Doctoral researcher in International Relations at the University of Oxford
Kye J. Allen is a doctoral researcher in International Relations at the University of Oxford and a member of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network specialising in the history of twentieth-century Anglo-American fascism and the study of contemporary forms of far-right extremism and conspiratorial theorising.
Associate Professor of Security Studies, Africa Center for Strategic Studies; Research Fellow, South Africa’s Stellenbosch University
Dr. Nate Allen is Associate Professor of Security Studies at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies and a Research Fellow at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University. He conducts research and oversees the Africa Center’s programming for senior government and security sector officials on cyber policy and strategy. Dr. Allen’s work has appeared in a wide range of leading policy and peer-reviewed publications, including The Journal of Strategic Studies, Armed Forces and Society, The Washington Quarterly, Orbis, War on the Rocks, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs. Previously, Dr. Allen was a policy advisor at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) Task Force on Extremism in Fragile States. He has also worked at the U.S. State Department, House of Representatives, and as a research analyst at NORC at the University of Chicago. Dr. Allen holds a Ph.D. in African studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, an M.A. from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and a B.A. from Swarthmore College. He is a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations.
PhD Fellow in Law, University of Oslo; Senior Legal Advisor, Citizen Lab
Siena Anstis is a PhD Fellow in Law at the University of Oslo and a senior legal advisor with the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (University of Toronto). Previously, she worked as a litigation associate at Morrison & Foerster in New York City and clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada. She holds a law degree from McGill University and an LLM from the University of Cambridge. Her current research focuses on the regulation of transnational repression under international law.
Neil is a PhD candidate at Royal Holloway University of London. His thesis examines public-private collaboration on cyber intelligence and security. Neil previously worked as an analyst for Jane’s, the open-source defence intelligence specialists, including as the deputy editor of Jane’s Intelligence Review from 2014 to 2019.
Dr. Gil Baram is an established cybersecurity strategy and policy expert with more than 15 years of experience leading innovative research, lecturing, and consulting senior business leaders and government officials.
Currently, she is a research scholar at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity and the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab, University of California, Berkeley. She was a Fulbright cybersecurity post-doctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University.
PhD researcher, Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, Royal Holloway, University of London
James Barr is a PhD researcher at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security at Royal Holloway, University of London. James’ research explores the appropriation of digital technologies by autonomous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Senior Research Associate at ECCRI; Manager of Cyber Espionage Analysis at Google Cloud's Mandiant
Dan Black is a Senior Research Associate at ECCRI, a cyber threat expert with an interest in military cyber programs, operations, and the character of cyber conflict. He is currently a Manager of Cyber Espionage Analysis at Google Cloud’s Mandiant, and previously held similar leading analytical roles with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS).
Dan holds master’s degrees in International Relations from Harvard University and in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. He was previously a Millennium Leadership Fellow with the Atlantic Council.
Dr Blancke is a political scientist and analyst whose research focuses on international state and non-state intelligence. He holds a diploma in administrative law as well as a diploma in political science. His doctoral dissertation examined counterintelligence and espionage activities of non-state actors. He has researched Cyber Warfare in Geneva and worked in an Intelligence & Analysis unit at the UK Home Office in London. For some time, he worked at the Centre for Science & Security Studies (CSSS) at King's College London in the field of proliferation and illicit procurement networks. Since November 2022, he has been an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. Dr Blancke writes for Jane's Intelligence Review, Intelligence Online, NK News and others. He has published on Chinese and North Korean espionage, extremism and terrorism, as well as illegal trade on the dark web.
PhD Candidate in Security and Strategic Studies, University of Genoa
Stella Blumfelde is a PhD Candidate in Security and Strategic Studies at the Department of Political and International Science at University of Genoa. Her research centers on international governance of cyber domain, with a particular focus on cybersecurity and the role of regional organizations in international cooperation in the cyber domain.
She has received an award by NATO within the 2030 Youth Summit for contributing to raising awareness of cybersecurity. She is an alumnus of the EU Non-proliferation and Disarmament Consortium Young Women in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Mentorship Programme (YWNPD), within which she explored the applicability of disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control concepts to cyber domain.
Kamil Bojarski works as a Senior Analyst in the Standard Chartered Client and Third-Party Intelligence team where he tracks adversarial activity threatening the wide ecosystem of the bank's customers and vendors. Kamil is also a teaching assistant at SANS Institute, supporting students and instructors during the FOR578 Cyber Threat Intelligence course as well as a Fellow at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative. His research interests are focused on counterintelligence aspects of information security and the intersection of technical and political aspects of cybersecurity. You can read his musings on national security, OSINT, and various related topics at counterintelligence.pl.
