Featured Post from Aston University

Aston University cyber security experts to work with EY on cyber security ecosystem research to support UK Government strategy

Mar 14, 2022

2 min

Vladlena Benson


  • EY Government and Public Sector Cyber Security team and the Cyber Security Innovation (CSI) Centre at Aston University won £180,000 in funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Experts will work with the UK Government to find appropriate opportunities for investment in cyber security
  • The research will map blind spots within the UK’s regional security innovation systems.


Cyber security experts at Aston University will work with the Government to support its national cyber security strategy by mapping blind spots in the UK’s regional cyber security systems.


The Cyber Security Innovation (CSI) Centre at Aston University will work with EY Cyber Security Consulting on the £180,000 project for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to research and map the UK cyber security ecosystem.


The project will consider the current environment, conditions and interventions that exist to influence or affect companies providing cyber security products, services or solutions to support and contribute to the development and growth of cyber security businesses in the UK.


The aims of this research are to provide the DCMS with robust evidence of a region-by-region picture of where public, private, academic and industry support mechanisms are in place and to identify service and geographical gaps in their provision.


It comes after the CSI Centre helped launch the UK government’s National Cyber Strategy 2022 in Birmingham at a special event last December, for which Aston University professor of cybersecurity management, Vladlena Benson, was an instrumental member of the organising committee.


The current project will enable the strategy implementation to support the UK Government’s ambition to grow innovation and academic research in cyber.


Dr Anitha Chinnaswamy, lecturer in cyber security management at the CSI Centre at Aston Business School, says:


“From the datasets collected that includes different cyber security businesses, incubators, accelerators, clusters, academic centres of excellence and other different mechanisms from across the UK, analysis will be conducted to provide a region-by-region basis of practices involved.


“The mapping of the cyber security landscape will also enable the enhancement of skills and diversity across the cyber security sector.


“The diversity in cyber security market lags other digital sectors, with the cyber workforce consisting of only 15% females, 16% ethnic minority backgrounds and 9% neurodivergent. The results of this project will be an important contribution for the government to foster the growth of a sustainable, innovative, and internationally competitive cyber and information security sector.”

Connect with:
Vladlena Benson

Vladlena Benson

Professor of Cybersecurity Management

Professor Benson is an industry-recognised expert in cybersecurity management and governance.

Emergent TechnologiesCybersecurity and Risk ManagementDigital Transformation

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Aston University

2 min

The Lost Girls of Autism – New book from Aston University emeritus professor Gina Rippon examines autism in women

The Lost Girls of Autism is published on 3 April 2025, coinciding with Autism Awareness Month in April In the book, Professor Rippon explores the ‘male’ history of autism, and why autism in women has been misunderstood and ignored Professor Rippon will give a free public lecture on the book at Aston University on 6 May 2025. Gina Rippon, professor emeritus of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN), has written a new book, entitled The Lost Girls of Autism. The book will be released on 3 April 2025, coinciding with Autism Acceptance Month in April. It has the subtitle ‘How Science Failed Autistic Women and the New Research that’s Changing the Story’. Historically, doctors believed that autism was a male condition, and simply did not look for it in girls and women. This has meant that autistic girls visiting a doctor have been misdiagnosed with anxiety, depression or personality disorders, or are missed altogether. Many women only discover they have the condition when they are much older, missing decades of support. In more recent years, it has become apparent that girls and women with autism have different traits and behaviours to boys and men, and are more likely to hide autistic traits to fit in – known as camouflaging. In The Lost Girls of Autism, Professor Rippon explores the emerging science of female autism, and examines why it has been systematically ignored and misunderstood for so long. Professor Rippon will give a free public lecture about her book on Tuesday 6 May 2025 at 18:00 BST at Aston Business School. Visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-lost-girls-of-autism-an-audience-with-author-gina-rippon-tickets-1304020734119 for more information and tickets. Copies of the book will be on sale at the event. Professor Rippon said: “This book reveals how a ‘male spotlight’ problem has biased many aspects of the autism story, from what autism is, to how we recognise it, and even how brain imagers like me search for answers. It shows how and why autistic women have been unrecognised, overlooked and unsupported. It shines a new light on how the story is changing and how we are now beginning to recognise the full spectrum of the autistic experience. It is for anyone with an interest in autism in all its presentations.”

