Tallinn Tech is looking for a Professor of Cyber Security

The Department of Computer Science at Tallinn University of Technology is looking for a Professor of Cyber Security.

Application deadline: October 31, 2013

This appointment is part of the strategic growth of the Department of Computer Science. The department is seeking an energetic and dynamic candidate who will contribute to and complement the current research and teaching activities, and promote cooperation with national and international partners in academia, industry, government, and military.

The successful candidate will serve as a leader of research and teaching in the field of practical cyber security and digital forensics.

Further information:
http://academicpositions.eu/ad/tallinn-university-of-technology/2013/professor-of-cyber-security/

For informal inquiries, please contact Prof. Jüri Vain: +372 620 4190, juri.vain@ttu.ee .

Academic life

It has been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened since. The last year has been interesting, as I was searching for my next challenge. I'll try rebooting this blog, as well.

I left the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence at the turn of the year. I had been involved with it since January of 2005, when I first joined the team that was doing the preparation work to get the Centre established. When that happened in May of 2008, I took on the role of a scientist (first at R&D, later at Training and Doctrine). This time was instrumental in my personal and professional growth and I am very grateful to the Centre and the Estonian Defence Forces for the opportunities I was offered during my service. However, after five years at CCD COE, it was time to move on, lest I get too comfortable in my role there.

Therefore, I did some soul searching and job searching last year. My job search revealed that there are many empty slots to fill, so I opted for the approach that allows me to address the qualified manpower shortage in the most direct way. Last September I took on a part-time teaching position in University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in order to get experience and to see a bit more of the academic world. As of last month, I am also an Associate Professor in Tallinn University of Technology, working on cyber security topics (a 50% position). Both of these Universities have ambitious goals for building up a strong cyber security program, so I will have some interesting years ahead.

I have also reserved a fraction of my time for other interesting projects (consulting, etc.) that come up, such as cyber exercises and targeted short term research projects. All in all, this arrangement gives me a lot of flexibility and a wider net to fish for exciting challenges.

So far, I am enjoying myself. Life is very busy, but fun as well. 

ECIW 2013 in Jyväskylä, Finland

The next European Conference on Information Warfare and Security (ECIW) takes place in University of Jyväskylä, Finland, on 11-12 July 2013. I will run a mini-track on Cyber Professionalism and Military Cyber Operations. The description of the mini-track follows:

In a time of constrained resources, everyone is trying to do more with less. One area that merits serious study is the use of military cyber operations in support of, or instead of, conventional military operations. While by no means a cheap option, cyber operations offer asymmetric benefits if used sparingly and only against targets of strategic importance.

 

While not a part of the standard order of battle yet, many states are making serious efforts in developing their military cyber capability. In general, they all share the same problems: figuring out the composition and TTP’s of cyber units, finding the best possible people to staff them and integrating the cyber capabilities with the existing toolset of the commander.

Topics for this track may include but are not limited to:

• military cyber operations
• tactics, techniques and procedures for cyber operations
• identifying, recruiting, training and retaining cyber operatives
• cyber force structure – unit composition, specialization, location in the command chain, rank mix, etc.
• role of active forces, reserve forces, as well as militias and other volunteer groups. 

The CFP is open until 20 December, so it is time to warm up your keyboards.

 

You may have noticed that my affiliation is listed as University of Jyväskylä. This is because for the past three months I have taught in Jyväskylä as a (part-time) post-doctoral researcher. It is part of my transition from my current main position in the NATO CCD COE to academia in the next few months. I am also applying for a part time position in Tallinn University of Technology and will hopefully join the faculty there in February.

Time to climb a new mountain - Part II

While there are still some uncertainties, it looks like I have at least identified the mountain range in question.

The current plan is to split my time between teaching and researching in Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and University of Jyväskylä (Finland), with 25% of my time left for various projects that I can pursue in self-employed mode (ideas welcome). The switch is going to happen in the next few months and should be complete by the end of the year.

I will still focus on cyber conflict and national cyber security research, so that is not going to change. However, I hope to tie my current research with a different field or approach, such as AI or situational awareness, in order to cover interesting new ground. I am not set on a topic yet and will explore cooperation opportunities as they develop.

Time to climb a new mountain

After four years as a Scientist at the NATO CCD COE, which was preceded by another three years of work helping set up and develop the Centre, the time has finally come to move on to face new challenges. Or to be a bit more specific, this time will come sometime in the second half of 2012.

I feel I am ready to explore cyber security and cyber conflict from new angles. I love teaching, so an academic approach is definitely a possibility. It would also be interesting to gain experience from private sector perspective. Most likely I will try to combine various options to get the "perfect blend" for the time being. By the look of things I will make my decision later this month.

I can't say for sure what road I will follow, but one thing I definitely want to do is to revive this blog. I have been very busy (personally, academically, professionally) for the past couple of years and, sadly, this blog was one of the easiest things to put on hold while I got things sorted out. Yet, people still seem to find it every once in a while, as the visit counter passed ten thousand last month. This adds to my motivation to get things going again.

Time to re-invent myself...