Nils Brinker is a Senior Cyber Security Expert at intcube, where he specializes in guiding clients through complex regulatory landscapes and advising on the implementation of effective cybersecurity measures.
Previously, Nils served as a researcher at the Digital Society Institute of ESMT Berlin, focusing on a systematic approach to cybersecurity regulation. Prior to that, he accumulated several years of experience as a data protection specialist in the insurance sector.
With a technical background and expertise in law, Nils is deeply invested in interdisciplinary research and dialogue. He is committed to advancing more effective governance through enhanced mutual understanding.
Andi Brown is a criminologist at Monash University. Her research focus specialises in consumer internet-of-things technologies, and she has a specific interest in technology-facilitated abuse. Safety-by-design, and particularly codesign with vulnerable edge users, are important principles of exploration for her research. Her broader research interests encompass feminist and critical criminology, harm-reduction and crime prevention approaches, and domestic and family violence.
Senior Researcher for Cyber Conflict and Statecraft, European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI); Associate, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
Jakob Bund is a Senior Researcher for Cyber Conflict and Statecraft at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). Jakob is also an Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), where he serves as Threat Intelligence Liaison for the European Repository of Cyber Incidents (EuRepoC) and editor of the monthly Cyber Conflict Briefing series. His research focuses on evolutions in state responses to malicious cyber activity.
Benjamin Charlton is a geopolitical analyst and futurist specialising in China, Japan, and outer space. His research interests include Taiwan-China relations, strategic foresight methods, the social and political impacts of novel technology, and the long-term future of East Asia. His articles have appeared in the China Economic Review, The Space Review, The Diplomat and the South China Morning Post.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, University of Cambridge; Junior Research Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge
Timothy Charlton-Czaplicki is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, University of Cambridge, and a Junior Research Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. He researches how digital transformation and new technologies are impacting humanitarian action as well as communities affected by humanitarian emergencies.
PhD candidate, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Joseph Christian Agbagala is a PhD candidate at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. Joseph holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam. His Master’s thesis examined how the decentralization process during China’s economic reforms in the 1980s enabled its provinces to operate within China’s foreign policymaking system. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in International Affairs with honors from the University of California, Riverside. During his undergraduate studies, he was a Communications Intern for the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington D.C. He also spent time as an undergraduate associate at the Queen Mary University of London. Before joining the CSS PhD program, Joseph also worked at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS) as a Research Intern for the Asia Program.
His research focuses on military interoperability, military organization, international institutions, and alliance politics. Specifically, his main research interest is to examine the linkages between command and control systems, technical/hardware interoperability, and alliance formation and management.
Lead Threat Intelligence Advisor (Europe), Google Cloud
Dr Jamie Collier is the Lead Threat Intelligence Advisor in Europe at Google Cloud. He works with organisations to help them understand their threat landscape and build threat intelligence capabilities. He is also active within academia as an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Before joining Mandiant, he was the Cyber Threat Intelligence Team Lead at Digital Shadows and completed a PhD in Cyber Security at the University of Oxford. Jamie was previously based at MIT as a Cyber Security Fulbright Scholar and has experience working with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Oxford Analytica, and PwC India.
Rogier Creemers is a Lecturer in Modern Chinese Studies. With a background in Sinology and International Relations, and a PhD in Law, his research focuses on Chinese domestic digital technology policy, as well as China's growing importance in global digital affairs. He is the principal investigator of the NWO Vidi Project "The Smart State: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Law in China". For the Leiden Asia Centre, he directs a project on China and global cybersecurity, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Deputy for Research and Teaching, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Myriam Dunn Cavelty is Senior Scientist and Deputy for Research and Teaching at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. She studied International Relations, History, and International Law at the University of Zurich. She is an Associated Researcher at the Centre for Advanced Security Theory at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, was a visiting fellow at Brown University, a Mercator Fellow at University of Darmstadt, Germany, and a Guest Lecturer at the Central European University, Hungary, and the Austrian Federal Security Academy for several years.
Her research and teaching focuses on how digital technologies influence political behaviour and societal values and on how and why specific arrangements to govern the use of digital technologies emerge, with particular attention to how technologies are embedded in social, political, and economic processes. In addition to her teaching, research and publishing activities, she advises governments, international institutions and companies in the areas of cyber security, cyber warfare, critical infrastructure protection, risk analysis and strategic foresight. She is one of the editors-in-chief of the journal Contemporary Security Policy.
An Wang Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, Brown University
John E. Savage is the An Wang Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Brown University. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IEEE, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He served as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the US State Department, a Fellow at the EastWest Institute, and a member of the Rhode Island Cybersecurity Commission. He published over 100 research articles, two books on theoretical computer science, co-authored a book on computer literacy, and co-edited a book on VLSI and parallel systems. He has given more than 185 invited presentations worldwide.