3 min

How authorship language helped catch a domestic terrorist – new podcast

In the latest episode of Writing Wrongs, hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod interview Dr Isobelle Clarke to unravel a case where forensic linguistics helped track down and convict a dangerous individual. Episode three, Imposters Tending to the Wild with Dr Isobelle Clarke, dives into the chilling case of Nikolaos Karvounakis, a self-proclaimed anarchist who planted a viable explosive device in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, in 2018. Karvounakis, a Greek national, evaded capture for years, hiding behind online anonymity and extremist rhetoric. However, forensic linguists stepped in to analyse his anonymous blog posts, revealing patterns in his language that ultimately helped Police Scotland link him to the crime. The case not only demonstrates how linguistic evidence can be a powerful forensic tool but also raises crucial questions about the role of language analysis in modern terrorism investigations. On 11 January 2018, a suspicious cardboard box was discovered in a public seating area in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. After a controlled explosion, investigators determined the device could have caused serious harm had it detonated. With no immediate leads, the investigation stalled - until an anonymous blog post surfaced, claiming responsibility for the attack. The post, written in both English and Spanish, was linked to an eco-anarchist group called Individualists Tending to the Wild, a Mexican-based extremist organisation advocating violent action against technological progress. Crucially, the post included an image of the bomb’s interior, a detail only the perpetrator or law enforcement could have known. Police Scotland sought the expertise of Professor Tim Grant, who analysed the text, producing a linguistic profile that suggested the writer was neither a native English nor Spanish speaker - but rather someone influenced by another language entirely. Two years later, police identified Nikolaos Karvounakis as a suspect. Using comparative authorship analysis, Professor Tim Grant compared his online writings - including song lyrics from his rock band - to the manifesto. By dissecting word patterns, grammatical structures and stylistic quirks, he established that Karvounakis was the likely author. This evidence -alongside forensic meteorology, which linked photos of clouds in Karvounakis’ blog posts to the same weather conditions on the day of the crime - was used to secure a warrant and seize computers containing known writings by Karvounakis. To eliminate inevitable bias that would result from having worked the case for more than two years, Professor Grant invited Dr Isabelle Clarke onto the case as an independent forensic linguist. Using a version of the General Imposters Method, a technique similar to a police lineup but for language, Dr Clarke confirmed that the writing style in the blog post was the closest to Karvounakis’ known writings. Police Scotland put the evidence in the case, including the linguistic evidence, to Karvounakis, and secured a guilty plea. In February 2022, Nikolaos Karvounakis was sentenced to over eight years in prison under the UK’s Terrorism Act. Tim Grant, professor of forensic linguistics at Aston University, said: “The case highlights the growing importance of forensic linguistics in solving crimes, particularly in an age where digital anonymity combines with extremist ideologies. “It also highlights the how different types of language analysis can assist as a case moves through different stages of investigation.” Dr Nicci MacLeod, deputy director of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, said: “This episode offers listeners a behind-the-scenes look at the forensic methods that expose deception, identify threats and ultimately bring criminals to justice.” Dr Isobelle Clarke, a lecturer in security and protection science at Lancaster University and one of the first graduates from the campus-based MA Forensic Linguistics programme at Aston University, said: “It was great to be back at Aston University talking about the Karvounakis case for the Writing Wrongs podcast. “It’s an interesting case to highlight, as it shows how different types of language analysis can help with police investigations.” Writing Wrongs is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major streaming platforms. Listeners are encouraged to subscribe, share and engage with the hosts by submitting their forensic linguistics questions. Whether it’s about this case or broader forensic linguistic techniques, Professor Grant and Dr MacLeod welcome inquiries from listeners.

3 min

Best-selling author Kate Summerscale joins Writing Wrongs to explore true crime and justice

The true crime podcast Writing Wrongs continues its exploration of language and justice with a special bonus episode featuring best-selling author and historian Kate Summerscale. Kate is an award-winning historian, journalist and best-selling author known for her meticulous research into historical true crime cases. Her book The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and was adapted into a major ITV drama. Her latest book, The Peep Show: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place, revisits the infamous Christie case, shedding new light on the victims’ lives, the social conditions of post-war Britain and the power of the press in shaping public perceptions of crime. In this episode, hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci MacLeod explore a fresh perspective on the Rillington Place murders, the wrongful execution of Timothy Evans and how forensic linguistics has helped uncover the truth in criminal cases. Following on from the first episode of the series, which examined the Timothy Evans case and the origins of forensic linguistics, this conversation with Kate Summerscale provides fresh historical insights into one of Britain’s most infamous miscarriages of justice. The episode revisits the horrifying crimes of John Christie, whose calculated murders led to one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in British history. The wrongful conviction and execution of Timothy Evans cast a long shadow over the UK’s legal system and played a pivotal role in the eventual abolition of the death penalty. Through expert discussion, the episode examines how Evans’ case became a turning point for criminal justice reform. The conversation also looks at the role of the media in shaping crime narratives. Sensationalist reporting during the Rillington Place murders fuelled public perceptions, sometimes distorting the truth in favour of dramatic storytelling. The episode draws comparisons between 1950s tabloid journalism and today’s true crime media, examining how crime reporting has evolved - and the ethical challenges it still faces. A deeply unsettling aspect of this case is its gendered nature. The majority of John Christie's victims were vulnerable women, many facing financial and social instability. The episode delves into how structural inequalities, from the lack of legal abortion to economic dependence, made women more susceptible to predatory figures like Christie, a pattern that remains relevant in crime analysis today. Finally, the episode scrutinises government complicity in covering up a miscarriage of justice. The Brabin Inquiry, launched in the 1960s, sought to reexamine Evans’ conviction but delivered a highly controversial conclusion, failing to fully exonerate him. The discussion highlights how political interests and legal reputation management influenced the case’s outcome, leading to Evans’ eventual posthumous pardon - but not a full legal exoneration. Tim Grant, professor of forensic linguistics at Aston University, said: “It was wonderful to have Kate on Writing Wrongs. “Her work challenges the traditional true crime narrative, shifting focus from the murderer to the victims and the broader social structures that allow such crimes to happen. “Her insights in this episode provide a fresh and deeply researched perspective on a case that still haunts British legal history.” Writing Wrongs is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major streaming platforms. Listeners are encouraged to subscribe, share and engage with the hosts by submitting their forensic linguistics questions. Whether it’s about this case or broader forensic linguistic techniques, Professor Grant and Dr MacLeod welcome inquiries from listeners.

View all posts
Powered by