Applying principles of verbal short-term memory to cyber-security research

互联网让我们的联系变得越来越紧密。我们可以与世界上任何地方的同事进行视频电话会议，通过电子邮件发送机密信息，并远程与朋友和家人互动。这使得工作和社交可以在没有身体接触的情况下继续进行。鉴于目前的流行病，这种远程工作和互动的风格变得至关重要。此外，随着公司适应和接受远程工作实践，远程工作在未来可能会变得更加常见。然而，随着数字互联程度的提高，网络安全风险也随之增加。敏感的个人和公司信息是使用各种创造性手段(例如网络钓鱼攻击、勒索软件、电子邮件诈骗)从个人手中窃取的目标。其中一些攻击非常复杂，可能需要几天甚至几周才能被注意到。然而，在此期间，身份可能被克隆，进行了欺诈性的银行转账，或者新开了信用卡。越来越重要的是，我们不仅要了解这些网络安全风险，以及是什么让我们更容易受到这些风险的影响，而且要为个人和公司开发新的方法来保护自己免受此类风险的影响。作为奖学金的一部分，我将在空中客车网络创新中心工作，并在网络实验室(空中客车和威尔士政府的联合倡议，旨在推动和提供威尔士的突破性创新)内开展工作。网络实验室将许多团队(例如网络数据分析师、网络取证团队)与一个以人为中心的网络安全团队聚集在一起，该团队探索研究问题，如是什么使个人容易面临某些安全风险，以及我们如何开发方法来帮助缓解这些风险。我的博士学位让我对许多言语短期记忆(VSTM)理论和测试和研究VSTM的方法有了透彻的了解。这种对VSTM任务的批判性评估和理解是网络安全研究中的技能追求，在空客的网络创新中心进行安置时将被证明非常有用。这是因为对VSTM的知识和理解被证明是理解我们在线面临的许多问题的关键。例如，Williams，Morgan和Joinson(2017)使用了连续回忆--一种非常常见的VSTM任务，要求记住并再现顺序呈现的物品列表。使用连续回忆使他们能够诱导认知负载(使用的工作内存资源量)，并测试当经历更高的认知负载时，用户是否更容易受到安全漏洞(例如欺诈性弹出窗口)的影响。在评估弹出窗口真实性的同时完成连续召回的参与者更有可能接受欺诈性的安全设置，而不是当这些相同的消息可以单独评估时。从日益丰富的网络安全研究中融入VSTM任务和理论，掌握VSTM知识对于了解用户如何与机器交互以及开发更有效的网络安全至关重要。在安置期间，我将协助网络创新中心正在进行的项目。这将使我能够提供我对VSTM的见解，以帮助开发适当的任务和测试环境。它还将为我提供学习新的研究技能和建立新的合作网络的机会。最终，这是一个理想的机会，可以将我丰富的VSTM知识与网络安全领域的尖端研究联系起来，开始在产业界和学术界之间建立卓有成效的研究关系。在奖学金期间，我还将通过在国内和国际会议上与不同的受众接触，在学术界推广我的研究的影响。我将通过在吸引广泛读者的期刊上发表我的论文来最大限度地发挥这种影响。

The internet has allowed us to become increasingly connected. We can engage in a video conference call with colleagues anywhere in the world, email confidential information and engage remotely with friends and family. This allows work and socialisation to continue without physical contact. In light of the current pandemic this style of remote working and interaction has become essential. Additionally, as companies adjust to and accept remote working practices, they are likely to become more commonplace in the future. However, with increased digital inter-connectedness come increased cyber security risks. Sensitive personal and company information is a target for theft from individuals using a variety of inventive means (e.g. phishing attacks, ransomware, email scams). Such is the complexity of some of these attacks that it can be days or even weeks before they are noticed. However, during that time identities may have been cloned, fraudulent bank transfers undertaken, or new credit cards opened. It is becoming increasingly essential that we not only understand these cyber security risks, and what makes us more susceptible to them, but also that new ways are developed for individuals and companies to protect themselves from such risks.As part of the fellowship I will undertake a placement at the Airbus Cyber Innovation Hub and conduct work within the Cyber Lab (a joint initiative between Airbus and the Welsh Government to drive and deliver ground-breaking innovation in Wales). The Cyber Lab brings together many teams (e.g. cyber data analysts, cyber forensic teams) with a Human-Centric Cyber Security Team that explores research questions such as what makes individuals prone to certain security risks and how we can develop ways to help mitigate them. My PhD gave me a thorough understanding of many verbal short-term memory (vSTM) theories and ways in which vSTM is tested and researched. Such critical evaluation and understanding of vSTM tasks are sought after skills in cyber-security research and will prove highly useful when undertaking the placement at Airbus' Cyber Innovation Hub. This is because knowledge and understanding of vSTM is proving critical in understanding many of the issues that face us online. For example, Williams, Morgan and Joinson (2017) used serial recall - a very common vSTM task with the requirement to remember and then reproduce sequentially presented lists of items. Using serial recall enabled them to induce cognitive load (the amount of working memory resources being used) and to test whether users are more vulnerable to security breaches (e.g. fraudulent pop-ups) when experiencing higher cognitive load. Participants assessing pop-up authenticity while simultaneously completing serial recall were more likely to accept fraudulent security settings, than when those same messages could be assessed in isolation. From the increasing wealth of cyber security research incorporating vSTM tasks and theory, having a strong knowledge of vSTM is essential for understanding how users interact with machines and for developing more effective cyber security.During the placement I will assist with ongoing projects being conducted within the Cyber Innovation Hub. This will allow me to provide my insight into vSTM to help develop appropriate tasks and testing environments. It will also provide me with the opportunity to learn new research skills and forge new collaborative networks. Ultimately, it is the ideal opportunity in which to bridge my extensive knowledge of vSTM with cutting edge research into cyber security and begin forging a fruitful research relationship between industry and academia.During the fellowship, I will also promote the impact of my research among the academic community by engaging with a range of different audiences at national and international conferences. I will maximise this impact by publishing my papers in journals that attract a wide readership.