Cat Easdon is an engineer and researcher working at the intersection of privacy, security, and policy. At Dynatrace, she translates law and policy into code to protect users, designing product privacy features and building privacy controls into the software development lifecycle. Previously, she engaged on tech policy in part-time fellowships with ECCRI and the Internet Society, and conducted CPU security research investigating software-exploitable side channels and hardware backdoors.
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen; Strategic Adviser, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights B-Tech Project
Isabel Ebert is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen, and serves as a Strategic Adviser to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights B-Tech Project, focusing on Business & Human Rights in the technology sector. She is a technology and human rights fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center. Her research explores regulatory and policy responses to emerging human rights challenges connected with technology company conduct and implications for policy coherence.
Assistant Professor, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law
Mailyn Fidler is an Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. Her research focuses on regulatory and criminal law approaches to cybersecurity and cybercrime. Prior to joining legal academia, clerked on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, served as the Tech & First Amendment Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and was a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center. She is a graduate of Yale Law School, Oxford University (as a Marshall Scholar) and Stanford University.
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology and Modern Korea, Leeds University
Aidan Foster-Carter has tracked trends on the Korean peninsula ever since 1968, starting unpropitiously as a Kim Il-sung fanboy. Educated at Eton and Oxford (PPE), he taught development sociology at the Universities of Hull, Dar es Salaam and Leeds from 1971 to 1997. Since then he has been a full-time analyst and consultant on contemporary Korea: writing, lecturing and broadcasting for academic, business and policy audiences worldwide. Widely published, he has been Oxford Analytica’s main contributor on Korea since the 1980s, and until 2017 did the same at EIU. He also writes for IISS and elsewhere.
Senior Lecturer in Digital Politics, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr. Noran Fouad is a senior lecturer in digital politics at Manchester Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom. Her research and teaching lie at the intersection of technology, security, and governance, with a particular focus on cybersecurity. Her research interests include critical approaches to cybersecurity in international relations, cybersecurity of the everyday, the global politics of cyber governance, and the co-production of cybersecurity policies and practices between human and non-human agency. She is currently co-leading the Middle East and Africa stream in RUSI’s Global Partnership for Responsible Cyber Behaviour. Previously, Noran worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where she conducted public policy research on cybersecurity for the education sector and on risk-based approaches to cybersecurity in low- and middle-income countries. In that role, she co-designed and co-taught multiple executive education programmes, postgraduate courses, and online courses for public policy makers on governing digital transformation and cybersecurity. Noran holds a doctorate in international relations from the University of Sussex, UK, and bachelor and master of science degrees in political science from Cairo University, Egypt, where she worked as an assistant lecturer of political science.
Visiting Research Fellow, Department of War Studies, King's College London
Michael Genkin is a visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies, King's College London (KCL), where he studies cyber conflict empirics and responsible behaviour in offensive cyber operations. He is also a member of the OCWG College of Experts.
Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security
Mauro Gilli is a Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security at the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH-Zurich). His research has been published in International Security, Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, Social Science Quarterly and PlosOne, and has received coverage, among others, in The Economist, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, Wired Magazine, Foreign Policy, The Diplomat, and others. He has written articles, among others, for Lawfare Blog, Monkey Cage, VoxEU, War on the Rocks.
Professor of International and Cyber Security, Hertie School Berlin
Anita R. Gohdes is Professor of International and Cyber Security at the Hertie School in Berlin. She works at the intersection of international security and technology and is the author of the forthcoming book “Repression in the Digital Age: Surveillance, Censorship, and the Dynamics of State Violence”. Previously, she was Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Zurich and postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center’s International Security Program. Her work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Nature Human Behaviour, among others.
Dr. Emily Goldman serves as a strategist at U.S. Cyber Command and a thought leader on cyber policy. From 2014 to 2018 she directed the U.S. Cyber Command / National Security Agency Combined Action Group, leading a team that wrote the 2018 U.S. Cyber Command vision, Achieve and Maintain Cyberspace Superiority.
PhD candidate, Department of War Studies, King's College London (KCL); Member of King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI)
Elena Grossfeld is a PhD candidate in the Department of War Studies, King's College London (KCL), and a member of King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI). Her research interests are strategic culture of Russian/Soviet intelligence, Cold War, and information warfare.
Elena holds an MA in Intelligence and International Security from KCL, an MA in Linguistics from San Jose State University, and a BS in Mathematics with a minor in Russian Studies from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Having started her career as a software engineer and architect, she specialized in reliability and performance of systems powering the Internet and e-commerce before moving into cybersecurity, focusing on the areas of insider threat, cyber threat intelligence, and cryptocurrencies-related fraud investigations.
