - developing secure and resilient cyber–physical systems. In: 9th International Conference on Critical Information Infrastructures Security, Limassol, Cyprus, 13-15 Oct 2014. Published in: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8985 pp. 12-23. ISBN 9783319316635. ISSN 0302-9743.

Boyes, H.Watson, Tim and Norris, P. (2014) Application of asset management in managing cyber security of complex systems. In: Asset Management Conference 2014, London, 27-28 Nov 2014. Published in: Asset Management Conference 2014 1.09 (6 .)-1.09 (6 .). ISBN 9781849198653. doi:10.1049/cp.2014.1028

Boyes, H.A.Watson, TimNorris, P. and Isbell, R. (2014) Enabling intelligent cities through cyber security of building information and building systems. In: IET Conference on Future Intelligent Cities, London, 4-5 Dec 2014. Published in: IET Conference on Future Intelligent Cities 5 -5 . doi:10.1049/ic.2014.0046 ISSN 9781849199810.

St. John-Green, M. and Watson, Tim (2014) Safety and security of the Smart City - when our infrastructure goes online. In: 9th IET International Conference on System Safety and Cyber Security (2014), Manchester, United Kingdom, 15-16 Oct. 2014. Published in: 9th IET International Conference on System Safety and Cyber Security (2014) pp. 1-6. doi:10.1049/cp.2014.0981 ISSN 9781849199407.

Boyes, H.Norris, P.Bryant, I. and Watson, Tim (2014) Trustworthy Software : lessons from `goto fail' & Heartbleed bugs. In: 9th IET International Conference on System Safety and Cyber Security (2014), Manchester, United Kingdom, 15-16 Oct 2014. Published in: 9th IET International Conference on System Safety and Cyber Security (2014) pp. 1-7. ISBN 9781849199407. doi:10.1049/cp.2014.0970

Boyes, Hugh Isbell , Roy and Watson, Tim (2014) The resilient city and the role of cyber-physical systems. pp. 49-61.

2013

Luque-Baena, Rafael M.Elizondo, DavidLópez-Rubio, EzequielPalomo, Esteban J. and Watson, Tim (2013) Assessment of geometric features for individual identification and verification in biometric hand systems. Expert Systems with Applications, 40 (9). pp. 3580-3594. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2012.12.065 ISSN 0957-4174.

Elizondo, David A.Morris, RobertWatson, Tim and Passow, Benjamin N. (2013) Constructive recursive deterministic perception neural networks with genetic algorithms. International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, 27 (06). 1350019. doi:10.1142/S0218001413500195 ISSN 0218-0014.

Nicholson, Andrew Janicke, Helge and Watson, Tim (2013) An initial investigation into attribution in SCADA systems. In: 1st International Symposium on ICS & SCADA Cyber Security Research 2013. Published in: Proceeding ICS-CSR 2013 Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on ICS & SCADA Cyber Security Research 2013 pp. 56-65. ISBN 9781780172323.

2012

Palomo, E. J.North, J.Elizondo, D.Luque, R. M. and Watson, Tim (2012) Application of growing hierarchical SOM for visualisation of network forensics traffic data. Neural Networks, 32 . pp. 275-284. doi:10.1016/j.neunet.2012.02.021 ISSN 0893-6080.

Palomo, E. J.Elizondo, D.Domínguez, E.Luque, R. M. and Watson, Tim (2012) SOM-based techniques towards hierarchical visualisation of network forensics traffic data. In: Computational Intelligence for Privacy and Security. Springer, pp. 75-95. ISBN 9783642252365

Bitter, ChristianNorth, JohnElizondo, David A. and Watson, Tim (2012) An introduction to the use of neural networks for network intrusion detection. In: Computational Intelligence for Privacy and Security. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 5-24. ISBN 9783642252365

2011

Palomo, E. J.North, J.Elizondo, D.Luque, R.M. and Watson, Tim (2011) Visualisation of network forensics traffic data with a self-organising map for qualitative features. In: The 2011 International Joint Conference onNeural Networks (IJCNN), San Jose, CA, 31 Jul 2011 - 5 Aug 2011. Published in: The 2011 International Joint Conference onNeural Networks (IJCNN) pp. 1740-1747. ISBN 9781424496358. doi:10.1109/IJCNN.2011.6033434

2010

Bitter, ChristianElizondo, David A. and Watson, Tim (2010) Application of artificial neural networks and related techniques to intrusion detection. In: The 2010 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), Barcelona, 18-23 Jul 2010. Published in: The 2010 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) pp. 1-8. ISBN 9781424469161. doi:10.1109/IJCNN.2010.5596532