Anubha Gupta focuses on Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s work and its engagement with international cybersecurity. She has qualified University Grants Commission’s National Eligibility Test and Junior Research Fellowship in Political Science. She is pursuing her doctoral degree in Diplomacy and Disarmament division of the Centre for International Politics, Organizations, and Disarmament (CIPOD) at the School of International Studies (SIS) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. She has a master’s degree in Politics with a specialization in International Relations from the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi and an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, New Delhi, India. She is currently working as a Research Associate with Indian Council of World Affairs, Sapru House, New Dehi. She has previously worked with Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
Dr. Richard Harknett is Professor and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, Co-Director of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, and Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati.
Deputy Director for Cyber Security, UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Irfan Hemani is Deputy Director for Cyber Security at the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He is responsible for secure technology policy as part of the UK's National Cyber strategy. He is also the author of the Harvard Belfer Center's National Cyber Power Index, He previously worked in Deloitte's Technology Risk Advisory team.
Sophie in 't Veld (1963) is a Dutch MEP with the Renew Group. Her work in the European Parliament revolves around issues related to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (DRFMG). She has a keen interest in the risks posed to the fundamental right of privacy by governments and businesses. Since 2018, she has presided over the DRFMG monitor group, and in 2021 she took the initiative for the European Parliament's Pegasus Spyware Report.
MA Student, Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich; Research Assistant, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich
Janina Inauen is a master's student at ETH Zurich and a research assistant at the Center for Security Studies (CSS). She is also a master's thesis fellow at the Cyber-Defence Campus in Zurich. Her research explores the evolution of various ransomware groups as well as government responses to ransomware.
Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Joseph Jarnecki is a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and a European Cybersecurity Fellow as part of the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). His research focuses on international cyber and technology policy, cyber threats to critical infrastructure, and cyber conflict and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
POLIR Ph.D. candidate, University of Kent, Canterbury
Tom Johansmeyer is a POLIR Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Based in Bermuda, where he also works in the reinsurance industry, he was previously the head of Property Claim Services (PCS) at data/analytics firm Verisk, which provides data on industry-wide insured loss events for both natural and man-made disaster events. In this role, he developed the first such tools for global cyber risk. Tom proudly pushed paper in the U.S. Army in the late 1990s, and if you were in the 2nd Infantry Division in 1998, you might have bugged him for your reassignment orders.
Jacqueline Kazil is the Director of Geospatial Solutions at Bana Solutions, a Fellow of the Python Software Foundation, and a former Board Member. She was a co-founder of 18F, a leader of “open by default” initiatives, and a former White House Presidential Innovation Fellow. She is also the author of Data Wrangling with Python, published by O’Reilly, and the creator of the agent-based modeling library called Mesa. She has a Ph.D. in computational social science from George Mason University. Her contributions to this article are her own views, not those of any affiliations.
PhD researcher, Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, Royal Holloway, University of London
Sofia Liemann Escobar is a PhD researcher at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research looks at Colombia’s approach to cyber security, and the negotiation of the contested meanings and practices associated with cyber security itself.
Associate Research Professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business and Research Affiliate at the Global Security Initiative, Arizona State University
Christos serves as an Associate Research Professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business and Research Affiliate at the Global Security Initiative (both in Arizona State University), a Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, a Digital Fellow at the Digital Economy Lab in Stanford University, a Non-resident Fellow at the Institute for Religious Studies at Baylor University, an Adjunct Scholar at the Manhattan Institute, a Senior Adviser at Gallup, a policy adviser, and an entrepreneur. He is the CEO/founder of Dainamic, a technology startup working to democratize the use and application of data science and AI techniques for small and mid sized organizations, and COO/co-founder of Living Opera, a classical music multimedia startup.
Christos previously served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers managing the cybersecurity, technology, and space activities, as a Non-resident Fellow at the Cyber Security Project in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, as a Digital Fellow at the Initiative at the Digital Economy in the MIT Sloan School of Management, a a Non-resident Research Scientist at Datacamp, as a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and as an Adjunct Associate Research Scholar at the Chazen Institute in Columbia Business School.
Christos’ primary academic research focuses on labor economics, the digital economy, and personal finance and well-being. He also writes frequently for syndicated outlets in the press and serves on the Council of Advisers for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Christos earned a Bachelor’s in Economics and Minor in Mathematics at Arizona State University, as well as dual Masters and PhDs in Economics and Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University.
Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies at ETH Zürich
Lennart Maschmeyer is a Senior Researcher in Cybersecurity at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zürich with an interest in the strategic role of cyber conflict, subversion as an instrument of power, and threat intelligence. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Lennart also co-chairs the ECCRI Virtual Research Workshop series, and the FIRST Threat Intel Coalition SIG.
Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies ETH Zurich
Niklas Masuhr is a Senior Researcher and military analyst at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. He focuses on Russian and NATO force development and doctrine, dynamics and insights of contemporary conflict and Russian semi-state activities in Africa. He holds an MA in Strategic Studies from the University of Reading.
PhD researcher, Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, Royal Holloway, University of London
Jessica McClearn is a PhD researcher at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security at Royal Holloway, University of London. She explores the intersections of digital and ontological security of marginalised communities in ‘post’-conflict societies through ethnographic research.
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Stonehill College
Dr. Anwar Mhajne is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stonehill College. Her research focuses on gender, religion, cybersecurity, digital politics, disinformation, and Middle Eastern politics. She is the coeditor of Critical Perspectives on Cybersecurity, (Oxford University Press 2024).
Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science
Katharine Millar is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is an is an academic expert in gender and international security. Katharine has extensive experience in the burgeoning field of intersectional gender equality and international cybersecurity governance, working with think tanks, national governments, regional, and international organisations to conduct gender analysis of cybersecurity practices/governance, and develop best practices for intersectional, gender-response cybersecurity policy- and decision-making. Katharine has published widely on gendered cultural narratives underlying the modern use of force and experiences of insecurity, on topics including gender, citizenship and militarism; women combatants; far-right populism, race, and conspiracy theories; and death, grief, and social order. Her current work seeks to bring the UN Women, Peace, and Security Agenda into closer conversation with cybersecurity and global internet governance.
Dr. Daniel Moore has nearly 20 years of experience in the intersection of technology, intelligence and cyber. He holds a PhD from King's College London and has held roles in the public and private sectors, including with the Israeli military, IBM, Accenture and Meta. Daniel has published extensively on security issues.
Assistant Professor of International Relations, Leiden University
Dr. Densua Mumford is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University. Her research primarily explores the international relations of African peoples and states. Within this broad theme, she focuses on the role of regional organisations such as the African Union, ECOWAS, and SADC in the political and economic dynamics of the continent. She is currently investigating the discursive context of African regionalism. She also has a robust research interest in the politics of the internet and digital technologies, with a current project on the political narratives of cryptocurrency evangelists. Her work contributes to decolonising perspectives on international relations.
Katharine is a Cyber Threat Intelligence Consultant at London-based consultancy Security Alliance. She also heads up the Geopolitical team and is the lead analyst for Russia and Europe. Katharine has published work on a range of cybersecurity-related topics, with her research interests including spyware, disinformation and influence operations and expansion of state cyber capabilities. She holds a Master’s in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London and was a 2023-2024 ECCRI Fellow.
Kenneth Payne is Professor of Strategy at King’s College London, where he researches the role of Artificial Intelligence in national security. He’s the author of four books on strategy, most recently 'I, Warbot: The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict'. This book looked ahead to the battlefield of the near future and considered the prospects for creative artificial strategists. 'I, Warbot' was named a book of the year by The Economist newspaper and the leading academic journal, International Affairs.
Professor Payne is a Commissioner of the Global Commission for Responsible AI in the Military Domain. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees in the UK and the Netherlands, and currently serves as Specialist Advisor to the UK Parliament’s Defence Committee for its work on AI. He contributed to the US National Security Commission on AI, and has been invited to consult with the UN Secretary General’s recently formed high-level advisory body on AI.
PhD candidate, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
Tobias Pulver is a PhD candidate at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. He holds a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Studies from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. His Master’s thesis investigated the impacts of foreign cyber-enabled disinformation influence efforts targeting democracies. During his Master’s, Tobias worked as a research assistant in cyber security politics at the CSS.
After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Zurich, Tobias co-founded the Effective Altruism Foundation, where he worked on projects in the areas of global health and development, animal welfare, and risks from advanced artificial intelligence over the course of five years.
Tobias’ research interest revolves around the intersection of international security, emerging technologies and economics. Specifically, he focuses on the use of economic statecraft in technological great power competition.
Ph.D. candidate, International Relations Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute's graduate program (TELEM)
Yael Ram is a Ph.D. candidate at the International Relations Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute's graduate program (TELEM). Her research interests include technological manipulation, disinformation, intelligence, and international security. Yael's dissertation examines how international actors manage trust and credibility in the post-truth era, specifically focusing on deepfake technology.
Sujit Raman is Chief Legal Officer at TRM Labs, a leading blockchain intelligence firm, and a senior fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University. Previously, he served as
U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General for cyber and emerging technologies, and chair of the Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force. A regulator commentator on technology and global security issues, Sujit’s views have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Bloomberg, among other leading media sources.
Wick Cary Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Oklahoma
Mark Raymond is the Wick Cary Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Oklahoma. He is also the Associate Editor of International Theory, and the Associate Director for International Security Policy at the Oklahoma Aerospace and Defense Innovation Institute (OADII). He is the author of Social Practices of Rule-Making in World Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). His work appears in various academic journals including International Theory, Contemporary Security Policy, the Journal of Global Security Studies, Strategic Studies Quarterly, and The Cyber Defense Review. He was a Senior Advisor with the United States Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and he has testified before the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development.
Chair and Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College
Derek Reveron is Chair and Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He specializes in strategy development, non-state security challenges, intelligence, and US defense policy. He has authored or edited 14 books. Dr. Reveron is a faculty affiliate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University where he co-teaches a course on contemporary national security challenges at the Kennedy School of Government.
Note: The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Naval War College, Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the US government.
Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Government Solutions International, KBR Inc.; Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of War Studies, King’s College, London
Dr Hugo Rosemont is Director of Policy and Public Affairs for the Government Solutions International business at KBR Inc. He also serves as Visiting Senior Research Fellow with the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. He writes here in a personal capacity and bases this article on his talk to the CCW Emerging Threats Group at the University of Oxford on 22 January 2024.
Associate Fellow, RUSI; Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS), King's College London
Dr Daniel Salisbury is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS) within the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. He is currently undertaking a three-year research project on arms embargos as part of a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. Daniel previously held positions at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington DC, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, CSSS and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
He is the author of Secrecy, Public Relations and the British Nuclear Debate: How the UK Government Learned to Talk about the Bomb, 1970-1983 (Routledge Cold War History series, 2020). He is also the author or co-author of over twenty journal articles and book chapters, and the co-editor of books on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and UN Security Council resolution 1540. His commentary has been published by Arms Control Today, Arms Control Wonk, Asia Times, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Conversation, The Diplomat, Lawfare, Newsweek, NK News, Scientific American, and Vice.
Runa Sandvik is the founder of Granitt, a consultancy focused on security for civil society and at-risk people around the world. Her work builds upon experience from her time at the New York Times, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Tor Project. She’s a member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Cybersecurity Group and an advisor to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Technical Advisory Council. She writes an occasional newsletter called Glitch Cat and posts on X as @runasand.
Postgraduate student in Cyber Policy and Strategy, King’s College London
Sara Seppanen is a postgraduate student in Cyber Policy and Strategy at King’s College London. She is also a temporary research analyst in the Cyber team at the Royal United Services Institute, working on projects related to cyber diplomacy, responsible cyber behaviour, and statecraft.
Research Analyst, Centre for Finance and Security, RUSI
Chandana Seshadri is a Research Analyst at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI. Her research focuses on the policy and security dimensions of proliferation finance and sanctions. Further extending to providing technical assistance training to jurisdictions on counter-proliferation finance mitigation strategies and raising awareness on sanctions evasion typologies, particularly adopted by North Korea in the financial sector and the non-banking financial sector.
Prior to RUSI, she worked as a Research Assistant in the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London. Where she conducted network analysis using OSINT techniques on better sanctions implementation in several jurisdictions.
Salma Shaheen is currently teaching at the Department of Defence Studies, King’s College, London. She specialises in nuclear command and control and is the author of 'Nuclear Command and Control Norms'. Dr Shaheen regularly contributes to national and international newspapers and magazines. Her areas of research include the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies, nuclear non-proliferation, international security and deterrence, and strategic communications. Prior to starting her PhD at King’s, she worked as Assistant Director (research) in Pakistan's Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs directorate, Strategic Plans Division.
Abhishek Sharma is a Ph.D. Scholar in Korean Studies at the Department of East Asian Studies, Delhi University and a Research Associate with the Centre for Air Power Studies, a military think tank based in New Delhi. His doctoral thesis examines the Strategic Utility of North Korean cyber capabilities. His research interest focuses on the intersection of geopolitics and critical emerging technologies in the Indo-Pacific, particularly cyber capabilities, cyber crimes, and AI. He is a Non-resident Kelly Fellow at Pacific Forum and NASC Fellow at Takshashila Institution. Currently, he is working on a book project titled Minilaterals in Indo-Pacific and India: Perspectives, Power, and Prospects. He holds a First-Class Master’s degree in International Relations from South Asian University. In 2022, he was selected as the Quadmin Emerging Leader and an NCAFP Emerging Leader, where he contributed a policy brief on Quad's cyber cooperation and prospects and North Korea's Peace-time Cyber capabilities. His articles have been featured in several publications, including Nikkei Asia, NK News, The Diplomat, The National Interest, Observer Research Foundation, South Korea Pro, and 9Dashline.
Political Representative, Belarusian Cyber Partisans
Based in New York City, Yuliana Shemetovets is the political representative of the Belarusian Cyber Partisans. In her role, she coordinates platform building, cybersecurity, verification policies and manages communication strategies with media, civil, and political organizations. Yuliana is a panelist at Bloomberg, BBC, Harvard, Yale, NYU.
In addition to her work with the Cyber Partisans, Yuliana is an active council member of the Kalinouski Regiment in Ukraine. A director of the organizing committee for the “Belarus Liberty” nonprofit organization, Yuliana is focused on using technology to empower civil societies and to advocate for human rights. Yuliana holds MA in Political Science and MS in Data Analytics.
Former diplomat and army officer; PhD student, Royal Holloway, University of London
Phil Sheriff is a former diplomat and army officer, who is currently studying for a PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, looking at the evaluation of international Cyber Capacity Building programmes.
Justin Sherman is the founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, a Washington, DC-based research and advisory firm. He is also a distinguished fellow at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative, and a contributing editor at Lawfare.
Benjamin Silverstein is an independent space policy analyst. His prior roles within and outside the U.S. government focused on international cooperation on space security issues. His work has appeared in outlets such as Foreign Policy, Issues in Science and Technology, War on the Rocks, and SpaceNews. Silverstein completed his MA in international relations at Syracuse University and received his BA in international affairs from George Washington University. He can be found on X and Bluesky @47stein.
John Speed Meyers is the head of Chainguard Labs. He leads an applied R&D team focused on software supply chain security and open source software security. He previously led an open source software security research initiative at In-Q-Tel, advising the U.S. intelligence community about their dependence and symbiosis with free and open source software. He has a PhD in public policy from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, an MPA from Princeton University, and a BA in international relations from Tufts University. He has reluctantly accepted that software rules everything around him.
Research Fellow on Space Security, Military Sciences team, RUSI; Podcast host, War in Space
Juliana is the Research Fellow on Space Security as part of the Military Sciences team at RUSI and is the host of the podcast War in Space. She was previously Project Officer and Research Analyst at RUSI International. Her research interests include global space governance, sustainability, counterspace capabilities and space warfare.
Juliana holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London and a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading. Prior to joining RUSI, she was an intern for the Development, Concept and Doctrine Centre, the independent think tank of the Ministry of Defence. There she researched varied topic areas, including geo-strategic, security and stabilisation topics, as well as future and contemporary trends in warfare.
Alexandra Trantos is an undergraduate student studying political science at Stonehill College. She is currently working with Dr. Mhajne on a research project related to disinformation in the Israel-Hamas war.
Security Researcher, Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD)
Max van der Horst is a Security Researcher that focuses on Vulnerability Intelligence, Geopolitical Risk Analysis, and mass-scale Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure. His involvement with the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) and its Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) includes coordinating new and ongoing investigations into the public exposure of emerging vulnerabilities and their exploitation in the wild. Through his work, Max aims to support the development of a safer Internet by combining his technical knowledge with an understanding of the broader cyber threat landscape, ethical and legal considerations and collaboration with governments and academia.
Advisor on New Digital Technologies of Warfare, International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC
In 2003 Mauro started working at the first unit of the Swiss Federal Police fighting cybercrime. Later on, he collaborated to the establishment of MELANI, Switzerland's first centre for public-private partnership on cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. Back in 2013, he set up and led the Cyber Threat Intelligence Division within the Department of Defence in Bern. In 2021, he was tasked to create the Vulnerability Management unit within the National Cyber Security Centre NCSC.ch, leading several projects, among them the first bug bounty program of the Swiss government. He then joined the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC one year later, as advisor on new digital technologies of warfare.
Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity, Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University
Jelena Vićić is an assistant professor of cybersecurity at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. Her work examines international conflict, emerging technology, and national security.
Chief Technology Officer, UK National Cyber Security Centre
Ollie Whitehouse is the Chief Technology Officer of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre. He aims both to maintain the NCSC's role as the National Technical Authority for cyber security and provide influence in tackling the challenges of tomorrow. His career spans over 27 years in applied cyber-attack and defence, in addition to his role as a science advisor to wider government. Prior to joining the NCSC, Ollie held a portfolio of non-executive directorships and investment advisory positions in relation to British cyber interests.
His operational tenures include over ten and half years at NCC Group as CTO, and at BlackBerry and Symantec. Ollie has given oral evidence to the UK Parliament Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy twice in 2017 and 2022 on matters related to cyber security.
Senior Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Adjunct Professor at the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University
Gavin Wilde is a senior fellow in the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on cyber, propaganda, emerging tech, and Russia-related issues. He is also an adjunct professor at the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He previously served as a director for Russia on the US National Security Council, and as a senior analyst in the US intelligence community.
Associate Professor of Cybersecurity Policy, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Josephine Wolff is an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is the author of two books, "You'll See This Message When It Is Too Late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches" (MIT Press, 2018) and "Cyberinsurance Policy: Rethinking Risk in an Age of Ransomware, Computer Fraud, Data Breaches, and Cyberattacks" (MIT Press, 2022). Her writing on cybersecurity has also appeared in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Wired.
Nicolas Zahn works as Managing Director at the Swiss Digital Initiative and is also an independent digital expert. He holds a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute Geneva. He is a board member, co-founder and member of various organizations and is especially active in democracy and net politics.
He is an alumnus of the Swiss Study Foundation, a former Binding Fellow, a former fellow of the Mercator Kolleg for International Affairs, and an ECCRI European Cybersecurity Fellow. His work on bridging technology and politics was also acknowledged by being featured on the 35 under 35 list of CIDOB Barcelona & Banco Santander.
He publishes on various digital & political topics in the Republic, NZZ & The Market, Handelszeitung and Schweizer Monat, among others.
Terms and Conditions for the AI-Cybersecurity Essay Prize Competition
Introduction
The AI-Cybersecurity Essay Prize Competition (the “Competition”) is organized by the European Cyber Conflict Research Incubator (“ECCRI CIC”) in partnership with the Munich Security Conference (“MSC”). It is sponsored by Google (the “Sponsor”). By entering the Competition, participants agree to these Terms and Conditions (T&Cs).
Eligibility
The Competition is open to individuals worldwide who are experts in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (“AI”). Participants must ensure that their participation complies with local laws and regulations.
Submission Guidelines
Essays must address the question: “How will Artificial Intelligence change cybersecurity, and what are the implications for Europe? Discuss potential strategies that policymakers can adopt to navigate these changes.”
Submissions must be original, unpublished works between 800-1200 words, excluding footnotes but including hyperlinks for references.
Essays must be submitted by 2 January 2025, 00:00 am CET., through the official submission portal provided by ECCRI CIC.
Only single-authored essays are accepted. Co-authored submissions will not be considered.
Participants are responsible for ensuring their submissions do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.
Judging and Awards
Essays will be judged based on insightfulness, relevance, originality, clarity, and evidence by a review board comprising distinguished figures from academia, industry, and government.
The decision of the review board is final and binding in all matters related to the Competition.
Prizes are as follows: 1st Place: €10,000; Runner-Up: €5,000; 3rd Place: €2,500; 4th-5th Places: €1,000 each. The winner will also be invited to attend The Munich Security Conference
Intellectual Property Rights
The author retains ownership of the submitted essay.
By submitting the essay, the author grants ECCRI CIC exclusive, royalty-free rights to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, and display the essay for purposes related to the Competition, including but not limited to educational, promotional, and research-related activities.
The author represents, warrants, and agrees that no essay submitted as part of the essay prize competition violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights, breaches, or conflicts with any obligation, such as a confidentiality obligation, or contains libellous, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material.
The author agrees that the organizers can use your name (or your pseudonym) and an image of you in association with your essay for purposes of publicity, promotion and any other activity related to the exercise of its rights under these Terms.
The organizers may remove any essay-related content from its platforms at any time and without explanation.
The organizers may block contributions from particular email or IP addresses without notice or explanation.
The organizers may enable advertising on its platforms and associated social media accounts, including in connection with the display of your essay. The organizers may also use your Material to promote its products and services.
The organizers may, at its sole discretion, categorise Material, whether by means of ranking according to popularity or by any other criteria.
Data Protection
Personal information collected in connection with the Competition will be processed in accordance with Virtual Routes’ Privacy Policy. Participants agree to the collection, processing, and storage of their personal data for the purposes of the Competition.
Liability and Indemnity
ECCRI CIC, MSC, and the Sponsor will not be liable for any damages arising from participation in the Competition, except where prohibited by law.
Participants agree to indemnify ECCRI CIC, MSC, and the Sponsor against any claims, damages, or losses resulting from a breach of these T&Cs.
General Conditions
ECCRI CIC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or modify the Competition or these T&Cs if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond ECCRI CIC’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by ECCRI CIC in its sole discretion.
Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, ECCRI CIC reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the United Kingdom, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions, including any question regarding its existence, validity, or termination, shall be referred to and finally resolved by the courts of the United Kingdom. The participants agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the United Kingdom for the resolution of all disputes arising from or related to these Terms and Conditions or the Competition.
